opencat 0.2.0

OpenCat — a cute floating desktop cat companion for OpenClaw AI

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OpenCat — Desktop Client for OpenClaw

A cute desktop skin for OpenClaw — same commands, same AI, just cuter.
pip install, run opencat, done. Everything you do in OpenClaw works here.

Idle (random rotation)				Thinking	Done	Sleeping
yarn ball	scratching	rolling	running	eating	pooping	sleeping

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Why OpenCat?

If you're running OpenClaw as your AI gateway, you might find:

• The official web panel is too cluttered — you just want a quick, clean chat window
• Telegram / WhatsApp bots need a VPN if you're in mainland China
• You want something that feels alive — not another chat tab buried in your browser

OpenCat puts a pixel-art cat on your desktop. Click it, and a warm-toned chat window pops up. That's it. No browser, no VPN, no noise.

Screenshots

Chat + Cat	History Sidebar
Click the cat to open the chat window. Warm pastel UI with streaming AI replies.	Conversation history with color-coded bookmarks. Switch or delete sessions anytime.

Toolbar: A-/A+ adjust font size  |  cube toggles 3D cat  |  + new chat  |  book icon opens history

Features

• Floating cat widget — always on top, draggable, with animated states (idle, thinking, talking, sleeping...)
• Warm pastel chat UI — clean, minimal, purpose-built for quick conversations
• Streaming responses — see the AI reply in real-time, token by token
• Conversation history — sessions are saved locally and browsable from the sidebar
• Image attachments — paste or drag images into the chat (clipboard + file picker)
• Cross-platform — Windows, macOS, Linux (native transparency on Windows, graceful fallback elsewhere)
• Remote connection — connect to an OpenClaw gateway on another machine via Tailscale or any network
• Lightweight — pure Python, ~100 KB installed, no web runtime

Chat Commands

OpenCat supports OpenClaw native commands — type them directly in the chat input:

Command	Description
/status	View current session status and token usage
/new	Start a new conversation (resets server session)
/compact	Compress context to save tokens
/think <level>	Set thinking depth
/stop	Abort the current response
/clear	Clear local chat display (does not reset server session)
/help	Show all available commands

Quick Start

Prerequisites

You need a running OpenClaw gateway. OpenCat connects to it via WebSocket.

Install

pip install opencat

Run

opencat

If opencat is not recognized, use:

python -m opencat

OpenCat reads your gateway config from ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json automatically.

CLI Options

opencat --host 100.64.0.3    # Connect to a remote OpenClaw (e.g. via Tailscale)
opencat --port 18789          # Override gateway port
opencat --token your-token    # Override gateway token
opencat --debug               # Enable debug logging

Development

git clone https://github.com/Jacobzwj/opencat.git
cd opencat
pip install -e .
opencat

How It Works

┌──────────┐   WebSocket    ┌──────────────┐
│  OpenCat  │ ◄───────────► │  OpenClaw    │ ───► LLM API
│ (desktop) │   streaming   │  (gateway)   │
└──────────┘                └──────────────┘

OpenCat is a pure client — it connects to your self-hosted OpenClaw gateway over WebSocket, sends messages, and streams back responses. All AI logic, model selection, and API keys stay on the gateway side.

Customizing the Cat

Cat animations live in opencat/ui/assets/ and are mapped via manifest.json. Replace them with your own pixel art:

State	What happens	Default GIF
Idle	Connected, waiting for user. Randomly rotates through a pool.	idle.gif, error.gif, connecting.gif, talking.gif
Thinking	User sent a message, waiting for AI + streaming reply	thinking.gif (eating)
Done	Response complete, stays until next message	done.gif (pooping)
Sleeping	Not connected to OpenClaw	sleeping.gif (sleeping in box)

License

MIT