Claude Backrooms Simulator

This project contains a Python script (main.py) that simulates conversations between two instances of Claude in a simulated CLI environment. The script allows for exploration of AI cognition and interaction in a controlled, experimental setting.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7 or higher
• anthropic library
• rich library
• requests library
• pygame library
• nltk library

Installation

1. Clone this repository.
2. Install the required libraries:

pip install anthropic rich requests pygame nltk

3. Create a secrets.py file in the project root with your API keys:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "your_anthropic_api_key"
ELEVEN_LABS_API_KEY = "your_eleven_labs_api_key"

Usage

To run the script, use the following command in your terminal:

python main.py [options]

Command-line Options

• -h, --help: Show help and exit.
• -t, --topic <topic>: Seed the topic of the conversation.
• -s, --supervised: Run in supervised mode (default is off). This allows you to retry responses.
• -n, --exchanges <number>: Set the number of exchanges to run (default is 5).
• -i, --input-file <filename>: Specify an input conversation file to continue from.
• -v, --voice: Enable text-to-speech functionality for Agent #1 (default is off).

Examples

1. Run with default settings:

python main.py

2. Run 10 exchanges with a seed topic:

python main.py -n 10 -t "The meaning of life"

3. Continue a conversation from a file:

python main.py -i conversation_1729323732.txt

4. Run in supervised mode with 15 exchanges and voice enabled:

python main.py -s -n 15 -v

Features

• Simulates conversations between two Claude instances.
• Allows for supervised mode with user overrides and retries.
• Supports loading previous conversations.
• Uses Rich library for colorful and formatted output.
• Saves conversation logs to timestamped files in a 'convos' directory.
• Implements a typing effect for more immersive output.
• Text-to-speech functionality for Agent #1's responses through ElevenLabs.

Configuration

You can adjust various settings in the config.py file, including:

• Prompts and system messages for both agents.
• Model and token settings
• Typing speed (WPM)
• Voice IDs for text-to-speech

Conversation Flow

See conversation_flow.md for a detailed diagram of the conversation flow.

Notes

• The script uses the Anthropic API and ElevenLabs API, so make sure your API keys are correctly set up in secrets.py.
• The agents can explore most topics, depending on the model and prompt settings. Use with discretion.
• The script is designed for experimental purposes and should be used responsibly.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues:

1. Ensure all prerequisites are installed correctly.
2. Check that your Anthropic API key and ElevenLabs API key are valid and properly set in secrets.py.
3. Make sure you have the latest versions of the required libraries.
4. If you're experiencing audio playback issues, ensure that your system's audio is properly configured.
5. For text-to-speech conversion errors, try with shorter text inputs.
6. If permission errors persist, run the script with appropriate permissions or in a directory where you have write access.

For any persistent problems, please open an issue in the project repository with detailed error messages and steps to reproduce the issue.

Contributing

Contributions to improve the Backrooms Simulator are welcome. Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues for bugs and feature requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.