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Add blog: My Coding Assistant Lives in a Box Now
Story-driven blog post about using EchoKit as a voice remote control for Claude Code through echokit_pty. Key highlights: - Personal narrative: 2 AM coding session sparked the idea - echokit_pty explained as "the missing piece" that makes it possible - Day-in-the-life examples showing real usage - Story-focused tone, not technical documentation - Emphasizes remote control over voice typing - Open source and extensible platform 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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‎doc/dev/2026-02-24-echokit-remote-control-claude-code.md‎

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slug: echokit-remote-control-claude-code
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title: "My Coding Assistant Lives in a Box Now | EchoKit"
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tags: [echokit, claude-code, remote-control, voice-ai]
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---
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It was 2 AM. I was deep in a coding session, fingers flying across the keyboard, completely in the zone. Then I hit a bug. I needed to run the tests.
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Which meant breaking my flow. Switching windows. Typing the command. Waiting. Switching back.
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I thought: *What if I could just say it?*
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## A Small Device, Big Idea
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That moment sparked an experiment. What if my AI coding assistant wasn't trapped in a terminal window, but lived in a small device on my desk? What if I could speak to it like a pair programmer sitting next to me?
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Not voice typing—I hate that. But voice *commands*. Like having a junior developer who actually does things, not just suggests them.
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So I built it.
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Today, I'm excited to share how EchoKit became a voice remote control for Claude Code. And why this changes everything about how I work.
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## It Started with a Problem
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Claude Code is amazing. It writes code, fixes bugs, runs tests, explains errors. But it lives in my terminal. To use it, I have to:
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- Stop typing
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- Switch to the terminal window
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- Type my question or command
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- Wait for the response
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- Switch back to my code
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Every time, it breaks my flow. It's a small friction, but multiplied by hundreds of times a day, it adds up.
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I wanted something different. Something that felt like... magic.
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## The Missing Piece
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I had EchoKit—my open-source voice AI device sitting on my desk. It can hear me, think, and respond. But it couldn't control my code editor.
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I needed a bridge.
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That bridge is called [echokit_pty](https://github.com/second-state/echokit_pty).
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**What is echokit_pty?** It's the web version of Claude Code, but with a superpower: a WebSocket interface.
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See, Claude Code was designed as a CLI tool. You run it in your terminal, type commands, get responses. That's great for terminal workflows. But for voice control? For remote access? For building *anything* on top of Claude Code?
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You need something more.
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echokit_pty is that "more."
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## How echokit_pty Changed Everything
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Here's what echokit_pty does: it takes Claude Code and exposes it through a WebSocket server. Suddenly, Claude Code isn't just a terminal app—it's a service that *anything* can talk to.
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My EchoKit device can send commands. A web app could send commands. A mobile app. A game controller. Anything that speaks WebSocket.
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But here's the beautiful part: it's still Claude Code. All the capabilities, all the intelligence, everything that makes Claude Code amazing—just accessible through a clean, simple interface.
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## The Setup: Three Pieces, One Experience
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Now my coding setup looks like this:
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**1. echokit_pty runs on my machine** — Starts a WebSocket server (ws://localhost:3000/ws)
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**2. EchoKit Server connects to it** — Handles speech recognition and text-to-speech
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**3. EchoKit Device sits on my desk** — Listens for my voice, speaks back responses
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```
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My Voice: "Run the tests"
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↓
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EchoKit Device (hears me)
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↓
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EchoKit Server (transcribes speech)
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↓
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echokit_pty (WebSocket connection)
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↓
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Claude Code (executes the command)
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↓
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Tests run, results stream back
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↓
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EchoKit speaks: "142 tests passed, 3 failed"
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```
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All while I keep typing. No window switching. No flow breaking.
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## A Day in the Life
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Let me show you what this actually feels like.
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**Morning:**
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I sit down with coffee. "EchoKit, run the full test suite." I start reading emails while tests run in the background. Five minutes later: "Tests complete. Two failures in the auth module."
