Ranking|Claude Code Mods

ModsCode / Claude Code Mods / Ranking / crab-buddy

crab-buddy

The orange Claude crab gets the right half of the band above the prompt as a stage and acts out what is happening: reading, building (five scenes), testing, debugging, web, subagents, git, installs, idle fidgets, dozing and night owl. Each…

Code you can checkTerminal + desktopBandBoxSvgText
draws

What it does

  • Draws a band above the prompt
  • Watches tool calls
  • Hooks classic.PermissionRequest, session.compact, session.start, turn.complete and 2 more

Good points

  • No network calls
  • Starts no processes
  • Written in TypeScript
  • Has a desktop-specific branch

Code to start from

A starter ModsCode writes from the drawing it read, and the mod's own lines that draw, where there are any.

Starter (register.tsx)

register.tsx
import type { Register } from 'claude-code'

// Drawn like crab-buddy by Praj (band), as ModsCode read it from the mod's code:
// https://modscode.com/claude-mods/mods/pvjbuilds-crab-buddy/
// Written by ModsCode from that reading, not copied from the mod: use it as you like.
// Each value below stands for one the mod works out at run time; put in your own.
export const register: Register = on => {
  // the band above the prompt; what else goes there is drawn under it
  on('ui.render', { component: 'AbovePrompt' }, async ($, e, next) => {
    const { Box, Text, Svg } = $.ui.resolve(e)
    const text = '…'
    const text2 = '…'
    const text3 = '…'
    const l = '…'
    const l2 = '…'
    const l3 = '…'
    const stageArt = '…'
    const m = '…'
    const MEANING = '…'
    return (
      <Box flexDirection="column">
        <Box flexDirection="row" backgroundColor="userMessageBackground">
          <Box flexDirection="row" alignItems="flex-end" columnGap={2} flexGrow={1} backgroundColor="userMessageBackground" paddingTop={2} paddingBottom={1.16} paddingLeft={2} paddingRight={2}>
            <Box flexDirection="column" flexGrow={1} flexShrink={1}>
              <Box flexDirection="row" flexWrap="wrap" columnGap={3}>
                <Text color="text">
                  {text}
                </Text>
                <Text color="text">
                  {text2}
                </Text>
                <Text color="text">
                  {text3}
                </Text>
              </Box>
              <Text color="inactive" wrap="truncate-end">
                {l}
              </Text>
              <Text color="inactive" wrap="truncate-end">
                {l2}
              </Text>
              <Text color="inactive" wrap="truncate-end">
                {l3}
              </Text>
            </Box>
            <Box flexShrink={0} width="50%">
              <Svg source={`${stageArt}`} alt={`Claude crab: ${m}`} width={2000} height={41} isInteractive />
              <Box position="absolute" top={0} right={8} display="none" backgroundColor="userMessageBackground" paddingX={1}>
                <Text color="text" wrap="truncate-end">
                  {MEANING}
                </Text>
              </Box>
            </Box>
          </Box>
        </Box>
        {await next(e)}
      </Box>
    )
  })
}

The mod's own code

Shown under the mod's licence (MIT); its text is below. Keep the notice if you copy these lines.

