@dougbots/pi-rm-guard

Let routine cleanup run without another approval dialog. This pi extension sends recursive-force rm commands and session evidence to a decision model. The model judges whether to proceed, ask you, or deny the command.

How it works

1. A small text detector routes commands containing an rm token with both recursive and force flags — rm -rf, rm -fr, rm -r -f, rm -Rf, rm --recursive --force, in any position. Commands without that combination pass through unguarded, as they do without this extension.
2. The model receives the raw command, cwd, recent user requests, and bounded recent tool calls/results. No parser claims that deletion targets are verified.
3. A confident approval runs the command. A confident denial blocks it. An ask, low confidence, or model error opens confirmation when a UI is available; otherwise it blocks.

There are no static path allowlists, literal-only matching, or shell parsing: flag matching is lexical over the whole command text. Split flags such as rm -r -f route just like rm -rf, quoted mentions of recursive-force rm still route, and a neighboring command's flags may over-route (one extra model call, never a missed route). Plain rm and single-flag rm pass through unguarded. The model decides whether a routed command is harmless or the cleanup is appropriate.

This is an autonomy aid, not a sandbox. Detection does not interpret arbitrary shell programs or inspect external scripts. The model can make mistakes. Use OS permissions or a sandbox for isolation, rather than treating approval as proof that a command cannot damage data.

Configure a reachable model

The default backend is classifier, using typesafe/jev-latest. It needs pi credentials or TYPESAFE_API_KEY; without a reachable model, commands escalate.

For a decisions endpoint registered as a pi classifier, put this rmGuard block in global or project pi settings:

{
  "rmGuard": {
    "backend": "classifier",
    "registerProvider": true,
    "classifier": "decisions/gemma4",
    "url": "http://localhost:4000/v1/decisions",
    "model": "gemma4",
    "timeoutMs": 1500
  }
}

url must serve OpenAI's Decisions API (POST /v1/decisions, the schema client.decisions.create sends) on a model with a chat template: text input, predicate/choice/score questions, and answers listed in question order. Structured state reaches the model as JSON text.

Set backend to decisions to call that endpoint directly instead. Direct requests and the registered decisions provider share state and question encoding. Other pi-known classifier models use provider/model-id, such as openrouter/typesafe/jev-1.13.

Environment overrides settings. Unknown backend values are configuration errors, not aliases for another engine. Config and provider registration resolve on the first routed command. RM_GUARD_API_KEY supplies an optional endpoint token for both direct and registered-provider requests. Other classifier credentials come from pi. keyFile is a legacy fallback: keep it private, since this extension does not enforce file modes.

The decisions backend approves at p≥0.85; the classifier backend defaults to p≥0.6. threshold overrides the approval threshold. Both require p≥0.99 for denial. Bool-only classifiers can approve or ask, but cannot deny. Calibrate your chosen weights rather than assuming these defaults suit every model.

Command text, recent requests, and tool excerpts are sent to your configured model and recorded in rm-guard session entries. Choose an endpoint appropriate for the data in your sessions.

Install

pi install git:github.com/sdougbrown/pi-rm-guard
# or
pi install npm:@dougbots/pi-rm-guard

Verify

npm test
RM_GUARD_URL=http://localhost:4000/v1/decisions npm run eval:live

Unit tests prove routing, evidence delivery, transport handling, and execution of model verdicts. Live evals present commands to actual weights without executing them; their expected outcomes are not runtime rules. The standalone eval reads endpoint and credential environment overrides, not pi's merged settings. Mirror those settings through the documented environment variables. Jev shares the runtime's key-file resolver, including RM_GUARD_JEV_KEY_FILE.

Before shipping, follow the real-pi verification procedure. Its real-pi fixtures prove settings loading, model calls, and filesystem outcomes. Stubbed approvals alone do not prove that a real model makes useful judgments.