@henryqw/pi-herdr-btw

Ask a focused side question in Herdr, then return its transcript and next instruction to Main. This avoids changing Main's conversation path or copying the result by hand.

Inspired by Claude Code and its /btw side-question mode. This package adds transcript merge back into Main.

Install

pi install npm:@henryqw/pi-task-models
pi install npm:@henryqw/pi-herdr-btw

Requires Herdr 0.7.4+ and a Herdr-managed pane. Run /task-models and configure the fast profile before opening a side thread.

Works with

Package	Why
@henryqw/pi-memory	Improves. Marks side-thread children, suppressing parent-only memory injection and dream advice.
@henryqw/pi-task-models	Required. Provides shared model profiles for side-thread routes.

Use

Run /btw Why is this test failing? and submit the draft in the side pane. After the answer, run /btw merge Apply the smallest safe fix there.

Main receives the side transcript, regains focus, and continues with the merge prompt.

/btw                              open an empty side pane
/btw <question...>                open side pane with draft question
/btw ask <question...>            escape reserved first words
/btw config [...]                 show or change launch defaults
/btw merge <prompt...>            merge side thread into Main and continue
/btw help                         show grammar

Use /btw to open a side thread, set its defaults, or recover a pending merge.

Flow

Launch

• ask, config, merge, and help route only when they are exact first words. Other input is a question.
• A provided question is an editable draft by default.
• /btw snapshots Main's compaction-aware context and inherits its working directory.
• The consumer-owned pi-herdr-btw/btw task defaults to fast.
• Before pane launch, it selects the first authenticated viable effective profile route.

~/.pi/agent/config/pi-task-models/config.json is shared and owned by @henryqw/pi-task-models. A task entry is an explicit user override, and routes resolve before pane launch. BTW warns once per session if this file is missing.

Merge delivery

• In the side pane, /btw merge <prompt> stores the user/assistant transcript and next prompt as pending delivery.
• Herdr then refocuses Main and closes the side pane.
• Pending delivery survives side-pane shutdown. It waits for Main to settle and for current model authentication.
• Main appends the transcript without starting a turn, then submits the prompt.
• Bare /btw merge opens the prompt editor.
• Pending delivery remains available until consumed or 24-hour stale cleanup.

Config

Package-owned: ~/.pi/agent/config/pi-herdr-btw/config.json

{
  "autoSubmit": false,
  "tools": "inherit",
  "split": "right"
}

Field	Required	Possible values	Default
autoSubmit	No	true, false — submit the draft question automatically instead of leaving it editable in the side pane	false
tools	No	inherit (parent's active tools), all, read-only (built-in read-only tools), none	inherit
split	No	right, down — side-pane placement	right

• All fields are optional.
• Unknown keys and non-object files are rejected.
• /btw config show prints effective values.
• /btw config reset saves the defaults.
• The config file is optional. Missing config uses defaults.
• Malformed config fails visibly and remains unchanged.

Data, cost, and privacy

The side pane gets static parent context and shares Main's working directory. Enabled tools can change parent-visible files.

Launch data stays in a private temporary directory.

Limits and recovery

Large parent contexts can exceed child context limits.