Wigglet

• See every session at a glance. Each Wigglet acts out what its session is doing. The one that needs you steps to the front.
• Never miss an approval. The menu-bar icon shows how many sessions are waiting on you.
• Local by default. Hooks write small JSON files on your disk. There are no accounts and no analytics.

Install

Download Wigglet.dmg · macOS 13+ · Apple silicon and Intel

1. Open the disk image and drag Wigglet to Applications.
2. First launch only (Wigglet isn't notarized yet): open it once, click Done on the warning, then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. Or skip all that with one Terminal line:

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Wigglet.app
   

3. Open Wigglet. The setup screen checks that it's in Applications, then click Connect. It adds Wigglet's hooks to ~/.claude/settings.json (with a backup), shows a check mark, and waits until your first Claude Code session appears.

Gallery

Every clip is listed in docs/ANIMATIONS.md, which is generated from the app's catalog.

Features

A team of Wigglets	One per session you're working in, including ones already open before you connected. Six side by side, then a +N badge, or switch to One Wigglet for all of them. Sessions you haven't touched for a while (30 min to a day, your pick) step aside.
Live activity	Each Wigglet shows what its session is doing: reading, editing, tests, builds, git, installs, web, sub-agents, plans or compaction.
56 readable animations	Hand-timed 12 fps pixel art with real props and faces: a deploy rocket, a tea break on long commands, a check mark when tests pass, high-fives and pass-the-parcel between sessions.
Live hover card	Hover over a Wigglet: project, turn timer, last actions and the session's latest message as it arrives. Jump takes you to that session's window.
Chat with Claude	Click a Wigglet or press ⌃⌥Space. Uses your Claude Code login by default, or your own Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter or Gemini key, or a local Ollama model. Keys live in the macOS Keychain.
Private by default	No accounts and no analytics. The network is used only for chat and signed updates.
Signed updates	New versions arrive only when they are published, and install only if their signature checks out.

The app

Home walks you through setup with live checks. Sessions lists every session with a Jump button. Animations plays any clip. Settings holds the connection, size, sounds, launch at login and chat.

How it works

Claude Code runs Wigglet --hook on session and tool events. The hook updates one small JSON file per session in ~/.claude/wigglet/sessions/. The app watches that folder and picks an animation for each session. Details are in docs/HOW_IT_WORKS.md.

Privacy

• Stored: tool names, file base names, the short description Claude writes for each command, the session's folder, which app it runs in (for Jump), and counters. Everything stays in ~/.claude/wigglet/sessions/.
• Shown, never stored: the hover card reads the session's latest message from its local transcript to display it. It's never written to a file or sent anywhere. Turn it off in the menu.
• Never stored: file contents or full commands.
• Network: an update check against GitHub Releases every six hours, and chat, only to the provider you pick. The default runs your local claude CLI with no tools, so it can't read or change files.
• Keys: stored in the macOS Keychain (this Mac only), never in a file.

The full list is in docs/PRIVACY.md.

Requires macOS 13+ and the Xcode command line tools.

cd app && ./build.sh          # universal Wigglet.app (arm64 + x86_64)
./package.sh                  # also writes Wigglet.zip and Wigglet.dmg

Checks, run from the repo root with a throwaway HOME:

HOME=/tmp/wigglet-test app/Wigglet.app/Contents/MacOS/Wigglet --selftest
HOME=/tmp/wigglet-test app/Wigglet.app/Contents/MacOS/Wigglet --pixel-audit
HOME=/tmp/wigglet-test app/Wigglet.app/Contents/MacOS/Wigglet --frame-audit

1. In Wigglet's Settings, click Disconnect (or use Disconnect and remove hooks in the menu-bar icon). Only Wigglet's hooks are removed.
2. Quit Wigglet and drag it to the Trash.
3. Optional cleanup:

   rm -rf ~/.claude/wigglet
   for p in anthropic openai openrouter gemini; do security delete-generic-password -s dev.wigglet.app -a $p; done   # keys, if you added any
   defaults delete dev.wigglet.app
   

If you've already deleted the app, remove the hooks first with Wigglet.app/Contents/MacOS/Wigglet --remove-hooks, or delete the entries that contain Wigglet --hook from ~/.claude/settings.json.

Does it use my Claude usage? The animations never do, because they come from local files. Chat uses Claude Code by default, which runs claude -p and counts toward your plan (with tools off, so each message is small). To keep chat off your plan, pick Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter or Gemini with your own key, or a local Ollama model, in Settings → Chat.

Does it work with the Claude desktop app? Yes. Sessions in the desktop app's Code tab run the same hooks as the terminal, so they get a Wigglet too. Plain chats in the Claude app aren't Claude Code sessions, so they don't.

Does it work with several sessions? Yes, that's what it's for. Each session gets its own Wigglet, name tag and scarf colour.

Is it safe to connect? Connect adds hook entries that call the app with --hook, after saving a backup to ~/.claude/settings.json.wigglet-backup. If your settings.json isn't valid JSON, it leaves the file alone. The hook only writes metadata, and the source is here if you want to check.

Can it jump to the right window? Terminal: the exact tab (macOS asks once for permission). iTerm2 uses the same approach, and VS Code and Cursor open the session's folder in that editor, but those three are untested so far. Claude desktop app: Jump opens that session with the same claude://resume link Claude Code's /desktop command uses (not tested live yet). Anything else: the app comes forward and a note says it couldn't pick the session.

How do I disconnect? Click Disconnect in Settings, or use the menu-bar icon. Hooks you added yourself stay.

• "Wigglet can't be opened" or "Apple could not verify…" Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway, or run the xattr line above. (Right-click → Open no longer skips this on macOS 15 and later.)
• No Wigglet appears for a session. Open Wigglet: Home shows each setup step with a check mark. If step 1 warns, move Wigglet into Applications and open it from there (macOS runs apps from Downloads in a temporary place that Claude Code can't reach). Then start a new session. Sessions that were already running show up after their next tool call.
• Connect fails. Your ~/.claude/settings.json probably isn't valid JSON. Fix it, then connect again.

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Credits

Wigglet is a fan tribute to the Claude mascot. Claude, Claude Code and the original mascot design are by Anthropic. Thank you for building Claude Code and its hooks, which make Wigglet possible.

Unofficial fan project. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Anthropic. "Claude", "Claude Code" and "Anthropic" are trademarks of Anthropic, PBC, used here only to describe compatibility. Free, no ads, no data collection. Anthropic: if you'd like anything changed or removed, see TRADEMARKS.md and we'll comply within 48 hours.