pi-ask

pi-ask is a Pi package for interactive multi-question clarification flows in Pi.

It adds:

• a marketplace-installable skill for multi-question clarification workflows
• an ask_questions tool that models can call directly
• an /ask command for manual invocation
• an interactive tabbed questionnaire UI inside Pi

Install

From npm (recommended):

pi install npm:@alpino13/pi-ask

From the GitHub repo:

pi install git:github.com/AlvaroRausell/pi-ask

From a local clone:

git clone https://github.com/AlvaroRausell/pi-ask.git
cd pi-ask
pi install .

After installing, the ask skill, ask_questions tool, and /ask command will be available in your next Pi session.

Recommended flow

The primary flow is: the model calls ask_questions directly.

That means when the assistant has several clarification questions, it can open the interactive questionnaire immediately instead of asking the user to manually run /ask.

/ask still exists as a manual fallback and for testing.

What it does

When a model produces a message like:

1. Which framework should I use?
2. Do you want TypeScript?
3. Should I optimize for speed or readability?

run:

/ask 1. Which framework should I use?
2. Do you want TypeScript?
3. Should I optimize for speed or readability?

You can also run /ask immediately after the assistant asks those questions; it will use the latest assistant message as input.

The ask flow will:

1. send the raw text to a smaller LLM
2. convert it into structured questions + options
3. open a tabbed UI, one tab per question plus a final Submit tab
4. show progress like 2/3 answered
5. load a natural-language answer bundle into the editor

The package currently keeps answers in the editor only. It does not auto-send them back to the main model.

Configuring the smaller LLM

Recommended model:

openai/gpt-4.1-mini

Resolution order:

1. PI_ASK_MODEL
2. /ask-settings saved configuration
3. current active Pi model

Commands:

/ask-model      # show which model will be used
/ask-settings   # save a default /ask model

Environment override:

export PI_ASK_MODEL="openai/gpt-4.1-mini"

Commands and tool

• ask_questions — primary model-facing tool
• /ask — manual command for running the questionnaire flow from text or the latest assistant message
• /ask-model — shows which small model will be used
• /ask-settings — saves the default small model configuration

Current questionnaire behavior

• tab labels use 1 2 3 ... with type icons (≡ multi, ☑ checkbox)
• final dedicated Submit tab
• auto-jumps to Submit after the last answer
• three question types:
  • single — pick one option (default, numbered list with >)
  • checkbox — yes/no toggle (radio-style [●] / [○] for Yes/No)
  • multi-select — pick multiple options (checkbox-style [■] / [□], Space to toggle, Enter to confirm)
• freeform fallback via Write my own answer (single-select only)
• simple fallback parsing if the small model does not return valid JSON
• simple A or B option inference
• automatic type inference from question phrasing:
  • "all that apply", "which of", "select all" → multi-select
  • "do you want", "should I", "would you like" → checkbox
  • everything else → single
• multi-select answers display as comma-separated labels in the submit tab and summary

Planned future enhancements

• priority ranking
• stronger validation and parsing
• custom option entry in multi-select mode
• conditional question flow (show q3 only if q2 is yes)

Files

• skills/ask/SKILL.md — skill instructions for the main model
• extensions/pi-ask/index.ts — /ask, /ask-model, /ask-settings, ask_questions, and the interactive UI

Publishing

pi install npm:@alpino13/pi-ask