Warcraft III Peon Voice Notifications for Claude Code
This GitHub project introduces 'peon-ping', a quirky utility that integrates iconic Warcraft III Peon voice lines into Claude Code to signal task completion and attention needs. It cleverly addresses the common developer pain point of losing focus while waiting for AI code generation by providing distinct audio cues. The tool resonates with the HN community's love for retro gaming nostalgia combined with practical, developer-centric productivity hacks.
The Lowdown
Peon-ping is a new open-source tool designed to prevent developers from losing focus while using Claude Code. By injecting familiar sound cues from classic real-time strategy games like Warcraft III, it aims to keep developers informed and engaged with their AI assistant.
- The primary problem addressed is Claude Code's lack of native notifications when tasks are complete or require user input, leading to context switching and wasted time.
- It solves this by playing specific sound bites, such as a 'Ready to work?' for session start, 'Work, work.' for task completion, and 'Something need doing?' when permission is needed.
- An 'easter egg' sound, 'Me busy, leave me alone!', plays if the user sends three or more prompts within a short 10-second window.
- The tool offers extensive customization, including volume control, toggling individual sound categories, and the ability to switch between various 'sound packs' featuring characters like the Orc Peon, Human Peasant, Red Alert 2 Soviet Engineer, and StarCraft's Battlecruiser or Kerrigan.
- It works by registering as a Claude Code hook, playing sounds via
afplay(macOS) or PowerShell (WSL2), and updating terminal tab titles.
In essence, peon-ping is a delightful blend of gaming nostalgia and developer utility, turning mundane waits into audibly cued progress updates, all while giving your terminal the charming personality of a digital minion.
The Gossip
Proprietary Pings & Public Projects
The discussion immediately raises concerns about the legality and ethics of distributing copyrighted game audio assets within an MIT-licensed, open-source project. Commenters question whether using sound files from Blizzard and EA, even for convenience, constitutes copyright infringement and reflects a broader trend of leveraging proprietary content in AI-related development.
Peon Peculiarities & Peasant Prescriptions
Users engage in a lighthearted, nostalgic debate regarding the accuracy of the Warcraft III voice lines used. Several commenters point out that certain 'job done' or 'work complete' sounds are more characteristic of the Human Peasant unit, rather than the Orc Peon, leading to a friendly correction of game lore and suggestions for more fitting audio choices for different notification types.