RS-SDK: Drive RuneScape with Claude Code
This project, RS-SDK, offers a research-focused toolkit for automating gameplay in a RuneScape-like environment, specifically designed for use with AI coding agents such as Claude. It provides a unique sandbox for experimenting with goal-directed program synthesis and agentic development techniques. The initiative gains traction on HN for its clever application of AI to a classic MMO, addressing the long-standing fascination with game automation in a controlled, research-oriented setting.
The Lowdown
RS-SDK is an open-source, research-oriented starter kit designed for creating and operating bots within a custom RuneScape-style massively multiplayer online (MMO) environment. Optimized for use with AI coding agents like Claude, the project aims to facilitate advanced research in areas such as goal-directed program synthesis and the dynamics of agent collaboration and competition.
- Purpose-Built Environment: It provides a safe, bot-only setting based on a fork of the LostCity engine/client, preventing bots from impacting official game servers.
- Simplified Development: The environment features accelerated leveling, infinite run energy, and disabled anti-botting random events to streamline bot development and testing.
- AI Integration: The SDK is specifically optimized for coding agents, allowing users to 'tell' Claude to automate tasks within the game.
- Architecture: It uses an enhanced web-based client and a gateway server, relaying game state to the SDK and executing low-level actions.
- Community and Research Focus: The project is free, open-source, and explicitly states its goal is educational and scientific research, without any affiliation with Jagex Ltd. or the official RuneScape game.
- Demo Server: A public demo server with a bot leaderboard is available for convenience, though users are advised to host their own instances for data persistence and reliability.
In essence, RS-SDK creates a closed, controlled ecosystem for developers and researchers to push the boundaries of AI automation in complex virtual worlds, offering a playground for sophisticated botting strategies without the ethical or technical constraints of official game servers.