hooks/register.tsx lines 128–205 · Band
  on('ui.render', { component: 'AbovePrompt' }, async ($, e, next) => {
    const rest = await next(e)
    if (e.props.hasSurvey) return rest
    const { mood: m, take: t, log: seen, from } = await read($, look)
    // The caption log, newest on top; before the first change, the mood's first line.
    const log = seen.length ? seen : [LINES[m][0]]
    // Footer-owned lines never draw here, even one a 0.2.0 session left in the atom.
    const ls = Object.entries(await read($, lines)).filter(([who]) => !FOOTER.has(who))
    const { Box, Svg, Text, Client } = $.ui.resolve(e) as ReturnType<typeof $.ui.resolve> & { Svg: never; Client: never }
    const row = ls.length > 0 && (
      <Box key="crab-lines" flexDirection="row" flexWrap="wrap" columnGap={3}>
        {ls.map(([who, text]) => <Text key={who} color="text">{text}</Text>)}
      </Box>
    )
    const info = !!row || !isEmpty(rest)
    // Terminal: the welcome-screen crab in quadrant blocks, at the band's bottom right, three rows tall; the
    // terminal animates it (./term.tsx). Too narrow for it beside the lines, the lines keep the room.
    // By surface, not by table: the terminal's table answers Svg too, drawn as an empty fragment.
    if (e.surface !== 'desktop') {
      if (e.surface !== 'terminal' || e.props.bodyColumns < COLS + 24) return row ? <Box flexDirection="column">{row}{rest}</Box> : rest
      return (
        <Box key="crab-band" flexDirection="row" alignItems="flex-end" columnGap={2}>
          <Box key="crab-text" flexDirection="column" flexGrow={1} flexShrink={1}>
            {row}
            {info && rest}
          </Box>
          <Client key="crab-term" module="./term.tsx" props={{ mood: m }} width={COLS} height={ROWS} />
        </Box>
      )
    }
    // The crab is in flow at the bar's right, beside the lines: floated, the band clipped it or shrank it to
    // its slot (0.4.3). 52×41: one size up, art ratio 38:30 (Praj, 11 Oct).
    // The bar reads like the transcript (Praj, 11 Oct). Nothing floats: a floated fill painted over
    // the crab and the lines in the app (0.4.5-0.4.7; 0.4.7's lift boxes did not lift them, live check 22:07).
    //  - crab-fill is the crab's and the lines' own parent, so they paint over its fill in document order.
    //  - It reaches into the card's padding ((40px - 1lh)/2 x 8px; margin units .5lh and ch) with the same
    //    padding back, so the content stays put. The band clips overshoot above and sideways without
    //    scrolling; below, overshoot would scroll the band, so the bottom stops at the padding's edge:
    //    1.16 x .5lh = (40px - 1lh)/2 at the measured lh 18.5 (half a line left a 1.5px grey line, 22:24).
    //  - crab-band carries the same colour: the app zeroes vertical margins down a single-child chain from
    //    the root, and stops at a Box with a background.
    // ponytail: 1.16 is calibrated to lh 18.5: a larger text size leaves a grey line below (lower it), a smaller
    // one lets the bar scroll a pixel or two.
    // The transcript's colour by theme key, which the desktop resolves by the app's own theme: Claude Code's theme
    // setting can say dark while the app is light (Windows, Praj 12 Oct). Probe 10:58: #151515 dark, #fcfcfb light.
    const bg = 'userMessageBackground'
    const stage = e.props.bodyColumns >= 60
    return (
      <Box key="crab-band" flexDirection="row" backgroundColor={bg}>
        {/* The crab stands at the bottom right, right on the prompt box, however many lines sit beside it (Praj, 12 Oct). */}
        <Box key="crab-fill" flexDirection="row" alignItems="flex-end" columnGap={2} flexGrow={1} backgroundColor={bg}
          marginTop={-2} paddingTop={2} marginBottom={-1.16} paddingBottom={1.16} marginLeft={-2} paddingLeft={2} marginRight={-2} paddingRight={2}>
          <Box key="crab-text" flexDirection="column" flexGrow={1} flexShrink={1}>
            {row}
            {info && rest}
            {/* Crab alone in the band: its caption fills the left, so the bar is never an empty strip (Praj, 12 Oct). */}
            {/* Two lines when the crab is alone, the newest only beside other lines and cards (Praj, 12 Oct). */}
            {(info ? log.slice(0, 1) : log).map((l, i) => <Text key={l} color={i === 0 ? 'inactive' : 'subtle'} wrap="truncate-end">{l}</Text>)}
          </Box>
          {/* The right half is the crab's stage (Praj, 12 Oct). The Svg asks for more than the half and is capped to it.
              Under 60 columns the half is too small to walk in, and the crab stands as before. */}
          <Box key="crab-buddy" flexShrink={0} width={stage ? '50%' : undefined}>
            {/* On the stage the label is part of the crab's art, over its head wherever it stands; interactive, so
                the art sees the pointer. On Windows a hover Box got the desktop's own pill, which kept only the text
                colour (Praj's photos, 12 Oct). */}
            {stage
              ? <Svg source={stageArt(m, t, from ?? STATION[m], MEANING[m])} alt={`Claude crab: ${m}`} width={2000} height={41} isInteractive />
              : <Svg source={crabArt(m, t)} alt={`Claude crab: ${m}`} width={52} height={41} />}
            {/* Narrow band, crab in the corner: the label floats left of it in the band's own colours, top row. */}
            {!stage && <Box position="absolute" top={0} right={8} display="none" hover={{ display: 'flex' }}
              backgroundColor={bg} paddingX={1}>
              <Text color="text" wrap="truncate-end">{MEANING[m]}</Text>
            </Box>}
          </Box>
        </Box>
      </Box>
    )
  })
Licence text (MIT)
MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 pvjbuilds

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and
associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the
following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial
portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO
EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE
USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

How to build this: Band above the prompt, Deny a tool call

What its code calls

tool calls

What its code shows

Read from the source at commit 8a9830993d99. The first group decides whether a mod is listed; the rest is for you to weigh. A later commit is not read until the next crawl.

