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Feature request: Add Stay and Draggable modes for Codex pets #32377
Description
Summary
Codex Desktop pets currently evade the pointer when the user approaches them. This makes it difficult to click, grab, or reposition the pet, and turns a companion into something the user has to chase.
Please add two explicit interaction modes:
- Stay — the pet remains in place when the pointer approaches. This should be the default.
- Draggable — the pet can be clicked and dragged directly without first triggering flee or movement behavior.
Why these two modes
A pet is primarily a companion and status indicator. It should remain reachable and should not block basic interaction.
The current flee-on-hover behavior causes several problems:
- the pet disappears or moves before the user can grab it
- repositioning becomes frustrating and unpredictable
- users may interpret the behavior as a rendering bug
- directional animations can be triggered when the user only intended to drag the pet
- the interaction is especially confusing for custom pets with incomplete directional rows
Even with a complete spritesheet, mandatory evasion is still undesirable for users who want a calm desktop companion.
Expected behavior
Stay
- pointer approach does not trigger movement
- pet continues its current state animation
- clicking or hovering does not make it flee
- suitable as the default interaction mode
Draggable
- pointer down immediately captures the pet
- drag begins without triggering
move_left,move_right,running-left, orrunning-right - releasing the pointer places the pet at the new position
- no evasive animation occurs before or during drag
Suggested setting
A per-user or per-pet setting such as:
Pet interaction
- Stay (default)
- Draggable
These two modes are enough for users who want the pet to behave as a stable companion rather than a mini-game.
A companion should be reachable. The user should not have to chase it in order to move it.
Activity
Crystal32378 commentedon Jul 11, 2026
Additional runtime evidence from a custom pet:
running-leftis now populated and displays correctly.running-rightis populated and displays correctly.This rules out missing directional rows as the explanation for the disappearance. It may be a separate grab/drag state selecting another animation row, or App-level overlay behavior during pointer capture.
A full spritesheet test will help distinguish those cases, but the interaction problem remains: the user cannot reliably grab and reposition the pet. This supports the need for a true Draggable mode where pointer-down captures the pet immediately without switching animation state first.
Crystal32378 commentedon Jul 11, 2026
Additional runtime evidence from a custom pet on macOS:
running-leftandrunning-rightrows are both present and render correctly.This strongly suggests the disappearance is not caused by missing directional frames or stale app state. It appears to be App-level pointer-down / drag behavior in the desktop pet overlay.
Requested behavior remains:
Stayas the defaultDraggableinteraction without hiding or fleeingA visible companion should remain visible when the user grabs it.