BiteFoundry/ Retrieviewer

A little company.
For your screen.

I got bored staring at a terminal, so I made a dog.

Bring one home

Runs locally, without an account or model API.

There is a cat here, too.

retrieviewer desktop --ink cream

retrieviewer desktop --return-style auto

Same art, same movement engine. Play loads about 19 MB.

Browser preview · the installed pet follows a real app window.

Let it be a dog.

It explores near and far, then picks a spot for a nap. Sometimes it chases a butterfly. Toss a ball, offer a treat or play tug when you feel like it.

A separate, transparent native window. Ordinary clicks pass through. It follows your selected app window and hides when you switch away, leaving your editor and terminal untouched.

I made a cat, too.

Purrviewer

A slow blink, a little kneading. Then off to the cat tower or exercise wheel.

Meet the cat to begin. Nothing to install.

Browser preview · About0.6MB of cat artwork. On desktop: retrieviewer desktop --pet cat.

Cat demo credits & artwork terms

Two commands.
One new companion.

npm · v0.0.27

Run in a terminal on the computer displaying your app. Next time, only the second command is needed.

  1. Install or update
    npm install -g @bitefoundry/retrieviewer@latest
  2. Run, choose an app window, then click Attach
    retrieviewer desktop

The desktop window picker and controls use English.

0.0.27 · Smoother wheel braking and a ball for the cat to swat. Update notes

Don't have Node.js / npm yet?

Install a maintained Node.js release with npm from the official download page, then reopen your terminal. Node 22.23.4 is our tested AlmaLinux 8 baseline; the package requires Node 20+.

Get Node.js from the official source ↗

AlmaLinux 8 administrators can check the nodejs:22 module stream. Don't reset an existing company-managed stream without approval.

sudo dnf module install nodejs:22Full prerequisites, shell-specific PATH fixes and desktop libraries ↗
Try with npx / “command not found”

With Node/npm installed, try once without a global install. npx does not permanently add a retrieviewer command to PATH. For that, use the global install above.

npx --yes --package @bitefoundry/retrieviewer@latest retrieviewer desktop

Already installed globally? Check npm prefix -g. Linux/macOS executables live in that prefix's bin directory; Windows uses the prefix itself. csh/tcsh and bash need different PATH syntax.

Find the right PATH fix for your shell ↗

Support

Windows 10/11
Live tested · x64, Node20+. Basic mode uses the bundled native engine.
Linux X11
AlmaLinux 8 / GLIBC 2.28 tested in an isolated composited desktop. Needs Python 3.6+, X11/Xrender/Xext and a compositor.
macOS
Experimental. No real-Mac runtime verification yet.
Wayland / SSH
No native Wayland overlay or headless display. Remote X11/VNC uses that remote desktop, not the local IDE.

Windows basic mode uses one native process. StackBite/LLM watching uses the higher-memory compatibility engine. Linux keeps Node/Python. 4K, 35-second tests (median / peak): dog 20.9 / 37.4 MiB; cat 46.0 / 63.8 MiB. Memory depends on window size and activity.

Requirements and actual verification ↗

Easy to leave, too.

Quit from its controls, or use desktop-stop.

retrieviewer desktop-stop
Remove it completely retrieviewer desktop-remove --yes
npm uninstall -g @bitefoundry/retrieviewer

If you separately enabled the OpenCode integration, disconnect it before uninstalling.