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**Afternoon:**
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I'm stuck on a bug. "EchoKit, why is the login failing?" It explains the issue while I'm looking at the code. "Can you fix it?" "Done. Want me to run the tests?" "Yes."
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**Evening:**
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I'm tired, don't want to type. "EchoKit, create a new feature branch called dark-mode." "Deploy staging." "Check if the build passed." Each command happens while I'm leaning back in my chair.
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It feels like having a coding companion. Not a tool—a teammate.
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## Why This Matters
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I know what you're thinking: *Voice control for coding? Sounds weird.*
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And you're right—it *is* weird at first. But here's what I discovered:
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**It's not about voice typing.** I'm not dictating code. That would be terrible.
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**It's about remote control.** Think of it like a TV remote. You don't dictate to your TV—you press buttons to make things happen. EchoKit is the same, but with voice commands instead of buttons.
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**The magic is in the physical device.** Having something on my desk that's always there, always listening. No app to open. No window to find. Just speak.
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**It keeps me in the flow.** That's the biggest one. I can stay focused on coding while EchoKit handles tasks in the background. It's like having a second pair of hands.
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## The Tech Behind the Magic
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If you're curious how echokit_pty works technically, here's the short version:
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**PTY** stands for "pseudo-terminal"—a Unix concept that lets a program control a terminal as if a user were typing. echokit_pty uses this to create a bridge between:
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- **WebSocket clients** → send JSON commands
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- **Claude Code CLI** → executes the commands
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- **Response streaming** → sends results back
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It's built with Rust, runs locally, and is completely open source. No cloud required. Your code never leaves your machine.
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But here's what I care about: it just works.
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## What You Can Do
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So what does this actually look like in practice?
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**"Create a web page for me"**
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→ Claude Code generates the HTML, EchoKit confirms when done
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**"Run the tests"**
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→ Tests execute, EchoKit tells me the results
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**"Explain this error"**
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→ Claude Code analyzes, EchoKit reads the explanation
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**"Deploy to staging"**
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→ Deployment triggers, EchoKit confirms when complete
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**"Create a new branch"**
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→ Git command executes, no typing required
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I can speak from across the room. Keep my hands on the keyboard while EchoKit works in the background. Get voice feedback without breaking my flow.
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## Building Your Own
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This is the part I'm most excited about: everything here is open source.
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- **EchoKit** — Open hardware, Rust firmware, fully customizable
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- **echokit_pty** — Open source WebSocket interface for Claude Code
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- **EchoKit Server** — Rust-based voice AI server
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You can build this yourself. Or modify it. Or extend it.
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Want to add custom voice commands? Go ahead.
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Want to integrate with other tools? echokit_pty makes it possible.
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Want to build a completely different interface? The WebSocket is waiting.
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## The Future
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This experiment showed me something: AI coding assistants shouldn't be trapped in chat windows.
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They should be everywhere we need them. In physical devices. In web apps. In tools we build ourselves.
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echokit_pty is the bridge that makes this possible. And EchoKit is just the beginning.
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Imagine what else we could build:
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- Voice-controlled debugging from your phone
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- A web app that lets you pair program with Claude from anywhere
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- Mobile apps that control your coding environment
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- Games that teach you to code
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All built on top of echokit_pty.
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## Try It Yourself
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Ready to turn your AI assistant into a physical device?
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**Full Documentation:** [Remote Control Claude Code with Your Voice](https://echokit.dev/docs/use-cases/claude-code)
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**EchoKit Hardware:**
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- [EchoKit Box](https://echokit.dev/echokit_box.html) — Pre-assembled device
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- [EchoKit DIY Kit](https://echokit.dev/echokit_diy.html) — Build it yourself
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**echokit_pty Repository:** [github.com/second-state/echokit_pty](https://github.com/second-state/echokit_pty)
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**Join the Community:** [EchoKit Discord](https://discord.gg/Fwe3zsT5g3)
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Build something cool. Then tell me about it.
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---
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*PS: The first time I heard EchoKit say "Tests passed" while I was making coffee? That's when I knew this wasn't just a cool experiment. This was how I wanted to work from now on.*

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