WHAT IT IS
==========
WorkbenchAI puts a chat window on your Amiga's Workbench screen and
connects it to Claude, Anthropic's AI, over the serial port. You type a
question on the Amiga; the answer comes back and is drawn in the window
-- and read aloud, if you want, by the 1978 speech synthesiser that came
with the machine.
It is a real Intuition program written for OS 1.3 in plain C: no
gadtools, no MUI, no 2.0 calls. Tested on a stock Amiga 1000 under
Kickstart 1.3, 2.0 and 3.0.
Amiga --serial--> WiModem232 --WiFi--> Hub on a PC --> Claude
Amiga <-------------------------------------------------- reply
WHAT IS IN THE ARCHIVE
======================
WorkbenchAI the Amiga program, and its icon
WorkbenchAI.readme this file
PC/WorkbenchAI-Hub.exe the other half, for a Windows PC
Both halves are needed. The Amiga cannot reach the internet or speak
HTTPS, so the PC does that part: the hub owns the modem, hosts Claude,
and passes text back and forth. Nothing is metered per token -- a Claude
subscription covers it, and there is no API key to configure.
WHAT YOU NEED
=============
On the Amiga:
Kickstart/Workbench 1.3 or newer (1.3, 2.x and 3.x all tested)
A free serial port, unit 0
Optional: LIBS:translator.library and DEVS:narrator.device for
speech. Both ship with 1.3 and 2.0; Commodore dropped them from 2.1
onward, so copy them across if you want a talking Amiga.
Optional: LIBS:xprzmodem.library to receive files
Optional: C:LhA to unpack what you receive
On the PC (Windows):
WorkbenchAI-Hub.exe from this archive
The Claude Code CLI, installed and logged in. The hub checks for it
on first run and shows you the command to install it.
An Anthropic account with a Claude subscription
Between them, one of:
A WiModem232 on the Amiga's serial port, talking to the PC over your
network. This is what the author uses and what is tested.
A null-modem or USB-serial cable straight from the Amiga's serial
port to the PC. Supported and selectable in Settings, but not tested
by the author -- if you try it, do write and say how it went.
Either way the Amiga's serial rate must match: WorkbenchAI takes it from
Workbench Preferences, and the hub is told the same number in Settings.
There is no autobaud.
GETTING STARTED
===============
1. Copy WorkbenchAI to your Amiga -- floppy, CF card, whatever you
normally use. This first copy cannot come over the wire: the program
has to be running before it can receive anything.
2. On the PC, run WorkbenchAI-Hub.exe. It will tell you what is missing
and how to fix it, then ask for your Amiga's IP address.
3. Set the Amiga's serial rate in Preferences to match your modem, save,
and double-click WorkbenchAI.
4. Type something and press Return.
The window opens empty. That is deliberate: anything it says on startup
is something that needs your attention.
WHAT IT CAN DO
==============
Ask it about the machine it is running on and it asks the Amiga, rather
than guessing: free space on every volume, the Kickstart and library
versions, how much chip and fast RAM there is, the screen mode. It can
set the Amiga's clock, which an A1000 needs at every boot. It can open
the Clock or a Shell window on your Workbench screen. It can search the
web, and it can fetch a file -- from Aminet, say -- and send it down the
wire with ZMODEM, then offer to unpack it for you.
Speech is off by default; turn it on in Settings (right-Amiga E), where
the voice, rate and pitch live too. It reads numbers, dates, times and
filenames the way a person would say them, which took more work than
you might think.
THANKS AND CONTACT
==================
Bug reports are welcome at the address above. If it Gurus, the number
helps -- and so does what you were doing at the time.
LICENCE
=======
Freeware. Copyright (C) 2026 Haakon Kjole.
Free of charge, for any use. You may pass it on -- on Aminet, on a cover
disk, in a collection -- as long as the archive stays complete and
unmodified and nobody is charged for the program itself. Anything beyond
that, just ask.
No warranty of any kind. It talks to your serial port, writes files
where you tell it to, and can set your clock. It has been tested on real
hardware under 1.3, 2.0 and 3.0, but you run it at your own risk.
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