Agent status
Idle, thinking, working, needs you, done, across every open session.
Key 1Mochi is a small round-screen device that sits next to your laptop and shows what your coding agent is doing: thinking, working, waiting for you, or done. Glance over instead of switching windows.
An agent run is long enough to lose focus and short enough that you keep checking. Miss a permission prompt and the whole run just sits there.
You send a prompt and switch to something else.
The agent stops to ask permission. The notification is buried under five other windows.
You check back. It has been waiting for eight minutes.
Or you never look away, and the time the agent was meant to save goes into watching it.
The agent's own lifecycle events drive Mochi's face. Nothing to configure per project: install once and every session in every terminal shows up.
Looks around, blinks, shows the time or your focus timer.
Eyes up and to the side the moment you send a prompt.
Scans side to side and labels the tool in use.
Wide eyes and a flashing red ring until you answer.
A happy bounce, then back to idle.
Three mechanical keys switch screens. Holding a key or pressing two together opens the rest.
Idle, thinking, working, needs you, done, across every open session.
Key 1How much of your 5-hour and weekly allowance is used, and when it resets. Estimated from local logs.
Key 2Time, date, temperature, conditions and today's high and low.
Hold key 125-minute focus, 5-minute break or a 10-second quick timer, with a countdown ring.
Hold key 2A 20-second look-away every 20 minutes. Pauses during focus, games and late hours.
AutomaticBattery, CPU and memory as three rings. Mochi sweats when the machine is busy.
Keys 1 + 2Pin up to five reminders from the terminal or browser. A badge shows on the face.
Keys 1 + 3Compliments, coding jokes and a roulette wheel for small decisions.
Keys 2 + 3 · all threeSimon, Flappy and an endless runner, built for a round screen, with saved high scores.
Hold key 3The laptop talks to Mochi directly over USB, or over the local network when unplugged. There is no server, account or API key involved.
Hooks hand off to the helper and return in milliseconds. If Mochi is unplugged, the agent doesn't notice.
Usage figures come from the agent's own log files on disk. No login, token or account is read or stored.
Remembers five WiFi networks and joins whichever is in range. Over USB it needs no network at all.
Mochi is a working prototype, running daily on one desk. Firmware v1.4, macOS only.
| Capability | Detail | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Agent status face | Five states, tool labels, every terminal session including multiplexers | Built |
| USB and WiFi link | Automatic fallback; five saved networks; setup hotspot when none are in range | Built |
| Clock, weather, timers, eye breaks | Time over the network; weather refreshed every 15 minutes | Built |
| Health ring, notes, games | Key chords, saved high scores, notes kept across restarts | Built |
| Usage ring | An estimate from local logs, calibrated once against the official figure; can drift | Partial |
| Voice wake ("hey Mochi") | On-device speech on the laptop; experimental and off by default | Partial |
| Windows and Linux | The helper is macOS only today | Roadmap |
| Updates over WiFi | Flash new firmware without a cable | Roadmap |
| Settings page | City, clock format and timer lengths from the browser instead of code | Roadmap |
| Controller | ESP32-C3 (WiFi, USB-C) |
| Display | 1.28" round IPS, 240 × 240 |
| Input | 3 mechanical key switches; press, hold and chords |
| Enclosure | One-piece PLA print with a snap-in base, 84 × 92 × 90 mm |
| Power | USB-C from the laptop |
| Software | Custom firmware plus a dependency-free helper and command-line tool for macOS |
The live demo runs Mochi's real screens and keys. Start a pretend agent task, answer it when Mochi says the agent needs you, and try the timers, notes and games. You'll need the access code you were given.