pi-cwd

A pi-coding-agent extension that lets you change the effective working directory without restarting the agent.

Features

• /cwd — show current working directory
• /cwd <path> — change working directory (absolute, relative, or ~ expansion)
• Tab-completion for directory paths
• All tool execution (bash, read, write, edit, grep, find, ls) follows the new cwd
• User ! bash commands also use the new cwd
• Footer indicator shows active directory when it differs from the original
• Session persistence — cwd changes survive /reload and session resume

Install

From npm

pi install npm:@harms-haus/pi-cwd

From GitHub

pi install git:github.com/harms-haus/pi-cwd

Then start pi — the extension will be auto-discovered. Or reload an existing session with /reload.

From source

git clone https://github.com/harms-haus/pi-cwd.git
pi -e ./pi-cwd/src/index.ts

Manual

Copy src/index.ts to ~/.pi/agent/extensions/ (global) or .pi/extensions/ (project-local).

Usage

/cwd                    # show current directory
/cwd /tmp               # absolute path
/cwd ../other-project   # relative path
/cwd ~/Documents        # tilde expansion

How it works

The extension intercepts the tool_call event and mutates tool arguments in-place:

• bash — prepends cd '<cwd>' && to the command (single-quoted for shell safety)
• read / write / edit — resolves relative paths against the effective cwd
• grep / find / ls — defaults to the effective cwd when no path is specified

The system prompt is updated via before_agent_start so the LLM is aware of the active directory.

Limitations

• ctx.cwd (the built-in getter) remains the original cwd — this is a read-only property on the ExtensionRunner
• Other extension tools that read ctx.cwd directly will see the original value
• Resource discovery (AGENTS.md, project-local extensions/skills) stays bound to the original cwd
• Session files are saved under the original cwd's session directory

Development

npm install          # install dependencies
npm test             # run tests
npm run test:coverage # run tests with coverage report
npm run typecheck    # type-check with TypeScript
npm run lint         # lint with ESLint
npm run format       # format with Prettier
npm run format:check # check formatting

License

MIT