Decides the listing: code you can check
Entry readEvery module hooks/hooks.json names was read.hooks/register.tsx
ParsesEvery file parses as TypeScript or JavaScript.4 files parsed
All its code is in the modEvery import is a file of the mod or the engine's own module; no packages, no require.all its code is in the mod
ReadableNo minified lines, no eval or new Function, no import of a computed path, no encoded blobs.no minified code, no eval, no encoded blobs
Calls in the openNetwork and programs are reached as $.http.fetch and $.process.run in place, never passed around.every call outside goes through $ in the open
For you to weigh before installing
Where it drawsThe terminal, the desktop app, both, or nothing (hooks only: a guard or a prompt rewriter), as its code says. Shown, never a reason to leave a mod out.draws in the terminal and the desktop app, the same in both
Install lineWhether its repository's own .claude-plugin/marketplace.json lists it, so it installs from that marketplace with the lines on its page.listed in its repository's .claude-plugin/marketplace.json: installs from there
Programs on WindowsWhether every program it starts through $.process exists on Windows (tail, date, open, osascript, /usr/… do not).runs no program a Windows PC lacks
NetworkWhether every fetch names its https host in the code.no network
ProgramsWhether every program it starts is named in the code and is not a shell, an interpreter or a network tool.starts no programs
Reads and sendsWhether it both reads something of yours (files, environment variables, the transcript, settings) and reaches outside (the network, an MCP server, another session, telemetry).reaches nothing outside
Keys in the sourceWhether the source holds what looks like an API key or a private key.no keys in the source
LicenceAn open licence (MIT, Apache-2.0, BSD, ISC, Unlicense, 0BSD, CC0) with its text lets ModsCode show its code; otherwise the code is linked.MIT
Settings hooksHooks declared in hooks/hooks.json or plugin.json beside the module: a command (a shell when it has no args), an HTTP request, an MCP tool or a model prompt at an event. They run outside $.no settings hooks: its function hooks alone
Servers it shipsMCP servers (a program, or a URL; a headersHelper is a shell command; a .mcpb bundle is unpacked at run time), LSP servers, monitors (a shell command for the whole session) and bin/ (on the PATH of the Bash tool).ships no MCP or LSP server, no monitor, no bin/
Skills, commands, agentsWhat its Markdown declares beyond text: allowed-tools granted for the turn, hooks added when a skill is invoked, a command run before Claude reads the skill.no skills, commands, agents or workflows
Tools and MCPWhether every tool it calls through $.tool.call and $.mcp.call is named in the code, and none is a shell (Bash through the tool runs a shell without $.process).calls no tool, MCP server or command
Asks of the modelCompletions it runs ($.model.complete, fork, classify), subagents it spawns, prompts it submits as you, and the tools, commands and agents it adds.asks nothing of the model
Events it hooksBy what a hook there can do: gates (refuse a tool call, a prompt, a setting, another plugin), shapes (what the model reads: the system prompt, tool descriptions, each request), reads (your input, the events of the settings hooks, every event with *), and the rest.gates: tool.call, classic.PermissionRequest · also: session.start, turn.start, turn.complete, session.compact (+2) · timers: clock.every
Reads, by nameThe environment variables and files it names, and whether it reads the transcript, settings.json, the prompt box or the mouse selection.reads no files, environment variables, settings or transcript
Writes, by nameThe files and environment variables it names, and whether it changes settings, the prompt box, the clipboard, the conversation (a row the model reads) or another session.writes no files, environment variables, settings or conversation rows

This is a reading of the code text, not a security review: it does not run the mod, and it cannot see what a program the mod starts does. The check before installing is yours. How mods are chosen

Install it

Check it yourself before you install it. Mods run unsandboxed, with your permissions, and ModsCode does not vouch for what this code does. Read its code (or run claude plugin validate . in its folder), weigh what it reaches, and install the commit you read.

From its marketplace

Its repository is its marketplace. Add that marketplace (in the terminal with these commands, or in the desktop app's plugin settings) and install the mod from it:

/plugin marketplace add pvjbuilds/crab-buddy
/plugin install crab-buddy@crab-buddy
/reload-plugins

This installs the marketplace's latest commit, which may not be the one read here (8a9830993d99). Compare them before you install. /reload-plugins loads it into a session that is already open.

Try the commit ModsCode read

No marketplace needed. In a terminal, clone the repository, check out the commit read, validate the mod, and load it for one session:

git clone https://github.com/pvjbuilds/crab-buddy
git -C crab-buddy checkout 8a9830993d99ad19eda3aa40e604a960a8145ad5
claude plugin validate crab-buddy
claude --plugin-dir crab-buddy

The validate line lists the events the mod hooks and what it asks Claude Code to do, without running it. The last line loads the mod for this session only and writes nothing to your settings. If the author has rewritten history, the commit may no longer exist.

Ask Claude or ChatGPT about it

With ModsCode added as a connector, Claude or ChatGPT can read this mod's code, what it reaches and how its controls are wired, and build on them. Ask it like this:

Read the ModsCode mod "pvjbuilds-crab-buddy" with its code and make me one like it

Add the ModsCode MCP to Claude or ChatGPT

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README.md
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