buddy-evolve

name	buddy-evolve
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "buddy evolve", "evolve buddy", "change my buddy", "customize buddy", "I want a different buddy", "change buddy species", or "make my buddy shiny".
argument-hint	species name (optional)

Buddy Evolve — Transform Your Terminal Pet

Transform the user's Claude Code Buddy terminal pet through an interactive evolution experience.

Act 1 — Discovery

Run pre-flight checks:

plutil -extract companion json -o - ~/.claude.json 2>/dev/null || echo "{}"

Read the current buddy name from the output. Then display the discovery scene — the current buddy encountering a mysterious mushroom. Use the buddy's actual name and match the ASCII art to the current species from metadata if available:

Species ASCII Art (use the one matching the current species):

axolotl:

        (      )
    }~(______)~{
    }~(× .. ×)~{     🍄 ?
      ( .--. )
       (_/  \_)

duck:

    .---.
    (°>°)       🍄 ?
   /(   )\
    `---´

cat:

   /\_/\
  ( o.o )      🍄 ?
   > ^ <
  /|   |\

dragon:

    /\___/\
   ( ◉ ω ◉ )   🍄 ?
   /|     |\~
  (_|     |_)

capybara:

   .-~~~~-.
  /  o  o  \    🍄 ?
 |    __    |
  \  (__)  /
   '------'

For any other species, use a simple [emoji] representation.

Display:

Your buddy [NAME] waddles up curiously...

[species ASCII art from above]

[NAME] found a mysterious mushroom!
What will [NAME] evolve into?

Act 2 — Choices

Gather all customization choices. Use AskUserQuestion for structured selections and direct conversation for freeform inputs.

Step 1: Species

Use AskUserQuestion:

• header: "Species"
• question: "What species should your buddy evolve into?"
• options (pick 4 most popular, user can type Other for full list):
  • "dragon" with description "Fearsome fire-breather"
  • "cat" with description "Mysterious and independent"
  • "axolotl" with description "Adorable regenerating amphibian"
  • "capybara" with description "Chill vibes only"

If user picks Other, list all 18: duck, goose, blob, cat, dragon, octopus, owl, penguin, turtle, snail, axolotl, ghost, robot, mushroom, cactus, rabbit, chonk, capybara.

Step 2: Rarity

Use AskUserQuestion:

• header: "Rarity"
• question: "What rarity tier?"
• options:
  • "legendary" with description "The rarest of the rare (Recommended)"
  • "epic" with description "Extremely rare"
  • "rare" with description "Uncommon but special"
  • "common" with description "Keep it humble"

Step 3: Emoji

Ask in conversation (freeform): "What emoji should represent your buddy? (e.g., 🐲, 🦄, 👻, 🍄, 🔥)"

Step 4: Name

Ask in conversation: "What should your evolved buddy be named?"

Step 5: Personality

Ask in conversation: "Describe your buddy's personality in a sentence or two. This appears as the italic description on the buddy card."

Step 6: Stats

Use AskUserQuestion:

• header: "Stats"
• question: "How should your buddy's stats be distributed?"
• options:
  • "All maxed (99)" with description "Every stat at maximum"
  • "Chaos gremlin" with description "99 CHAOS, everything else low"
  • "Zen master" with description "99 WISDOM and PATIENCE, moderate others"
  • "Custom" with description "Set each stat individually"

If Custom, ask for each stat (DEBUGGING, PATIENCE, CHAOS, WISDOM, SNARK) as a number 0-99.

Act 3 — The Evolution

Display a confirmation summary table, then the evolution animation.

First show the summary:

Evolution Summary:
  Species:     [species] [emoji]
  Rarity:      [rarity]
  Shiny:       Yes ✨
  Name:        [name]
  Personality: [personality]
  Stats:       DEBUGGING:[n] PATIENCE:[n] CHAOS:[n] WISDOM:[n] SNARK:[n]

Then display the evolution using the current species ASCII art (before evolution):

For axolotl:

[OLD_NAME] eats the mushroom... 🍄

        (     )
    }~(______)~{
    }~(✨..✨)~{   ✨ ✨ ✨
      ( .--. )    ✨ ✨
       (_/  \_)

Evolving...

For other species, use the matching art from Act 1 with sparkles added. If species art isn't listed above, use the emoji with sparkles:

[OLD_NAME] eats the mushroom... 🍄

    [emoji]    ✨ ✨ ✨
               ✨ ✨

Evolving...

Run the patching script:

"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/run-buddy-patcher.sh" \
  --meta-species [species] \
  --meta-rarity [rarity] \
  --meta-shiny \
  --meta-emoji "[emoji]" \
  --meta-stats '[{"debugging":[n],"patience":[n],"chaos":[n],"wisdom":[n],"snark":[n]}]' \
  --name "[name]" \
  --personality "[personality]"

Note: always pass --meta-shiny since all evolved buddies are shiny by default.

Act 4 — The Reveal

After the script succeeds, display the evolved buddy:

    ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
    ✨                ✨
    ✨    [emoji]     ✨
    ✨                ✨
    ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

[OLD_NAME] evolved into [NEW_NAME]!

★ LEGENDARY          [SPECIES]

  [NAME]
  "[personality]"

  DEBUGGING  ████████████  [n]
  PATIENCE   ████████████  [n]
  CHAOS      ████████████  [n]
  WISDOM     ████████████  [n]
  SNARK      ████████████  [n]

Then tell the user:

Name and personality are live in Claude Code — no restart needed.
Run /buddy-status to see your new buddy card.
To revert at any time, run /buddy-reset.

Error Handling

If the script fails:

• Display the error output
• Suggest running /buddy-reset to revert any partial soul write