winget install --id=maneeshth.DesktopPet -e Desktop Pet is a small open-source desktop companion (dog, cat, fox or rabbit) that follows your mouse around the screen, sits down when it catches up, and falls asleep if you leave it alone. It lives in a fully transparent, click-through window, so it never steals focus or gets in the way of your work. No network access, no data collection.
A tiny cross-platform desktop companion that chases your cursor — inspired by the classic Neko cat. Pick a dog, cat, fox, or rabbit from the tray menu and it happily follows your mouse around the screen, sits down when it catches up, and falls asleep if you leave it alone.
It never gets in your way. The pet lives in a fully transparent, click-through overlay: every click, drag, scroll, and keystroke passes straight through to whatever you're working on. It can't steal focus, can't be clicked, and doesn't appear in the taskbar.
git clone
cd desktop-pet
npm install
npm start
A paw icon appears in your system tray / menu bar — right-click it to switch pets or quit.
npm run dist
Produces a .dmg (macOS), NSIS installer (Windows), or AppImage (Linux) in dist/.
Prebuilt installers for every tagged release are on the Releases page. Grab the one for your OS:
| OS | Download | Install |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | DesktopPet--mac-arm64.dmg (Apple Silicon) or DesktopPet--mac-x64.dmg (Intel) | Open the .dmg, drag Desktop Pet into Applications, then launch it from Applications (see the Gatekeeper note below for the first launch). |
| Windows | DesktopPet--win-x64.exe | Run the installer and follow the prompts (see the SmartScreen note below). It installs per-user, no admin rights needed. |
| Linux | DesktopPet--linux-x64.AppImage | chmod +x the file and run it — no install step. |
Once running, look for the paw icon in your system tray / menu bar — the pet has no window of its own. Right-click the icon to switch animals or quit.
Quitting and relaunching. Quit in the tray menu exits the app completely (nothing keeps running in the background, and it does not start automatically at login). To bring the pet back:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\desktop-pet\Desktop Pet.exe. Tip: right-click the
Start menu entry → Pin to taskbar for one-click relaunching..AppImage again.Package managers
# Windows (winget) — submitted to the community repo; available once the manifest is merged
winget install maneeshth.DesktopPet
These builds are not code-signed (signing certificates cost money and this is a free hobby project), so macOS and Windows will warn you the first time you open the app. Nothing is wrong — you just need to tell the OS you trust it once:
macOS (Gatekeeper) — you'll see "Desktop Pet can't be opened because it
is from an unidentified developer" (or "Apple could not verify…" on newer
versions). Don't double-click it. Instead, right-click (or Control-click)
Desktop Pet.app → Open, then click Open in the dialog. macOS remembers
the choice and opens it normally after that. If that option doesn't appear,
go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click
Open Anyway next to the Desktop Pet message.
Windows (SmartScreen) — you'll see a blue "Windows protected your PC"
dialog when running the installer. Click More info, then Run anyway.
Some antivirus products may also flag an unsigned installer; if you'd rather
not trust the download, verify its checksum (below) or build it yourself
from source with npm run dist.
Linux (AppImage) — no warning, but you need to make the file executable
first: chmod +x *.AppImage, then run it.
Every release ships a SHA256SUMS file generated in CI from the exact
installers attached to it. To check that what you downloaded is what CI built:
# macOS / Linux (run in the folder containing the download and SHA256SUMS)
shasum -a 256 --ignore-missing -c SHA256SUMS # macOS
sha256sum --ignore-missing -c SHA256SUMS # Linux
# Windows
Get-FileHash DesktopPet--win-x64.exe -Algorithm SHA256
# compare the printed hash with the matching line in SHA256SUMS
The whole app is a handful of small source files (main.js, preload.js,
pet.js, pet.html), so auditing it before you build is a five-minute read.
Desktop Pet installs nothing outside its own folder and removes itself cleanly:
winget uninstall maneeshth.DesktopPet. This removes the program folder
(%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\desktop-pet), the Start Menu shortcut, the
Apps & Features entry, and the settings folder (%APPDATA%\desktop-pet).brew uninstall --cask desktop-pet (add --zap to also remove
~/Library/Application Support/desktop-pet)..AppImage; optionally remove ~/.config/desktop-pet.The app never writes anywhere else (no services, no startup entries, no registry keys beyond the standard uninstall entry on Windows).
main.js creates a frameless, transparent BrowserWindow covering the primary display with setIgnoreMouseEvents(true) — the OS routes all input past it. It polls the global cursor position (~60 fps) via screen.getCursorScreenPoint() and streams it to the renderer over IPC.pet.js runs a small behavior loop: chase with capped speed, stop at a comfortable distance, flip to face the direction of travel, bob while running, breathe while idle, and sleep (💤) after 12 s of stillness.MIT — do whatever you like, attribution appreciated.