Hi HN — I built this during a week-long sabbatical after Anthropic removed /buddy from Claude Code. It's an MCP server, so it works with any MCP-compatible client (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini, Copilot).

Two things I'm proud of:

1/ Rescue mode: if you had an old buddy before Anthropic killed the feature, you can import it. Your companion's identity is preserved.

2/ Three observer modes: backseat (personality reactions only), skillcoach (real code feedback in character), or both. The buddy's 5 stats shape how it talks to you.

It persists in SQLite, levels up from actual coding tasks, has moods that shift based on how often you interact, and 21 species with rarity tiers. Happy to answer anything about the design decisions and what is on the roadmap. Thank you!

RIP Brindle the axolotl. I will miss your sarcastic comments about code quality.

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