Pi Recent Models

A Pi coding agent extension that reorders Pi’s model selector by recent use and can optionally remember a separate thinking level for each model.

Recent model ordering

• Tracks model changes from /model, Ctrl+L, Ctrl+P cycling, and session restore.
• Keeps one global history shared by every project and session.
• Shows the current model first, then every available previously used model from most to least recent, then never-used models in Pi’s original order.
• Keeps the complete distinct-model history and de-duplicates exact provider/model identities.
• Applies recent ordering in both all-model and scoped-model views.
• Leaves fuzzy-search results in Pi’s normal relevance order.
• Preserves the built-in selector’s model refresh, authentication filtering, highlighting, and keyboard behavior.

Pi’s model command is /model (singular), and Ctrl+L opens the same selector.

Inherit the model on /new

Model inheritance is off by default. Run /recent-models-settings, select Inherit model on /new, and choose On to make a newly created session start with the model selected in the session being replaced.

When enabled:

• /new inherits the active session's provider/model selection;
• the inherited selection is recorded in the new session, so sessions remain independent;
• /resume, /fork, startup, and reload keep Pi's normal session/default-model behavior;
• if the model is unavailable, Pi keeps its normal new-session model and shows a warning.

The handoff is one-shot and process-local. It is not a global last-model preference and copies the previous session's effective thinking level along with the model. Pi clamps levels unsupported by the inherited model.

Per-model thinking memory

Thinking memory is off by default. Run /recent-models-settings, select Per-model thinking memory, and choose On to enable it globally.

When enabled:

1. select gpt-5.6-sol and choose medium;
2. switch to gpt-5.6-luna and choose high;
3. switch back to gpt-5.6-sol — Pi returns to medium;
4. switch to gpt-5.6-luna — Pi returns to high.

Preferences use the exact provider and model ID, so openai/model and proxy/model remain independent. An unseen model keeps Pi’s inherited, capability-clamped level; the extension does not impose a default.

Pi remains authoritative:

• startup and restored-session thinking levels are not replaced;
• an explicit /new inheritance handoff applies the previous session's effective level;
• a scoped model entry that pins a thinking level wins;
• unsupported saved levels are clamped by Pi and the effective value is saved;
• rapid model switches and manual thinking changes supersede pending restoration work.

Turning the setting off immediately stops recording and restoration but retains saved preferences for later re-enabling.

Migration from pi-thinking-memory

The first time thinking memory is successfully enabled, valid preferences from ~/.pi/agent/pi-thinking-memory.json are imported automatically. Existing integrated preferences win duplicates, and the legacy file is left untouched as a backup. The import is recorded and is not repeated.

Remove the standalone @janvitos/pi-thinking-memory package before enabling this feature. Loading both extensions would create two authorities responding to the same model and thinking events.

Storage

Global history, the session-model setting, the thinking-memory setting, and thinking preferences are stored at:

~/.pi/agent/recent-models.json

The actual path uses Pi’s active agent directory. Legacy bare-array and version-1 recent-history files upgrade automatically with both optional features disabled. Existing version-2 state without the session-model setting also defaults it to disabled. Updates are serialized, protected by an inter-process lock, merged with current on-disk state, and committed by atomic rename with private file permissions.

Malformed current-version entries are logged and repaired on the next update while valid entries are retained. An unknown newer schema version is not overwritten.

Requirements

• Pi 0.84.2 or newer
• Node.js 22.6 or newer for development and tests
• TUI mode for the interactive model selector and /recent-models-settings

Install

pi install npm:@janvitos/pi-recent-models

Start a new Pi process after installation, or run /reload in an existing session.

Install from GitHub

pi install git:github.com/janvitos/pi-recent-models

Local development install

git clone https://github.com/janvitos/pi-recent-models.git ~/src/pi-recent-models
pi install ~/src/pi-recent-models

For a quick test without installing:

pi -e ~/src/pi-recent-models/index.ts

Do not load multiple copies simultaneously.

Compatibility note

Pi does not currently expose a public extension hook for reordering the built-in model selector. This extension narrowly wraps the sortModels(), filterModels(), and updateList() methods on Pi’s exported ModelSelectorComponent. It calls Pi’s original behavior first where applicable, uses the original ordering for searches, and applies recent ordering to unfiltered all-model and scoped-model lists. It fails clearly during extension loading if a future Pi release removes one of those methods.

Thinking memory uses Pi’s public model and thinking-level events.

Development

npm install
npm test
npm pack --dry-run

The tests cover recent ordering, state validation and migration, concurrent persistence, exact model identities, default-off and enable/disable behavior, new-session model inheritance, session and scoped-model precedence, clamping, delayed thinking events, and rapid model switches.

License

MIT