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MiniCPM Desk Pet

MiniCPM Desk Pet

MiniCPM Desk Pet

MiniCPM Desk Pet is a local-first desktop pet app. It runs MiniCPM small models directly on your own computer, giving you a companion on your desktop that can chat and keep you company while you code — just download and install it, follow the first-launch setup, and you're ready to go; everyday chat doesn't depend on any remote inference service.

Three highlights:

  • Runs locally: the model runs inference on your machine and chat content is never uploaded to the cloud, so privacy stays under your control and it works offline
  • Small and lightweight: uses the MiniCPM5-1B model by default and runs with about 2 GB of disk space
  • Keeps you company at work: reacts differently — thinking, working, done, and so on — based on the state of your coding agent

1. Quick Start​

System Requirements​

OSRecommended configuration
macOS14.0+, Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4), about 2 GB of disk space
Windowsx64, Vulkan support required, about 2 GB of disk space

macOS on Apple Silicon is currently the primary verified platform; an installer is available for Windows, and feedback on issues is welcome.

Installation​

macOS

  1. Go to Releases and download the latest MiniCPM Desk Pet-*-arm64.dmg.
  2. Open the DMG and drag MiniCPM Desk Pet into Applications.
  3. Launch the app and follow the setup guide. If macOS blocks the app on first open, right-click the app and choose 「打开」(Open). If necessary, you can also remove the quarantine attribute in Terminal:
Bash
xattr -cr /Applications/MiniCPM\ Desk\ Pet.app

Windows

  1. Go to Releases and download the latest .exe installer.
  2. Run the setup wizard and follow the prompts to complete installation.
  3. Launch the app and follow the setup guide.

First Launch​

MiniCPM Desk Pet has a complete built-in first-launch flow — just follow it through:

Environment check → Model download → Model warm-up → Start using

The default model is MiniCPM5-1B-GGUF. You can let the app download it automatically, or select an existing local .gguf file (useful if you've already downloaded the model).

2. Core Features​

Once installed, MiniCPM Desk Pet mainly helps you with the following. Each feature covers what it is and how to use it.

A Local Chat Companion on Your Desktop​

Summon the floating chat bubble with a shortcut at any time and talk to MiniCPM directly — ask questions, write something, or just chat. Because the model runs locally, chat content never leaves your computer, making it suitable for privacy-sensitive or offline scenarios.

The MiniCPM Desk Pet interface: a pixel-art purple cat with sparkling eyes on a clear blue water background, next to a white chat bubble reading "你好，我是MiniCPM系列模型，由面壁智能和OpenBMB开源社区开发。详细信息请访问https://github.com/OpenBMB/" (Hello, I am a MiniCPM series model developed by ModelBest and the OpenBMB open-source community).

Common shortcuts (Cmd on macOS, Ctrl on Windows):

ShortcutAction
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+MOpen or close the MiniCPM chat bubble
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+TShow or hide thinking mode
EscClose the bubble when the input box is focused

Status Companion While You Code​

Put the desk pet next to your workspace, and it changes its expression according to the coding agent's running state: thinking, working, task complete, waiting for your attention, resting, and more. During long coding sessions, you have a responsive little companion by your side.

The MiniCPM desktop character in its "thinking" state: a pixel-art white cat with blue and purple accents, purple stripes on its head, blue eyes, wing-like shapes on its sides and a curled tail. Thinking

The MiniCPM desktop character in its "working" state: an anthropomorphic cat wearing a purple headband and white outfit, holding a laptop with a blue logo, on a solid green background. Working

The MiniCPM desktop character in its "task complete" state: a pixel-art white cat with purple stripes and a blue round emblem on its chest, on a bright green background dotted with purple and yellow stars. Task complete

A Desktop Character with a Customizable Persona​

The app has a built-in neko-style persona adapter. You can switch adapters in 「Settings → MiniCPM」, or import your own adapter to make the desk pet's speaking style match your preferences.

The "Persona LoRA" settings screen in MiniCPM Desk Pet: the default Base option is selected, with a Neko option below for switching the pet's persona (narration always uses the Base model), plus "Upload LoRA", "Open storage folder" and "Refresh" buttons for importing and managing adapters.

Model Management​

On the 「Settings → MiniCPM」 settings page, you can:

  • Download the default model or select a local model file
  • Re-run the first-launch guide
  • Manage character / persona adapters
  • Restart the local model runtime when needed

The 「Settings → MiniCPM」 settings page of MiniCPM Desk Pet: the highlighted model section shows the selected model MiniCPM5 0.9B with its .gguf file path and "Show in folder" and change buttons, a "running" status in the top right, plus behavior settings such as the pet narration toggle, default thinking mode toggle and persona LoRA options.

3. Known Limitations​

Response speed is affected by the chip, memory pressure and model choice. Coding agent status reactions depend on each tool's own integration and may differ between versions.

4. Developers and Acknowledgements​

Developer notes: for the development environment, packaging process and repository structure, see docs/development.md.

Roadmap:

Expand Linux verification · Add more persona presets · Improve model download prompts, retries and diagnostics · Shorten first-launch time and reduce app size · Provide richer desk pet narration for long coding sessions.

Acknowledgements:

The desk pet UI is based on rullerzhou-afk/clawd-on-desk. See NOTICE.md for full attribution. Model weights come from the OpenBMB MiniCPM model family and are downloaded separately when used. The built-in neko persona is fine-tuned on the NekoQA-30K dataset.