go-touch-grass

Your terminal knows you need to go outside. This CLI will tell you why.

npx go-touch-grass

That's it. Run it. Get roasted. Go outside.

Why this exists

You've got a 500-day commit streak. Your GitHub contribution graph is so green it could photosynthesize. Your IDE has a darker dark mode than your under-eye circles.

Somewhere between your 47th open tab and your third energy drink, you forgot that the sun is a real thing. Your posture looks like a question mark. Your Vitamin D levels are in the "have you considered living above ground?" range. Your therapist has started billing you in story points.

go-touch-grass is an intervention disguised as a CLI tool:

• Roasts you with one of 67+ (yes, I did it) messages about your screen-addicted life choices
• Shows you what outside looks like via ASCII art (because you've forgotten)
• Tracks your outdoor streak — same dopamine as a GitHub graph, but good for you
• Assigns a 10-minute break with a countdown timer, because apparently adults need to be told when to go outside
• Lets you share on social media — if you touched grass and didn't tweet about it, did it even happen?

We built this because we are the target audience. We are the 2am debug session. We are the "I'll go outside after this PR." We are the reason this tool exists.

Get it

npx go-touch-grass           # zero install, just run it
npm install -g go-touch-grass # or install globally if you're committed (to self-care)

Also available as a VS Code / Cursor extension — streak counter in your status bar, reminders, the whole thing.

What it does

        ^        *   *
       /|\          *
      / | \
  ___/  |  \___
 (  touch    )
  \  grass  /
   \       /
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
>>> You have been in dark mode for 14 hours.
    The sun has better rendering.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  streak: 5 days | total: 42 touches | longest: 12 days
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

   ╭─────────────────────────────────╮
   │   ⏱ YOUR OUTDOOR ASSIGNMENT    │
   │   Duration: 10 minutes          │
   │   Return by: 3:45 PM           │
   │                                 │
   │   Do NOT touch your keyboard.   │
   │   Do NOT check Slack.           │
   │   Touch grass. Breathe air.     │
   ╰─────────────────────────────────╯

One touch per day. Streaks reset if you skip a day. Milestones at 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 touches.

Flags for the impatient

npx go-touch-grass --streak       # just show me my stats
npx go-touch-grass --share        # share to Twitter/X, LinkedIn, or Instagram
npx go-touch-grass --noTimer      # skip the countdown
npx go-touch-grass --noShare      # skip the social media prompt
npx go-touch-grass --time 5       # 5-minute break instead of 10
npx go-touch-grass --help         # you know what this does

Your data

All local. No cloud. No telemetry. No accounts. Just a tiny JSON file:

• Linux / macOS: ~/.config/go-touch-grass/config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\go-touch-grass\config.json

Contribute

Honestly? We'll take anything. This is a CLI that tells people to go outside — we're not guarding the gates here.

• ASCII art scenes → src/art.js — arrays of strings, 80 columns wide
• Roast messages → src/messages.js — under ~100 chars, must be funny at 2am
• Wild ideas — Python port? Homebrew formula? A cron job that runs it during your CI pipeline? A build that runs on your fridge? Yes. All of it. Open an issue and let's talk.
• Bug fixes — if you found a bug in a tool that tells you to go outside, that's honestly impressive. Fix it and we'll merge it between outdoor breaks.
• New platforms — Android widget, Slack bot, Raycast extension, a version that works on your smart toaster — if it has a screen, it should be telling someone to touch grass.
• Improvements — better streaks, new milestones, sound effects, whatever. If it makes the experience more fun without making it serious, we're in.

The only rule: keep it fun. This is a joke that accidentally became wellness software. Let's keep it that way.

Open an issue · Start a discussion

GPL-3.0 · Made for developers who need a reminder to go outside

Your code will still be there in 10 minutes. Your mental health might not be.