Subagents Extension

This Pi package runs one markdown-defined agent task in one isolated child Pi process. Independent work is expressed as sibling subagent tool calls; Pi owns concurrent scheduling while each call owns its child lifecycle, progress, result, and renderer row.

Installation

Install the published package from npm (recommended):

pi install npm:@am_n_n/pi-subagents

Alternatively, install the latest source directly from GitHub:

pi install git:github.com/amnn/pi-subagents

To install from a local checkout:

git clone https://github.com/amnn/pi-subagents.git
cd pi-subagents
pnpm install
pi install .

Confirm the installation with pi list. After installing an update or changing a local checkout, run /reload in Pi or restart it.

Development setup

Development requires Node.js 22.19 or newer, pnpm, and Pi. The repository's packageManager field pins the pnpm version and lets pnpm download it when necessary. Tests run TypeScript directly through tsx.

Install the locked development dependencies:

pnpm install

The development dependencies include the same Pi packages imported by the extension, so standalone Node tests use normal package resolution. This project uses pnpm for development; pnpm-lock.yaml is its only supported lockfile.

Run the unit tests

pnpm test

The suite uses temporary directories and fake child processes. It does not make real model requests. One integration-style test places a fake pi executable on PATH to verify child arguments and prompt cleanup.

Run one file:

pnpm exec tsx --test test/subagent.test.ts

Run tests matching a name:

pnpm exec tsx --test --test-name-pattern="parent abort" test/subagent.test.ts

Test coverage is grouped as follows:

• test/discovery.test.ts — project trust and source precedence
• test/subagent.test.ts — protocol, outcomes, cancellation, and cleanup
• test/output.test.ts — titles, reports, truncation, and artifacts

Type-check

pnpm typecheck

Check formatting

pnpm format:check

To apply formatting:

pnpm format

Smoke-test extension loading

pnpm smoke

The smoke test loads only this extension in offline mode and exits without a model request.

Full local validation

pnpm check

The full check verifies formatting, type-checks the package, runs the tests, smoke-tests extension loading, and audits dependencies.

License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE.