This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 4: Ghost in the Machine
What I Built
I made Boo-buddy, a little ghost that floats on your desktop and chats with you. It has six ghost designs and uses playful, spooky language. It was my first time using Ollama Gemma, and I was nervous.
I wanted to make a friendly ghost, not a scary one. I also added Día de los Muertos touches like flowers and skull mask face decorations.
Demo
boobuddy.mp4 - Google Drive
drive.google.com
Code
👻 Boo-buddy
A tiny desktop ghost with a soft spot for your tiny wins.
Boo-buddy is a floating desktop companion powered by a local AI model running on Ollama. It can cheer you on, react when you poke it, answer a whisper, and get sleepy after midnight.
Free to use. No paid services, subscriptions, API keys, or accounts required. Internet access is needed to download the app dependencies and a model. After setup, Boo-buddy and its downloaded model can run offline.
🌙 A shy ghost · 🧡 Local AI · 🔒 Your prompts stay on your machine · ✨ Plain JavaScript
✨ Contents
- Quick start
- Meet Boo-buddy
- Choose a model
- Privacy and offline use
- Build the installer
- Optional website
- Project map
🚀 Quick start
These steps work on Windows, macOS, and Linux. PowerShell examples are shown.
1. Install the prerequisites
- Node.js 22: download it from nodejs.org.
- Ollama: install…
How I Built It
I built Boo-buddy with Electron(a JavaScript library for cross-desktop platform applications), JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Its AI uses Gemma 3 1B through Ollama and runs on my computer. There’s no paid AI service.
I can chat with the ghost and ask follow-up questions. If I leave it sitting for 5 minutes, it takes a walk around and can make Buddy do a celebratory dance. If Ollama isn’t running, Boo-buddy tells me instead of making up an AI reply. Also used Github Actions so that can manage contributiors in future.
Why Does Open Innovation Matter?
Using a local model means I don’t need a paid plan or online AI account. My chats stay on my computer.
I can also try different models and change how Boo-buddy talks. That helped me make the ghost feel more like my own.
Open innovation matters because it lets people experiment, adapt, and build on technology in ways that suit them.😊
My Agent Session
NA
The Spirit of It
I wanted Boo-buddy to feel like a small friend keeping me company while I work. It brings a little spooky fun to my desktop, with warm Día de los Muertos touches.
Did it in quite a hurry. Boo-buddy started as a way to explore local AI, and became something personal: a ghost I could shape by trying different models and changing its personality. Since this was my first time using Ollama🌟, the project also showed me that you don’t have to be an expert to start experimenting and build something meaningful.
Hope everyone likes it🩷
Prize Categories
- Best Use of Gemma
- Best Use of GitHub Copilot
Not sure which categories it fits under. These 2, I think, are the best matches.
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