🥩 pi-meat

Read the change. Skip the gristle

Navigable reading diffs for Pi, powered by Meat and your existing Pi model.

pi-meat opens the original Git diff immediately while it builds a smaller reading diff in the same navigable terminal viewer. It uses the model already authenticated in Pi: no second provider account or API key is required.

• Move directly between changed files.
• Switch between reading and original diffs at any time.
• Use unified or synchronized side-by-side panes.
• Hand the result back to Pi for a verification-oriented review.

A reading diff reduces noise; it does not prove correctness. Verify findings against the original diff and repository source.

Requirements

• Pi interactive TUI
• Node.js 24+
• Go 1.24.13+
• Git

Go is currently required because the package ships the bridge source and falls back to go run. Prebuilt bridge binaries are planned.

Install

Install the latest npm release:

pi install npm:@andreaarrighi/pi-meat

Try it without a persistent install:

pi -e npm:@andreaarrighi/pi-meat

Pin a release or install tagged Git source:

pi install npm:@andreaarrighi/pi-meat@0.1.0
pi install git:github.com/arro000/pi-meat@v0.1.0

Pi packages run with your full user permissions. Review the source and security policy before installation.

Quick start

1. Start Pi inside a Git repository.
2. Authenticate and select a model in Pi as usual.
3. Run /meat-settings to set Meat's persistent model, thinking level, and startup mode.
4. Run /meat and choose what to examine and what to do. The original diff opens immediately.
5. In default startup mode, Meat starts immediately. In on-demand mode, press Tab to open Reading and Enter to start Meat.
6. Click a code line (or press c), type the comment in the overlaid dialog, and press Enter; click a marked line to read or edit its comment, then press r to send comments with the review request to Pi.

Choose changes

Running /meat without arguments opens an interactive menu. First choose what to examine:

• Latest commit (HEAD)
• Staged changes
• Unstaged changes
• All local changes
• A commit range, such as v1.2.0..HEAD
• Current branch compared with main (main...HEAD)
• A custom revision or range

Then choose whether to explore the reading diff or review the changes with Pi. The menu requires Pi's interactive TUI.

CLI shortcuts remain available:

Command	Changes opened
/meat <revision>	Specific commit
/meat main...HEAD	Revision or branch range
/meat staged	Staged changes
/meat worktree	Unstaged changes
/meat w	Short alias for worktree
/meat all	Staged and unstaged changes
/meat HEAD --fresh	Ignore the matching cached result and create a new one

pi-meat accepts one revision, range, or named selector per run. It must run inside a Git repository.

Viewer controls

Key	Action
j / k, ↑ / ↓	Scroll vertically
h / l, ← / →	Scroll source horizontally
PgUp / PgDn, Home / End	Page or jump through the current file
n / p	Next / previous changed file
s	Toggle side-by-side / unified layout
Space	Fold / unfold the current file
Tab	Toggle reading / original diff; the status line below the modes remains visible throughout generation
Enter	Start Meat from the Reading view when startup mode is on-demand
c	Add or edit the selected line's comment (Enter saves, empty input deletes, Esc cancels)
r	Close the viewer and ask Pi for a verified review, including comments
?	Toggle help
q / Esc	Close
Mouse hover / click / wheel	Highlight a code line, select a sidebar file, add/edit a line comment, or scroll the diff
Horizontal wheel / Shift + wheel	Scroll horizontally when supported by the terminal

Wide terminals show a file sidebar and old/new panes. Commented files show a 💬 count, and commented lines show 💬 beside the diff marker. Medium terminals keep full-width side-by-side panes; narrow terminals switch to unified layout. Hold Shift for terminal-native text selection while mouse reporting is active.

Model settings

By default, Meat uses Pi's active model and thinking level. /meat-settings, /meat settings, or Ctrl+Shift+M configures an independent persistent model, model-supported thinking level, and startup mode without changing Pi's active settings.

Startup mode is default unless changed:

• default: Meat starts when the diff viewer opens.
• on-demand: the original diff opens without starting Meat; switch to Reading and press Enter when you want to generate it.

The viewer always shows Meat's state directly below the Reading/Original choices. When the reading diff is ready, ✨ appears beside Reading. Cached reading diffs are ready immediately and do not require another run.

Settings are stored in ~/.pi/agent/pi-meat.json. Cache entries are separated by model and effective thinking level. Set PI_MEAT_SETTINGS to use another path.

Local data and privacy

The selected diff is sent to the model provider configured in Pi. pi-meat does not enable repository read or grep tools for abridgement, and it adds no independent telemetry.

Original and reading diffs are cached as plaintext under ~/.pi/agent/cache/pi-meat/ with no automatic expiry. Delete the default cache with:

rm -rf ~/.pi/agent/cache/pi-meat

Set PI_MEAT_CACHE to choose another cache directory. See privacy and data flow for stored fields, permissions, credentials, retention, and provider boundaries.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Action
pi-meat currently requires Pi's interactive TUI	Start a regular interactive Pi session.
pi-meat must run inside a Git repository	Start Pi from the repository or one of its subdirectories.
No changes found	Check the selected revision or use staged, worktree, or all.
Configured model is unavailable	Run /meat-settings and select an authenticated model.
Bridge startup or Go module error	Confirm Go 1.24.13+ is installed and can download the pinned modules. The first run may be slower.
Stale reading diff	Run the same selector with --fresh.

For unresolved problems, follow the support guide.

Status

0.1.x is an early public release. Commands, cache layout, and bridge protocol may change before 1.0.0.

Reference

• Architecture: components, model bridge, protocol, and trust boundaries.
• Privacy: provider data, local artifacts, credentials, and deletion.
• Contributing: development setup, tests, and pull requests.
• Changelog and roadmap: current status and planned work.

pi-meat is an independent integration. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pi maintainers or Bold Software, Inc. Meat attribution is provided in NOTICE; naming and visual guidance live in the brand guide.

Apache-2.0 © 2026 arro000