pi-refactor

Restart a drifting coding-agent task from its original commit with trace-grounded experience

Packages

Package details

extension

Install pi-refactor from npm and Pi will load the resources declared by the package manifest.

npm repo home report

$ pi install npm:pi-refactor

Package: pi-refactor
Version: 0.1.0
Published: Aug 9, 2026
Downloads: 198/mo · 14/wk
Author: dangozhang
License: MIT
Types: extension
Size: 24.7 KB
Dependencies: 0 dependencies · 2 peers

Pi manifest JSON

{
  "extensions": [
    "./extensions/refactor.ts"
  ]
}

Security note

Pi packages can execute code and influence agent behavior. Review the source before installing third-party packages.

README

Long coding sessions accumulate stale assumptions, failed patches, and assistant-authored explanations. Pi Refactor adds one retry command that keeps the user requirements and observable tool evidence, backs up the abandoned work, returns Git to the task's starting commit, and continues in a fresh session.

multi-turn trace → users + tool calls/results → Refactor packet
                → backup + reset to base     → fresh agent retry

The Pi implementation is one extension with no runtime dependencies. Codex and OpenCode use the same small workflow as a skill/command.

Install

Pi Refactor requires Git and Node.js 22.19+ for Pi.

Pi

pi install npm:pi-refactor

Restart Pi or run /reload, then invoke:

/refactor
/refactor BASE=abc123 keep the public API unchanged

Pi records HEAD when the session starts. /refactor makes one evidence-compaction model call, creates recovery refs, resets the worktree, opens a new Pi session, and submits the retry packet automatically.

Codex

npx pi-refactor install codex

Restart Codex and invoke the skill:

$refactor BASE=abc123 keep the public API unchanged

The installer also provides the deprecated custom-prompt compatibility entry /prompts:refactor. Codex reserves top-level slash commands, so an installed package cannot expose an exact /refactor alias; $refactor is the current supported reusable-workflow surface.

OpenCode

npx pi-refactor install opencode

Then invoke /refactor. The command is installed at ~/.config/opencode/commands/refactor.md; the shared skill is installed at ~/.agents/skills/refactor/SKILL.md.

For local development:

pi install /absolute/path/to/pi-refactor
node install.mjs install codex opencode

What survives

The compaction input contains:

every user message, with later corrections taking precedence;
tool names and arguments;
tool results, errors, diffs, and test output;
exact paths, symbols, commands, and versions when present.

Assistant prose, plans, conclusions, hidden reasoning, and chain-of-thought are excluded before the compaction call. A lesson enters the packet only when a tool result or verification outcome supports it. Tool output is quoted as untrusted evidence, not followed as instructions.

Pi creates this packet shape:

# Refactor packet
## Objective
## Requirements
## Evidence       # claims cite [Tn] tool evidence
## Lessons
## Verification
## Retry plan

Git safety

Before reset, Pi Refactor:

rejects an active merge, rebase, cherry-pick, or revert;
saves the current commit under refs/pi-refactor/backups/<timestamp>;
stashes tracked and untracked changes with a pi-refactor backup message;
runs git reset --hard <base> and git clean -fd.

It never uses git clean -x, so ignored files remain in place. Recover an abandoned attempt with the identifiers printed in the new session:

git show refs/pi-refactor/backups/<timestamp>
git stash apply <stash-hash>

Development

npm install --ignore-scripts
npm run check
npm test

The published tarball contains the Pi extension, two Markdown adapters, the installer, READMEs, and license. There are no production dependencies.