I Built a Haunted Terminal That Scares You Into Taking Breaks

Description and use

A terminal ghost forces developers to step away from the screen with horror visuals and breathing instructions, logging break duration.

Problem

Polite break reminders are ignored; developers need a more compelling prompt to take breaks.

Outcome

23 breaks and 46.0 minutes away from the screen were logged after using haunt.

Workflow

• Every few minutes a random timer triggers
• Ask a local Llama3.2:3b model to generate a whisper, health tip, and theme
• Display a horror still/GIF/video rendered as ANSI half‑block cells
• Show a calm panel with a countdown and breathing instructions
• Log the break duration for statistics

Evidence

Every break reminder I have ever installed died the same death: a toast slid into the corner of the screen, I thought "in a minute", and that was that.

Source

Every few minutes (randomised, so you cannot brace for it), haunt: asks a local open‑weight model to write one unsettling line and one concrete break instruction; slams a horror image, GIF, or video over your terminal; replaces it with a calm panel that holds a countdown while you breathe, stretch, and walk away; logs the break so --stats can tell you how long you actually spent away from the screen.

Source

When you quit, it prints the damage: 23 breaks, 46.0 minutes away from the screen.

Source