pi-smart-btw

@howaboua/pi-smart-btw adds /btw <question> to Pi: an async, ephemeral side session for questions you do not want to derail the main conversation. It starts a fresh no-session Pi RPC subprocess, renders side answers in the transcript, lets you ask follow-ups with more /btw ..., and injects the side-session result only when you choose.

• Fresh context: child starts with pi --mode rpc --no-session.
• Full tools/extensions/skills: no --no-skills; installed extensions load normally except this extension disables itself in the child to avoid nesting UI.
• Async main session: the command starts work in the background and returns immediately.
• Compose: press alt+z to prefill /btw in the prompt editor.
• Injection: press alt+c from the UI while the btw block is visible.
• Dismiss: press alt+x from the UI while the btw block is visible.
• Only one slash command is registered: /btw.
• Side answers are rendered as display-only custom transcript messages and filtered from the LLM context with Pi's context hook. They are only sent to the main agent when you explicitly inject them. The widget shows status/actions only.

Install

pi install npm:@howaboua/pi-smart-btw

Or try it for one session without adding it permanently:

pi -e npm:@howaboua/pi-smart-btw

Usage

/btw explain this error without interrupting the current task

While the side session is open:

• run another /btw ... to ask a follow-up in the same child session
• press alt+c to inject all completed side-session turns into the main chat
• press alt+x to dismiss and stop the child session
• press alt+z to prefill /btw in the editor

Injection format for one turn:

The user asked the following question in a separate session:
[Q]
The answer was:
[A]
Take it into account while executing the current task.

For multiple completed turns, injection includes every question/answer pair in order.

Configuration

Config is created at ~/.pi/agent/pi-smart-btw.json:

{
  "model": "openai-codex/gpt-5.4-mini",
  "provider": "",
  "thinking": "low",
  "command": "pi",
  "injectShortcut": "alt+c",
  "dismissShortcut": "alt+x",
  "composeShortcut": "alt+z"
}

Development

npm install
npm run check
npm run pack:dry-run