pi-claude-compat

Claude CLI compatibility layer for pi — load .claude/commands and .claude/skills as native pi resources

Automatically discovers commands and skills from your project's .claude/ directory and registers them as native pi resources:

• .claude/commands/**/*.md → pi slash commands (/test, /xyz:test1)
• .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md → pi skills (/skill:my-skill)

Also discovers skills from .agents/skills/ and .pi/skills/ in your project root (with .claude/skills/ taking priority on name collisions).

Install

 pi install npm:@entelligentsia/pi-claude-compat

Or from git:

pi install git:github.com/Entelligentsia/pi-claude-compat

Then /reload in pi.

How It Works

Commands

On session start (and whenever you switch sessions), the extension scans .claude/commands/**/*.md in your current working directory and registers each file as a pi slash command:

File	Command
.claude/commands/test.md	/test
.claude/commands/xyz/test1.md	/xyz:test1
.claude/commands/deploy/staging.md	/deploy:staging

Skills

The extension also discovers skill directories containing SKILL.md and registers them via pi's resources_discover mechanism, making them available as /skill:name commands:

Directory	Command
.claude/skills/search/SKILL.md	/skill:search
.claude/skills/deploy/SKILL.md	/skill:deploy

Skill directories are scanned in priority order (first match wins on name collisions):

1. .claude/skills/
2. .agents/skills/
3. .pi/skills/

Command Discovery Rules

• Only .md files are discovered as commands
• Root-level files → command name = filename without .md
• Nested directories → command name = dir:subdir:filename (Claude CLI convention using : separator)
• Files are sorted alphabetically for deterministic ordering

Invoking Commands

Once loaded, just type the command name like any pi slash command:

/test                    # sends content of test.md
/test my arguments       # sends content with $ARGUMENTS replaced
/deploy:staging          # sends content of deploy/staging.md
/skill:search            # invokes the search skill (registered natively by pi)

$ARGUMENTS Placeholder

Command files support the $ARGUMENTS placeholder (Claude CLI convention):

# .claude/commands/commit.md
---
description: Generate a commit message for staged changes
---

Write a concise commit message for the staged changes. Focus on: $ARGUMENTS

When invoked as /commit breaking API changes, the $ARGUMENTS placeholder is replaced with breaking API changes. If no arguments are provided, the placeholder is removed.

Multiple placeholder formats are supported:

• $ARGUMENTS — Claude CLI convention
• ${ARGUMENTS} — alternative bracket form
• {{ARGUMENTS}} — Mustache-style

If a command file has no $ARGUMENTS placeholder but arguments are provided, they're appended to the end of the content.

YAML Frontmatter

Command files support YAML frontmatter for descriptions:

---
description: Generate a commit message for staged changes
---

Write a concise commit message for the staged changes.

The description field appears in the / command dropdown and in the system prompt.

Commands

Command	Description
/claude-commands	List all loaded Claude custom commands and skills
/claude-unload	Temporarily unload all commands and skills
/claude-load	Re-load commands and skills after an unload
/<command-name>	Any discovered command (e.g. /test, /xyz:test1)

Unloading & Re-loading

You can temporarily disable all commands and skills loaded by this extension:

/claude-unload

This clears the command/skill list, stops skill discovery, removes system prompt injection, and rejects command invocations with a message suggesting /claude-load to restore. The unload state persists across session switches and forks.

To restore:

/claude-load

This re-discovers commands and skills from disk and restores full functionality.

When unloaded, the widget shows:

claude-compat unloaded /claude-load

The /claude-commands listing also shows UNLOADED status and marks each item with [UNLOADED].

System Prompt Injection

When commands or skills are loaded, the extension injects a section into the system prompt listing all available resources. This ensures the agent is aware of the commands and can suggest them to the user.

Widget

When resources are loaded, a widget appears above the editor:

⚡ 3 cmds │ 🛠 2 skills │ /test /review /deploy /skill:search

Reloading

To pick up new or changed commands/skills after editing files:

/reload

Example Setup

Commands

# Create the commands directory
mkdir -p .claude/commands

# Create a simple command
cat > .claude/commands/review.md << 'EOF'
---
description: Code review focused on specific areas
---

Review the code for $ARGUMENTS. Look for bugs, performance issues, and suggest improvements.
EOF

# Create a nested command
mkdir -p .claude/commands/deploy
cat > .claude/commands/deploy/staging.md << 'EOF'
---
description: Deploy to staging environment
---

Deploy the current branch to the staging environment. Run all tests first.
EOF

Skills

# Create a skill directory with SKILL.md
mkdir -p .claude/skills/search
cat > .claude/skills/search/SKILL.md << 'EOF'
---
name: search
description: Search the web for information using Brave Search API
---

# Web Search

Use the Brave Search API to find information on the web.

## Usage

\`\`\`bash
curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search?q=$ARGUMENTS" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: $BRAVE_API_KEY"
\`\`\`
EOF

After /reload, /review, /deploy:staging, and /skill:search are all available.

How It Works Internally

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|  pi session (cwd: /my-project)                              |
|                                                             |
|  .claude/commands/                                          |
|  +-- test.md       -> registered as /test                   |
|  +-- review.md     -> registered as /review                 |
|  +-- deploy/                                                |
|      +-- staging.md -> registered as /deploy:staging       |
|                                                             |
|  .claude/skills/                                            |
|  +-- search/                                                |
|      +-- SKILL.md  -> registered as /skill:search          |
|                                                             |
|  resources_discover -> scan & register commands + skills    |
|  session_start     -> rescan & sync                         |
|  session_switch    -> rescan & sync                         |
|  before_agent_start -> inject command/skill list into prompt|
|  /claude-unload    -> clear resources, suppress discovery   |
|  /claude-load      -> re-discover & restore from disk       |
|                                                             |
|  /test my args                                              |
|     |                                                       |
|     +-- Re-read test.md from disk                           |
|     +-- Replace $ARGUMENTS with "my args"                   |
|     +-- Send as user message to the agent                   |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

License

MIT