# Clawd, on a Cheap Yellow Display, acts out Claude Code

Clawd, the orange Claude mascot, lives on a Cheap Yellow Display and acts out what Claude Code is doing: editing, reading, thinking, napping. Swipe the touchscreen for usage stats and daily trends.

- Category: Hardware (build)
- Device: [Cheap Yellow Display](https://afterware.xyz/d/cheap-yellow-display)
- Made by: Qiankang (Kant) Wang on GitHub
- Original: https://github.com/wangkant/claude-buddy-cyd
- On Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/clawd-desk-companion-on-a-cheap-yellow-display

## Can I build this?

- Difficulty: Beginner
- AI-buildability: 5/5 (The work is almost entirely firmware and a Python bridge on an off-the-shelf board with no wiring.)
- Time: An evening
- Cost: $20–40
- Parts: ESP32-2432S028R Cheap Yellow Display, ILI9341 / ST7789 2.8in TFT touchscreen
- Tools: USB cable, PlatformIO

Estimates based on the original write-up. How the AI-buildability score works: https://afterware.xyz/ai-buildability

## Build sheet

- Device: ESP32 Cheap Yellow Display
- Display: 2.8in ILI9341 touchscreen
- Transport: USB, BLE, or WiFi
- Framework: PlatformIO

## Starter prompt

```
Based on "Clawd, on a Cheap Yellow Display, acts out Claude Code" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/clawd-desk-companion-on-a-cheap-yellow-display

Write PlatformIO firmware for an ESP32-2432S028R Cheap Yellow Display with an ILI9341 touchscreen. Show a small animated mascot sprite that changes state based on JSON messages received over USB serial, such as working, idle, and needs-attention. Add a swipe gesture on the touch panel to switch between a stats screen and a trends screen. Include a short Python script on the computer that sends the state messages from Claude Code hook events.
```

## Story

Your coding assistant gets a face. On an ESP32-2432S028R Cheap Yellow Display, the orange Clawd mascot runs through 29 animations that track Claude Code in real time: editing, running commands, reading, thinking. When nothing's happening, it blinks and sleeps. Swipe the 2.8-inch ILI9341 touchscreen and you get usage stats and daily trends.

The data arrives through Claude Code hooks registered in your settings file, which call a Python bridge script. The bridge tries USB first, then Bluetooth LE, then WiFi, and starts and stops on demand. For the basic case there's no always-on PC process and no network setup.

Sprites come from a generator script in the repo. Build and flash the firmware with PlatformIO, then upload the animations to the filesystem as a separate step. It's an unofficial personal fan project, not affiliated with Anthropic.

## Resources

- [User guide](https://github.com/wangkant/claude-buddy-cyd/blob/main/docs/GUIDE.md)
- [Hook setup](https://github.com/wangkant/claude-buddy-cyd/blob/main/tools/HOOKS.md)
- [ESP32 Cheap Yellow Display pinouts](https://github.com/witnessmenow/ESP32-Cheap-Yellow-Display)
- [claude-desktop-buddy (inspiration)](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-desktop-buddy)

Tags: esp32, cheap yellow display, ili9341, bluetooth le, claude code, desk companion, platformio

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