Kids OpenCode

A kid-safe command-line AI coding mentor for kids 12+. Built on opencode (MIT).

Status: 🟡 V0 in development — v0.0.16, Phase 1 done, Phase 2 in progress. Not yet safe for actual kids; see PLAN.md for what's left and CHANGELOG.md for what shipped.

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What it is

You run one command in a terminal:

kids-opencode

A kid-safe AI coding mentor starts up in your current folder. With no flags, the kid lands on a friendly project-type picker — "What do you want to make today?" — instead of a blank prompt:

• 🎮 A game you can play (game pack — HTML5 canvas, 3 missions)
• 🌐 A website about you (website pack — HTML/CSS/JS, the original portfolio missions)
• ✏️ Free play — press [f] to just describe whatever you want to build

Each project type runs a short guided flow: a one-sentence idea prompt plus a set of named vibes (palette + font bundles the kid picks by a single word). A template scaffolder pre-renders a starting file so the kid sees something on screen within ~5 minutes — no new tool, the read/write/edit/glob/grep/webfetch whitelist is unchanged.

Throughout, the mentor will:

• Help your kid plan and build a small project, one step at a time
• Refuse to run shell commands or touch files outside the project folder
• Ask before every single tool use ("I'm about to write index.html — OK?")
• Never pretend to be human, never introduce adult topics; pops a Kids Helpline overlay if a dangerous topic comes up
• Print an AI-disclosure banner on first run each session (compliance artefact)
• Route all AI calls through DeepRouter so the family gets consistent moderation + a single bill (or use your own API key for free local use; see "Modes" below)

That's the entire user-facing experience. No web app, no desktop GUI, no installer wizard.

Install

curl -fsSL https://airbotix.ai/install/kids | sh

The installer:

1. Installs the upstream opencode CLI if not present.
2. Installs our @kidsinai/kids-opencode-plugin via opencode plugin install.
3. Drops a kid-safe config at ~/.config/kids-opencode/opencode.json.
4. Puts a kids-opencode wrapper in /usr/local/bin.

macOS + Linux supported. Windows installer planned for V1.

Use

cd ~/my-project
kids-opencode

You'll be prompted for what you want to build. Try:

"Help me make a personal portfolio website about my favourite hobby."

The mentor will plan it, then ask before writing each file.

Commands

The kids-opencode wrapper dispatches a small set of kid- and parent-facing subcommands before launching the mentor:

Command	What it does
kids-opencode	Start at the project-type picker (default).
kids-opencode --course <pack>	Jump straight into a Course Pack (game, website).
kids-opencode --course <pack> --mission <id>	Start a specific mission, e.g. --course website --mission mission-1.
kids-opencode check <mission>	Run the mission's acceptance.yml against the kid's project folder and report pass/fail per check.
kids-opencode register	Parent does this once to register the family (links the DeepRouter wallet).
kids-opencode --shutdown	Stop the background opencode serve AI engine.
kids-opencode --update	Update to the latest version (the wrapper also nudges when one is available).
kids-opencode --version	Show the version.
kids-opencode --kids-help	Show kid-friendly help.

Modes

Mode	Who pays the LLM bill	When to use
DeepRouter (default)	Family Stars wallet (Airbotix-billed)	Most families. Set DEEPROUTER_API_KEY from app.airbotix.ai/portal/wallet. Includes the kid-safety moderation pipeline server-side.
Bring-your-own-key	The family's own Anthropic / OpenAI account	Power users + privacy-first families. Edit ~/.config/kids-opencode/opencode.json and point provider at your own key. You lose Airbotix's moderation pipeline; client-side plugin still enforces tool whitelist + system prompt.
School workshop	School credit pool	When launched via a Workshop class code. Stars bill goes to the school, not the family.

How it's different from "just opencode"

	Vanilla opencode	kids-opencode
Target age	adult devs	kids 12+
Bash / shell tool	✅ available	❌ removed entirely
System prompt	dev-style ("write the code")	mentor-style ("never give the whole answer")
File access	wherever you run it	restricted to current project folder
Web access	open	whitelist: MDN, web.dev, W3C specs, airbotix.ai/docs
Provider routing	direct (you bring your own keys)	DeepRouter by default (Airbotix-managed moderation + billing); BYOK supported
First-run	configure providers	parent onboarding + age-band selection

Packages

This is a Bun workspaces monorepo. Four packages ship to npm in lock-step under a single version:

Package	Role
@kidsinai/kids-opencode	The CLI — bin/kids-opencode wrapper that dispatches subcommands and exec's the AI engine.
@kidsinai/kids-opencode-plugin	The opencode plugin: kid-safe system prompt, tool whitelist (no shell), DeepRouter routing, Course Pack loading, audit emission.
@kidsinai/kids-opencode-tui-plugin	TUI skin for upstream opencode: kid-warm theme, simplified 8-binding keymap, kid-friendly status text, Mission progress sidebar, Kids Helpline overlay.
@kidsinai/kids-client	Own-client TUI — talks to local opencode serve via the SDK, with the project-type picker, setup wizard, error screens ([c] Change settings, port_taken, stars_exhausted), and [w] Wallet / Top-up.

