A developer got tired of the same routine - copy a WhatsApp message, switch tabs to Claude, paste it in, copy the reply, switch back - and built a fix. Deus is an open-source project that bridges WhatsApp directly to Claude, so you can message the AI without leaving your chat app.
The setup runs as a local service on your machine. It uses WhatsApp's unofficial API alongside your own Anthropic API key (the paid API that powers Claude, separate from the Claude.ai subscription). You send a message in WhatsApp, Deus forwards it to Claude, and the reply lands back in the same thread.
The use case is more practical than it might sound. WhatsApp is how huge portions of the world do business - freelancers, consultants, real estate agents, and agencies in markets outside the US often have clients who message exclusively there. Running a WhatsApp thread through Claude without app-switching saves a real slice of daily friction.
Two caveats worth knowing: WhatsApp's unofficial API violates the platform's terms of service, which carries a ban risk on your account. And since this runs locally, you're responsible for keeping it running. The project is a developer's personal workflow fix that they've open-sourced, not a polished app. The code is on GitHub at github.com/sliamh11/Deus for anyone who wants to adapt it.