pi-my-look

Version 0.2.2

Modern UI polish for the pi coding agent.

Features

• Pulsating Status Dot: A single ● that pulses through theme colors (muted → accent → warning → accent → muted → dim) while in-progress. On completion: ✓ (green) for success, ✗ (red) for error — accessible symbols that are unambiguous even without color vision.

• Tool Icons: Every tool gets a deterministic emoji icon and theme color via the TOOL_UI_CONFIG lookup map, with DEFAULT_TOOL_CONFIG fallback (⚡, accent) for unknown tools. The map covers 42+ ctx_* tools, all built-in tools, and lean-ctx command entries.

  Icon	Tools	Rendering
  🔍	read	Specialised — path + offset:limit range display
  ✏️	edit	Specialised — inline diff stats (+N/-M) + coloured diff preview
  ❯	bash	Specialised — exit code + stderr differentiation
  💾	write	Generic — dot + icon + path
  🔎	grep, find, ctx_grep, ctx_find, ctx_search, ctx_semantic_search, search	Generic
  📂	ls, ctx_ls	Generic
  📖	ctx_read, ctx_git_read	Generic
  ⚡	All other ctx_* tools, MCP tools, custom extensions	Generic (fallback)
  🌐	browser	Generic
  💭	think	Generic
  🔔	notify	Generic
  ❓	ask	Generic
  📋	context, ctx_outline, ctx_summary	Generic
  🧠	ctx_knowledge	Generic
  🌳	ctx_tree	Generic
  🔗	ctx_graph	Generic
  📦	ctx_compress, ctx_pack, ctx_transcript_compact	Generic
  🔌	ctx_provider, ctx_plugins	Generic
  🗺️	ctx_overview	Generic
  💾	ctx_session	Generic
  📤	ctx_expand, ctx_share	Generic
  💥	ctx_impact	Generic
  📞	ctx_callgraph, ctx_call	Generic
  ⏱️	ctx_benchmark	Generic
  🔬	ctx_analyze	Generic
  🤖	ctx_agent	Generic
  🧩	ctx_compose	Generic
  🎯	ctx_intent	Generic
  📚	ctx_multi_read	Generic
  📝	ctx_plan	Generic
  📡	ctx_radar	Generic
  🔧	ctx_refactor	Generic
  👁️	ctx_review	Generic
  🛠️	ctx_tools	Generic
  ✅	ctx_verify	Generic

  Specialised = custom pi.registerTool() with unique rendering logic (path ranges, diff stats, exit codes).
  Generic = monkey-patched rendering: pulse dot + emoji icon + formatted args + keyboard hint + result summary.

• Semantic Path Highlighting: File paths are rendered with dimmed directories and accented filenames to reduce visual noise.

• Smart Formatting: Multi-line bash commands are automatically indented (using dynamic indent width that adapts to the prefix) for readability.

• Smart Path Truncation: Long file paths are middle-truncated (preserving the filename) to fit within a consistent width, avoiding line wrapping.

• Inline Diff Stats: The edit tool displays addition/removal counts (e.g., +5 / -2) directly on the collapsed call line, computed once in execute to avoid render loops.

• Collapsible Execution Results: Output is hidden by default when collapsed, showing a keyboard hint to expand. When expanded, it previews content (e.g., file lines, bash output, or full colored diffs for edits).

• Bash Exit Codes & Stderr: Completed bash commands display exit 0 (muted) or exit N (error red) on the collapsed call line. When expanded, stderr output from failed commands renders in error color.

• Automatic Coverage: Rendering is applied generically to ALL tools — ctx_* tools, MCP tools, and any custom extension tools — without per-tool configuration.

How it works

pi-my-look uses monkey-patching on ToolExecutionComponent.prototype to intercept the TUI's call and result rendering pipeline, keeping tool execution completely untouched.

Architecture

ToolExecutionComponent.prototype
├── getCallRenderer()   ← patched (#13)
│   ├── read / edit / bash  → delegate to original (uses pi.registerTool custom renderers)
│   └── everything else     → genericCallRenderer(toolName)
│       ├── getStatusIndicator()     → ● pulse / ✓ success / ✗ error
│       ├── getToolConfig()          → icon + color from TOOL_UI_CONFIG
│       ├── formatArguments()        → path highlighting, truncation
│       └── keyHint()                → keyboard shortcut hint
└── getResultRenderer() ← patched (#14)
    ├── read / edit / bash  → delegate to original
    └── everything else     → genericResultRenderer(toolName)
        ├── isPartial?       → "toolName..." (warning)
        ├── summarizeResult() → diff stats (+N/-M), error preview, line count
        ├── !expanded?       → empty (summary shown on call line)
        └── expanded         → up to 15-line content preview with truncation

Tool UI Configuration

TOOL_UI_CONFIG is an open lookup map — add any tool name with an icon/color pair and it automatically gets styled. Tools not in the map inherit DEFAULT_TOOL_CONFIG (⚡, accent). The map currently covers 42+ ctx_* tools and all built-in tools.

