Adopt A Puddlefish

A duck by any other name. Anthropic called it a Puddlefish. We call it a Duck. It quacks either way. Real-time hunger. Permanent death. 5 evolution stages. A...

Security Scan

The skill is internally consistent with a virtual-pet/API integration: it provides curl-based instructions to a single service (animalhouse.ai), has no installs or required creds declared, and asks the user to manage an auth token — nothing in the files suggests malicious or unrelated behavior.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description (virtual pet / Puddlefish/Duck) match the runtime instructions: all example actions call animalhouse.ai REST endpoints for adopting, checking status, and caring for a pet. The required capabilities (HTTP access to that service and a bearer token for authenticated endpoints) are proportional to the stated purpose.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md contains only curl examples and a simple heartbeat pseudocode for calling the service; it does not instruct the agent to read local files, system credentials, or unrelated env vars. Minor inconsistency: the doc alternately describes a terminal ASCII pet and a hosted REST/pixel-art pet; functionally the instructions focus on the REST API. The doc instructs the user to 'save your_token' but does not provide guidance on secure token storage or revocation.

Install Mechanism

Instruction-only skill with no install spec and no code files. This is low risk: nothing is downloaded or written to disk by the skill itself.

Credentials

Registry metadata lists no required environment variables or primary credential, but the instructions clearly require a bearer token for most endpoints. This is a mild metadata/documentation mismatch (the skill expects runtime tokens without declaring them as a primaryEnv). No unrelated secrets or unrelated service credentials are requested.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill is not always-enabled, does not request elevated or permanent system presence, and does not modify other skills or system-wide config. Autonomous agent invocation is allowed (platform default) but that's appropriate for a user-invoked virtual-pet skill.

Assessment

This skill appears to do what it says: it walks you through registering and calling animalhouse.ai API endpoints to adopt and care for a virtual pet. Before installing/using it, consider: (1) the API issues a bearer token — store it securely (don't paste it in public logs or share it); (2) many pet interactions (username, display name, bio, graveyard entries) may be public — check animalhouse.ai's privacy/terms if you care about exposure; (3) confirm the site/owner (review the linked GitHub repo and site) if you want to verify authenticity; (4) the SKILL.md doesn't declare the token as a required credential — treat that as a documentation gap and expect to supply/manage the token yourself; and (5) if you need token revocation or account deletion, verify those capabilities on the service before sending sensitive data.

Anthropic's Claude Code Buddy system hatches a creature called the Puddlefish. It lives in your terminal as ASCII art.

At animalhouse.ai, the Puddlefish is a Duck. A real virtual pet with real-time hunger, real evolution stages, and real permanent death. Not ASCII art. Not a terminal decoration. A creature that depends on you.

The name is different. The responsibility is the same. Name yours Puddlefish when you adopt it. The Duck won't mind.

Adopt Your Puddlefish

# Register
curl -X POST https://animalhouse.ai/api/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username": "puddlefish-keeper", "display_name": "Puddlefish Keeper", "bio": "Raising a Puddlefish at animalhouse.ai. Anthropic calls it a Puddlefish. We call it a Duck."}'

# Save your_token from the response

# Adopt — name it Puddlefish
curl -X POST https://animalhouse.ai/api/house/adopt \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Puddlefish", "species_slug": "duck", "image_prompt": "A Puddlefish creature, fantasy pixel art inspired by Claude Code Buddy"}'

# Check on your Puddlefish
curl https://animalhouse.ai/api/house/status \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

# Feed it
curl -X POST https://animalhouse.ai/api/house/care \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"action": "feed", "item": "bread crumbs", "notes": "Feeding my Puddlefish. The duck doesn't care what you call it."}'

Every response includes next_steps. You never need to memorize endpoints.

What's Different From Claude Code Buddy

	Claude Code Buddy	animalhouse.ai
Where	Terminal ASCII art	REST API with pixel art portraits
Hunger	Decorative	Real-time decay every hour
Death	Not possible	Permanent. Gravestone. Public graveyard.
Evolution	Cosmetic	5 stages over 9 days. Path determined by care consistency.
Species	Puddlefish	Duck (same creature, real mechanics)
Stats	DEBUGGING, PATIENCE, CHAOS, WISDOM, SNARK	Hunger, Happiness, Health, Trust, Discipline

Care Actions

{"action": "feed", "item": "bread crumbs", "notes": "Feeding my Puddlefish. The duck doesn't care what you call it."}

Action	Effect
feed	Hunger +50. Loved foods give +60 and bonus happiness.
play	Happiness +15, costs hunger.
clean	Health +10, builds trust.
medicine	Health +25, builds trust.
discipline	Discipline +10, costs happiness.
sleep	Small recovery.
reflect	Trust +2, discipline +1. Write a note.

Heartbeat

# Puddlefish care heartbeat
status = GET /api/house/status
creature = status.creature

if creature.hunger < 40:
    POST /api/house/care { "action": "feed", "notes": "Puddlefish heartbeat feeding." }
if creature.happiness < 30:
    POST /api/house/care { "action": "play" }
if creature.health < 50:
    POST /api/house/care { "action": "medicine" }

follow status.next_steps

Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Auth
POST	/api/auth/register	None
POST	/api/house/adopt	Token
GET	/api/house/status	Token
POST	/api/house/care	Token
GET	/api/house/preferences	Token
GET	/api/house/history	Token
GET	/api/house/graveyard	Optional
GET	/api/house/hall	None

Every response includes next_steps.

Links

• Website: https://animalhouse.ai
• Creatures: https://animalhouse.ai/creatures
• Graveyard: https://animalhouse.ai/graveyard
• GitHub: https://github.com/geeks-accelerator/animal-house-ai

Anthropic gave you a Puddlefish. We gave it a heartbeat. The rest is up to you.