---
title: Virtual Pets (Plugin)
---

# Virtual Pets (Plugin)

> **Converted to plugin** (2026-05-18): Virtual Pets is no longer a built-in feature. It is now available as a free plugin in the Omniscio Marketplace.

## What it is

A cosmetic desktop companion: a pixel-art pet that roams your Omniscio window and reacts to what your sessions are doing. Purely ambient — it changes nothing about your work, and all of its state is ephemeral (it resets on app restart).

## Where to find it

It is installed and configured entirely in the Plugins settings: **Settings > Plugins** holds the Marketplace where you install it, and after enabling, its own controls appear at **Settings > Plugins > Virtual Pets**. The pet itself then lives on the Omniscio window itself, and there is no toolbar button or menu to call it up.

## How it behaves

### Installation

1. Open Settings > Plugins
2. Browse the Marketplace
3. Find "Virtual Pets" (by Omniscio)
4. Click Install, then Enable

### Configuration

After enabling, configure the pet in Settings > Plugins > Virtual Pets:

- **Pet Species** — choose from 9 pixel-art companions (Cat, Dog, Fox, Hamster, Bird, Fish, Snake, Rubber Duck, Robot)
- **Pet Name** — give your companion a custom name

### Behavior

The pet roams the edges of your Omniscio window, reacts to session events (celebrates on completion, worries on errors, waves when attention is needed), and responds to clicks with species-specific phrases. Double-click for a popover showing the pet's name, species, and mood. Idle escalation makes the pet progressively bored, hungry, then sleepy after 10/20/30 minutes of inactivity.

## For agents

### Technical Notes

- Uses the Plugin SDK's overlay capability (transparent child BrowserWindow)
- Desktop only — not available on mobile/web
- All state is ephemeral (resets on app restart)
- Plugin source: `src/plugins/virtual-pets/` (builtin) or `<userData>/plugins/virtual-pets/` (marketplace)

## Related

How plugins are found, installed and enabled is documented on [Plugin marketplace](plugin-marketplace.md), and what a plugin can draw on top of the app is on [Plugin widgets](plugin-widgets.md). Desktop-only plugin surfaces such as this one are desktop-first for the same reasons as [Detached session window](detached-session-window.md).