Separation of concerns

• Tool execution — completely unchanged. Built-in tool execute() functions run as-is through pi.registerTool() (for read/edit/bash) or directly through built-in tool definitions.
• Tool rendering — intercepted at the ToolExecutionComponent level. The monkey-patches decide which renderer to use based on the tool name, keeping specialised renderers for read/edit/bash and applying generic rendering to everything else.

Prerequisites

• pi >= 0.79.0 — earlier versions may not export all types used by this extension (ToolRenderContext, tool details interfaces like ReadToolDetails, BashToolDetails, EditToolDetails).
• @earendil-works/pi-tui — required peer dependency. The extension uses Text, keyHint, and theme functions exported by pi-tui.
• Modern terminal with Unicode/emoji support — see Compatibility below.

Compatibility

This extension uses emoji icons and a single ● dot for tool rendering. These characters require:

• A modern terminal emulator with good Unicode support (e.g., kitty, iTerm2, Windows Terminal, GNOME Terminal, Alacritty).
• An emoji-aware font or a Nerd Font that includes the required glyphs. If emoji appear as blank squares or boxes, try installing a Nerd Font (nerdfonts.com) and configuring your terminal to use it.

The extension degrades gracefully if the terminal lacks full Unicode support — tool names and file paths remain readable, but icons may not render as intended.

Install

pi install npm:@glemsom/pi-my-look

Customize

Edit TOOL_UI_CONFIG in packages/pi-my-look/extensions/pi-my-look.ts to add or change tool icons and colors. The monkey-patch architecture means no per-tool registration is needed — just add an entry to the map.

Changelog

• 0.2.2 (2026-06-18)

  • Monkey-patch architecture: ToolExecutionComponent.prototype patching for getCallRenderer() and getResultRenderer()
  • Generic rendering automatically covers ALL tools (ctx_*, MCP, custom extensions)
  • TOOL_UI_CONFIG expanded to 42+ ctx_* entries from lean-ctx core and power profiles
  • Removed redundant per-tool pi.registerTool() calls (write, grep, find, ls)
  • Three tools remain special-cased: read (path + range), edit (diff stats), bash (exit codes)
  • Bash exit code display on collapsed call lines (exit 0 / exit N)
  • Stderr differentiation: failed command output renders in error color when expanded
  • Smart path middle-truncation for long paths (preserves filename)
  • Accessible status symbols: ✓ (green success) and ✗ (red error) replace colored dots on completion

• 0.2.1 (2026-06-17)

  • Polymorphic tool UI configuration: TOOL_UI_CONFIG map as single source of truth for icons and colors
  • DEFAULT_TOOL_CONFIG fallback ensures MCP and custom tools get polished UI automatically
  • Generic result summarizer with automatic diff detection across all tools
  • Tool config lookup via getToolConfig() with automatic fallback

• 0.2.0 (2026-06-16)

  • Major version bump: updated README with feature matrix, screenshot, prerequisites, compatibility notes

• 0.1.17 (2026-06-16)

  • Pulse dot cycles through theme colors (muted, accent, warning, accent, muted, dim) instead of swapping unicode glyphs. More consistent across terminals.

• 0.1.16 (2026-06-15)

  • Remove tool name text from render call lines — emoji icon alone identifies the tool

• 0.1.15 (2026-06-15)

  • Add icon rendering for all built-in tools (grep, find, ls) via a generic factory

• 0.1.14 (2026-06-15)

  • Compute edit diff stats in execute instead of renderResult to avoid render loops

• 0.1.13 (2026-06-14) — reverted

  • Powerline-style input frame with path and git status (reverted due to rendering issues)

• 0.1.12 (2026-06-14)

  • Add tool-specific unicode iconography (🔍, 💾, ✏️, ❯)
  • Implement semantic path highlighting (dimmed directories)

• 0.1.11 (2026-06-14)

  • Internal version bump

• 0.1.10 (2026-06-14)

  • Add pulsating dot animation (○ ◔ ◐ ◕ ●) for in-progress tool calls

• 0.1.9 (2026-06-14)

  • Remove startup splash and associated timers
  • Simplify working indicator to pulsating dot on tool call lines

License

MIT