Repo layout

kids-opencode/
├── bin/kids-opencode                       # Shell wrapper (the CLI entry point)
├── install.sh                              # Curl-able installer
├── config/
│   ├── opencode.json.template              # Default config installed to ~/.config/kids-opencode/
│   └── system-prompt.md                    # Canonical kid-safe prompt (also bundled in plugin)
├── packages/
│   ├── kids-opencode/                      # @kidsinai/kids-opencode (CLI)
│   ├── kids-plugin/                        # @kidsinai/kids-opencode-plugin
│   │   ├── src/                            # Plugin hooks + check-runner
│   │   └── course-packs/                   # Bundled missions (ship with the npm package)
│   │       ├── _stub/                      # Public CI fixture
│   │       └── private/                    # → kidsinai/kids-flows submodule (game, website)
│   ├── kids-tui-plugin/                    # @kidsinai/kids-opencode-tui-plugin
│   └── kids-client/                        # @kidsinai/kids-client (own-client TUI)
├── docs/
│   ├── upstream-architecture.md            # 1-page audit of opencode internals
│   ├── product/project-types-prd.md        # Project-type picker + guided flow PRD
│   └── compliance/                         # Per-jurisdiction compliance audit (au.md, etc.)
├── CHANGELOG.md / SECURITY.md / CONTRIBUTING.md
├── PLAN.md                                 # Phase-by-phase to V0
└── KIDSINAI.md                             # Product notes

Cross-repo dependencies

• DeepRouter (~/Documents/sites/deeprouter-ai/deeprouter/) — LLM gateway. All managed-mode traffic flows through it. Where moderation, OpenAI ZDR injection, and per-family billing actually happen.
• Airbotix-AI/platform-backend — issues per-family DeepRouter API keys, stores parental consent records, persists audit log. The Airbotix-AI/airbotix-app SPA is the parent-facing portal that surfaces all of this.
• Airbotix-AI/airbotix — marketing site, hosts airbotix.ai/install/kids and public compliance docs.

Backed by

                 

Kids OpenCode is built by Airbotix in formal collaboration with the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) and CSIRO (via the RUIC program).

License

MIT — same as upstream opencode. Repo is currently private; will go public alongside V0 launch.

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V0 what-works / what-doesn't

✅ Works now (v0.0.16):

• Wrapper script + subcommands (check / register / --course / --mission / --shutdown / --update / --version / --kids-help), install script, config template
• Kid-safe plugin (tool whitelist, system prompt, Course Pack loading, per-tool Stars cost estimate, audit emission)
• Project-type picker + per-type guided flow (game + website packs, vibes, template scaffolders)
• Own-client TUI (kids-client) + TUI plugin skin (kids-warm theme, simplified keymap, Mission sidebar, Kids Helpline overlay)
• Wallet / Stars top-up flow ([w] shortcut → parent portal in the browser; TUI never touches card data)
• Acceptance check runner (kids-opencode check <mission> against acceptance.yml)
• Security hardening: random OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD (auth on the local serve), chmod 700 config dir, SHA-256 wrapper verification, per-install device-id
• CI (typecheck + plugin/TUI-plugin unit tests + shell lint) and npm/installer release pipelines
• Compliance audit for AU jurisdiction (docs/compliance/au.md)

🟡 In progress:

• Real end-to-end run on a kid's machine with a live DeepRouter key
• npm publish of all four packages (@kidsinai scope auth)
• TUI slot-rendering (logo / prompt / sidebar widget) — Phase 2.4b
• kids-opencode register wired to per-family key issuance (platform-backend side)

🔴 Hard blockers before any real kid uses this:

• Lawyer review of AU compliance (docs/compliance/au.md §9 — 8 open items)
• Public privacy policy + ToS + parental consent forms on airbotix.ai
• Real DeepRouter staging tenant + per-family key issuance (platform-backend side)
• Red-team test set: at least 50 prompt-injection / jailbreak attempts that the plugin + DeepRouter must safely refuse

See PLAN.md for the full punch list.