. * . * . * . * . * . * .
      *                           *
    .    _________________________    .
   *    |                         |    *
  .     |   * . * . * . * . * .   |     .
  *     |  .   A I R G L O W   .  |     *
  .     |   * . * . * . * . * .   |     .
  *     |  .   * . * . * . * .    |     *
   .    |_________________________|    .
    *                               *
      .    *   .   *   .   *   .   .
        * . * . * . * . * . * . * .

airglow

Watch Claude think. A Philips Hue MCP server + Claude Code hooks that animate your lights in real time based on what Claude is doing — cyan while thinking, magenta while working, green on success, red on permission prompts. Every session, every tool call, every moment of focus: visible. Works even when your screen is locked or off — glance at the light to know if Claude needs your attention.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or later
• Philips Hue bridge (gen 2+) on your local network
• At least one color-capable Hue bulb

Install

npm install

Setup

The setup tool handles everything. Call it from Claude at any point — it checks your config and tells you exactly what to do next.

1. Add to Claude Code

Drop this into ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hue": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/airglow/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

2. Run guided setup

setup()

The tool will auto-discover your bridge, walk you through registering an API key (press the link button, call create_user), then list your lights and suggest one for animations — matched by name. Finish with one call:

setup({ default_group: 0, hook_light_id: 6 })

This saves everything to .env and returns a ready-to-paste hook block for your project's .claude/settings.json.

Environment variables

| Variable | Default | Description | |----------|---------|-------------| | HUE_BRIDGE_IP | — | Bridge IP address | | HUE_USERNAME | — | API key (from create_user) | | HUE_DEFAULT_GROUP | 0 | Group ID for set_status (0 = all lights) | | HUE_HOOK_LIGHT | — | Light ID for session animations | | HUE_MAX_BRIGHTNESS | 60 | Brightness cap, 0–100% |

Copy .env.example to .env to configure manually, or let setup() write these for you.

Claude Code Session Hooks

        thinking          working           prompt
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     ~ CYAN pulse ~    ~ MAGENTA  ~    ~  RED pulse   ~
     ~ slow breathe~   ~ pulse    ~    ~  30s then    ~
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~     ~~ ~~~~~ ~~~    ~  idle        ~
                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hue-status.js animates a single light based on Claude Code session events. Every hook invocation kills the previous pulse and starts fresh — no orphaned processes, no stuck colors.

| Event | Color | Behavior | |-------|-------|----------| | User submits prompt | cyan | pulse (thinking) | | Tool starts | magenta | pulse (working) | | Tool ends | cyan | pulse (thinking) | | Plan approved | green | solid flash, then resumes | | Permission prompt | red | pulse, 30s auto-expire → idle | | Session ends | — | restores pre-session state |

The pre-session light state is saved on the first prompt of each session and restored when the session stops.

Hook configuration

Generated automatically by setup(). To configure manually, add to your project's .claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "UserPromptSubmit": [
      { "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node /path/to/airglow/hue-status.js thinking" }] }
    ],
    "PreToolUse": [
      { "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node /path/to/airglow/hue-status.js working" }] }
    ],
    "PostToolUse": [
      { "matcher": "exit_plan_mode", "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node /path/to/airglow/hue-status.js success" }] },
      { "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node /path/to/airglow/hue-status.js thinking" }] }
    ],
    "Notification": [
      { "matcher": "permission_prompt", "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node /path/to/airglow/hue-status.js prompt" }] }
    ],
    "Stop": [
      { "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node /path/to/airglow/hue-status.js restore" }] }
    ]
  }
}

The light ID defaults to HUE_HOOK_LIGHT from .env. To pin a project to a specific light, pass the ID as the second argument:

node hue-status.js thinking 55

To bind different projects to different lights without git conflicts, use settings.local.json (automatically gitignored by Claude Code) in each project's .claude/ directory.

Available Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | setup | Guided onboarding — discovers bridge, registers API key, selects animation light, returns hook config | | discover_bridge | Find Hue bridges on the local network | | create_user | Register a new API user (press the link button first) | | get_lights | List lights — filterable by room, on/off state, or color capability | | get_groups | List all groups and rooms | | get_scenes | List all saved scenes | | get_sensors | List motion sensors, temperature sensors, buttons, and remotes | | get_dynamic_scenes | List animated smart scenes — Candle, Fireplace, etc. (v2 API) | | set_light | Control a single light — on/off, brightness (0–100%), color temp (153–500 mired), RGB, HSL, flash alert, transition time | | set_group | Control all lights in a group simultaneously — same params as set_light | | set_effect | Apply a native animated effect to lights — candle, fire, prism, sparkle, opal, glisten, cosmos. Pass no_effect to clear. | | set_status | Set lights to a semantic status color | | activate_scene | Activate a saved scene by ID | | activate_dynamic_scene | Activate an animated smart scene with optional speed control | | create_scene | Snapshot current light state as a named scene |

Status Colors

set_status maps named statuses to specific light states — great for CI pipelines, agents, or anything that has a "mood."

| Status | Color | Vibe | |--------|-------|------| | idle | warm white | nothing happening | | thinking | soft blue | Claude is reasoning | | working | bright blue | tools firing | | building | amber | compiling / CI | | waiting | purple | blocked on review | | success | green | nailed it | | deployed | teal | shipped | | error | red | something broke | | alert | red flash | wake up | | pulse_once | one breathe cycle | gentle nudge, returns to prior state | | off | off | done |

set_status({ status: "thinking" })
set_status({ status: "success", group_id: 3 })
set_status({ status: "pulse_once", light_id: 6 })

Dynamic Scenes

get_dynamic_scenes and activate_dynamic_scene use the Hue v2 CLIP API to access animated smart scenes. Requires gen 2 bridge with current firmware and scenes created in the Hue app.

get_dynamic_scenes()
activate_dynamic_scene({ scene_id: "uuid-from-above" })
activate_dynamic_scene({ scene_id: "uuid", speed: 0.7 })   // speed: 0.0–1.0

Scene Snapshots

create_scene captures exactly what your lights look like right now as a named scene you can recall anytime:

create_scene({ name: "Evening Work" })                      // captures HUE_DEFAULT_GROUP
create_scene({ name: "Office Focus", group_id: 3 })         // specific room
create_scene({ name: "Desk Only", light_ids: [6, 55] })     // specific lights

Returns a scene ID ready for activate_scene.