@gotgenes/pi-nocd

Pi extension that appends an instruction to the system prompt forbidding the agent from cd-prefixing the current working directory.

Why

Pi already tells the agent the resolved CWD: its system prompt ends with a Current working directory: <path> footer, and that line survives downstream shaping (for example pi-anthropic-auth, which only rewrites the preamble span and preserves the footer).

What Pi ships nowhere — default or shaped — is any instruction against cd-prefixing the CWD. The footer is a bare statement of fact, not a rule, so the habit of prefixing commands with cd $(pwd) && survives.

This extension hooks before_agent_start and appends a block that adds the missing prohibition — forbidding both the literal cd <path> && form and the generic cd $(pwd) && form. It repeats the literal resolved path (from ctx.cwd) only to make the forbidden cd <path> && example concrete, not because the path is otherwise unavailable to the agent.

Because the block names a literal path, it has to be rebuilt for each session that carries it. A subagent inherits its parent's system prompt verbatim, so a child sees a block naming the parent's directory — and a child given an isolated workspace (for example a git worktree from @gotgenes/pi-subagents-worktrees) would be told that shell commands already execute somewhere they do not. An inherited block is therefore rewritten to name the current session's directory rather than deferred to.

Install

pi install npm:@gotgenes/pi-nocd

Or add it to your Pi settings (~/.pi/agent/settings.json):

{
  "packages": ["npm:@gotgenes/pi-nocd"]
}

What it injects

For a session whose working directory resolves to /Users/you/project, the following block is appended to the system prompt:

# Working Directory

Shell commands already execute in `/Users/you/project`.
Never prefix a command with `cd` into the current working directory — neither `cd /Users/you/project &&` nor `cd $(pwd) &&`.
Just run the command directly.

The result is idempotent: a prompt that already carries the block for this directory is returned unchanged, so chained before_agent_start handlers do not stack duplicates. A block naming a different directory — one inherited from a parent session — is rewritten in place, keeping its position stable across turns. A section under the same heading that this extension did not write (e.g. another handler's) is left alone: a block is recognized by its heading and its Shell commands already execute in sentence, not the heading alone.

How it works

Hook	Behavior
before_agent_start	Ensures the prompt carries the working-directory block for the resolved ctx.cwd, appending or rewriting it as needed

Scope and non-goals

Purpose. Pi tells the agent its working directory but never forbids cd-prefixing it. This extension supplies the missing prohibition — and nothing else.

In scope. The wording of the injected block, and correct path resolution when a child session inherits a parent's prompt or runs in an isolated workspace.

Non-goals.

• Enforcing the rule. This extension instructs; it does not gate a command at execution time.
• Owning the # Working Directory heading. A block written by another handler is left alone; only content this extension wrote is ever rewritten.
• Telling the agent what its working directory is. Pi's own footer already does that; the literal path appears here only to make the forbidden example concrete.
• Registering tools or commands. The entire surface is one before_agent_start hook, with no configuration.

License

MIT