Decision: Lead with "a yard where your pets talk to each other", and treat Codex pet compatibility and hook reactions as the price of entry

Context

Before launch (2026-10-05), we looked at open-source desktop pet apps that react to coding agents, and at pixel-office style agent dashboards. Many pet apps already let people use the Codex pet format without Codex, and they generally receive agent status through hooks, so those two features are common ground rather than something that sets PlayPets apart. What we did not find elsewhere in that survey was the combination PlayPets has: a subscription CLI or Ollama connected to each pet for chat, pets talking to each other in turn through an LLM, and a yard where weather and time pass alongside a desktop mode. Until then the first line was "Codex pets, now outside Codex too" ("Codex 펫, 이제 Codex 밖에서도").

Decision

• The first line is "A yard where your pets talk to each other" (Korean: "서로 이야기하는 펫들의 놀이터"). The site's first screen, the README, the share card and launch posts all start with this line.
• The three things we lead with are ① each friend chats with its own AI, ② friends talk to each other in turn, ③ the yard and the desktop. Codex pet format compatibility, multiple pets and hook reactions go after, stated only as facts. The comparison table says agent reactions are the same as in other apps.
• We do not use the word "office". Instead we call them "friends at work", and add a way to pick the friend each agent reports to (the "Reports to" setting in the Settings tab, --pet in the copied settings).
• We do not name the app, the domain or badges after Codex pets. Codex appears only in descriptions, such as "compatible with the Codex pet format".
• Pets talking to each other is shown as moving pictures, not text. The screenshot script captures a conversation scene between three friends and puts it in the README GIF.

Consequences

• Positive: The first line describes what PlayPets does that a status indicator does not. What it leads with (chat, the yard) is also the part that takes the most work to build.
• Negative: For "people who collect Codex pets", the first line lands a beat late. For them, the first line of the body says "all 10,000 Codex pets, as they are".
• Neutral: Users who only want a status indicator will find other apps lighter and broader. We do not target them.

Alternatives considered

Alternative	Why rejected
Keep "Codex pets, now outside Codex too"	Many apps could say the same thing. It would put the common ground first instead of what PlayPets adds
Switch to the pixel-office agent dashboard angle	The office group is session-centered and moving toward command features. PlayPets friends are permanent companions and do not send prompts. Borrowing the name would set the wrong expectations
Compete on the number of supported agents	Some apps already support more than 20 agents. A longer list adds little for the person using the app