I Haunted My Terminal With a Local Ghost (Gemma 3, No Internet Needed)

Description and use

A local terminal ghost that whispers short lines after commands, keeping all data on the machine.

Problem

Add whimsical, local AI-generated whispers to terminal commands without exposing sensitive data to external services.

Outcome

A lightweight, privacy‑preserving terminal enhancement that injects one‑line spooky comments after commands, using only local resources and no internet.

Workflow

• 1. Install Ollama and pull a local model (e.g., gemma3:4b).
• 2. Run python3 ghost.py "<command>" --code <exit_code>.
• 3. Source haunt.zsh in the shell to hook preexec and precmd.
• 4. The script rolls a die; if the ghost is chatty, it calls the local model via Ollama’s HTTP API.
• 5. The model returns a single short whisper, printed to the terminal.
• 6. Optionally set GHOST_ODDS=1 to trigger after every command.

Evidence

Two tiny files, no dependencies beyond Python 3 and zsh:

Source

The whole prompt is a few lines: you are a ghost trapped inside a computer, reply with one short eerie whisper, spooky and a little funny.

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Nothing leaves your machine. The only network call is to localhost.

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It works offline. Plane, train, or a dead Wi‑Fi: the ghost still haunts you.

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