Everywhere

Jev on your desk

A small screen on USB shows Jev beside your work: his face follows what Jevie is doing, and a tap answers a prompt that is waiting.

FreeMacA Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-1.8A USB-C data cableESP-IDF v6.0.3 to flash it

Use itHow it worksLimitsSet it upWhere it's kept

Use it

• how do I set up jev on my desk · the steps below, from this guide
• explain desk jev · what the board shows and what a tap can answer
• Plug the board into your Mac with a USB-C data cable · Jev wakes on it within a few seconds
• A coding agent asks to run something · Jev looks up, the question shows as a card: Deny, and Allow when it is low risk
• A long job runs · Jev focuses, its progress line and a bar under him
• It finishes · he grins, or frowns if it failed
• Nothing for ten minutes · he dozes

How it works

The board is a Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-1.8: an AMOLED touch screen, a battery, a microphone and a speaker in a small case. The board is Jev's shell, and its screen is his. Jevie's own firmware draws him with the same numbers as the app: each mood's eyes, lids, look and tilt, and the same springs between them, all taken from Jev's drawing.

Your Mac decides what he shows; the board only draws it. Every few seconds Jevie checks for a new USB port. It opens a port only when Espressif's USB answers on it, and keeps it only if the board replies as Jev. Unplug it and Jevie lets go.

A tap answers a prompt as a phone notification's buttons do. Deny always works. Allow works only for a prompt Jevie graded low risk, and only for the exact prompt the board showed. Anything else says Open Jevie to allow on the board. Something that cannot be undone is never allowed from the board.

Limits

• One board, one model. Only the Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-1.8 is supported. The firmware is new and has not run on a board yet.
• USB only. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are not used yet. The board's microphone and speaker are not used yet either: talk to Jev at the Mac.
• A simpler Jev. He has his eyes, lids and glyphs, but no shell, hands or mouth: the board is his body.
• The firmware is flashed by hand (below), not by Jevie.

Set it up

• Install ESP-IDF v6.0.3: git clone -b v6.0.3 --recursive https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf.git ~/esp/esp-idf-v6, then ~/esp/esp-idf-v6/install.sh esp32s3.
• In jevie/desk/firmware: . ~/esp/esp-idf-v6/export.sh, then idf.py build.
• Plug the board in and run idf.py -p /dev/cu.usbmodem* flash. Jev appears on it.

Turn it off with JEVIE_DESK=0 in Jevie's environment.

Where it's kept

• The firmware: jevie/desk/firmware (the protocol in main/jev_proto.c, the springs in main/jev_anim.c, the face in main/jev_face.c)
• His moods, generated from jevie/assets/jev/jev.js: node jevie/desk/gen-moods.mjs
• The Mac's side: jevie/kernel/desk-jev.mjs; the protocol: docs/desk-jev.md

In Jevie, help jev on my desk answers from this page as you type.

Related

Updated 8 November 2026 · Something wrong or missing? Tell us