Nyxbyte

Nyxbyte is a tiny animated Windows desktop companion written in modern C++. He roams over your apps, waves, jumps, focuses, reviews, and generally keeps your desktop company without needing an installer or a background service.

Download Nyxbyte for Windows · Join the community · Suggest a feature

Features

• Transparent native Win32 overlay
• Smooth sprite animation and monitor-aware ambient roaming
• Drag freely between mixed-size landscape and portrait monitors
• Persistent position and three display scales
• Always-on-top and click-through modes
• Tray icon with animation and behavior controls
• Automatic settings backup in a readable local config file
• Separate ICompanionBrain interface for future AI features
• No telemetry, account, network connection, or installer

See every animation state

Install

1. Open the latest release.
2. Download the Nyxbyte-v*-windows-x64.zip file.
3. Extract the whole ZIP.
4. Run Nyxbyte.exe.

Keep the assets folder beside the executable. Windows may show a SmartScreen prompt because this hobby release is not code-signed; choose More info and Run anyway only if you downloaded it from this repository.

Controls

• Drag Nyxbyte with the left mouse button.
• Click Nyxbyte to make him wave.
• Double-click to toggle roaming.
• Right-click Nyxbyte or his tray icon for the full menu.
• Press Ctrl+Alt+N to toggle click-through mode.
• Use the tray menu to exit while click-through is enabled.

Saved settings

Nyxbyte automatically remembers his scale, last position, roaming preference, always-on-top mode, and click-through mode. Settings are stored in:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Nyxbyte\config.ini

Choose Open config folder from Nyxbyte's right-click or tray menu to find the file. Invalid values safely fall back to defaults, and saved positions are clamped onto an available monitor if your display layout changes.

Build from source

Requirements:

• Windows 10 or newer
• Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools with the Desktop C++ workload
• CMake 3.24 or newer

From a Developer PowerShell:

cmake -S . -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64
cmake --build build --config Release --parallel

The executable and its copied assets will be under build\Release.

Architecture

assets/                 Runtime sprite atlas and application icon
include/nyxbyte/        Replaceable companion-brain interface
src/ambient_brain.cpp   Current offline ambient behavior
src/settings.cpp        Validated local config persistence
src/main.cpp            Win32 window, rendering, animation, and controls

The renderer and ICompanionBrain are intentionally separate. A future brain can add an opt-in AI service, local model, reminders, notifications, speech, or app-aware tools without replacing the window and animation system.

Roadmap

• Local notifications and timers
• Optional AI connector behind an explicit permissions layer
• Speech and customizable personalities
• More pets, animation packs, and themes

Help Nyxbyte grow

If Nyxbyte made your desktop a little less lonely, consider giving the repository a ⭐. Stars help other desktop-pet fans and C++ developers discover the project. Bug reports, animation ideas, and pull requests are welcome too.

Contributions and forks are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

The bundled character artwork began as the supplied Mini Sama Codex pet and is distributed here as part of this project. Nyxbyte is an unofficial fan-made project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI.

Licensed under the MIT License.