Batteries-included Claude Code template project

Ideas and Tips
1

(Apologies if this already exists in some form, but I couldn’t find anything exactly like this in the forums, and wanted to share in case it helps others!)

Hey folks, I’ve been working on a little setup that helps to create and iterate on PixelBlaze patterns conversationally using Claude Code (Anthropic’s AI coding tool). Instead of writing pattern code by hand, you describe what you want in natural language and Claude writes, deploys, and refines the code on your device in real time. I have been able to author dozens of patterns for my new project in the span of minutes; rather than spending days writing them by hand, or just giving up and using “off-the-shelf” patterns.

How it works

A custom MCP (Model Context Protocol) server connects Claude Code directly to your PixelBlaze over the local network, with the help of pixelblaze-client. Claude can create patterns, update code, switch active patterns, adjust brightness, read device info - basically everything you’d do in the web editor, but driven by conversation. A CLAUDE.md file teaches Claude about your specific hardware so it generates patterns that actually look good on your display.

Repo: pixelblaze-claude

What’s included

  • MCP server (Python) that exposes PixelBlaze controls as tools Claude can call
  • Cached language reference so Claude can interrogate the full PixelBlaze API
  • 22 ready-to-deploy patterns with full documentation
  • Hardware-specific design guidance in CLAUDE.md (brightness targets, animation speed guidelines, color dynamism rules, layer differentiation techniques)
  • Patterns auto-detect grid dimensions at startup via mapPixels(), so they adapt to different hardware without code changes

My setup

8 edge-lit acrylic layers stacked front-to-back (a depth display), each with 32 LEDs along the bottom edge - built from 4 Adafruit 8x8 panels. The Y axis maps to discrete layers rather than a smooth gradient, so the design guidance focuses on creating strong per-layer contrast while running smooth effects within each layer. But the agent guidance can be adapted for any 2D or 3D layout - flat panels, cylinders, whatever.

Example prompts

“Create a new pattern that looks like rain falling through the layers”

“The brightness is too low - make more raindrops and make them wider”

“Add a slider for the size of the drops”

The whole loop from idea to running effect takes seconds, and you can keep refining with natural language feedback. It’s particularly useful for effects that involve tricky math (Perlin noise fields, particle systems, physics simulations) where describing the desired result is much easier than writing the code.

Getting started

(More details in the README.md file).

  1. Install and configure Claude Code for your platform
  2. Clone the repo, run uv sync
  3. Set your PixelBlaze IP in .env
  4. Create .mcp.json pointing to the MCP server
  5. Run claude in the project directory
  6. Start asking for patterns

Repo: pixelblaze-claude

Happy to answer questions, and would love to hear if others try this out! PRs are welcome unless this blows up too much. Right now, the project is a little specific to my own needs, but it should be easy to adapt to other scenarios by using Claude itself. The README.md file includes examples of how to do this.

2 Likes