@jerryan/pi-subagent-lite

A minimal pi extension that delegates tasks to isolated subagent processes.

What makes this different?

Most subagent extensions ship with heavy abstractions: agent definition files, configurable models, working-directory overrides, and a kitchen sink of rarely-used parameters. This one doesn't.

• Zero setup: Install via pi and use it in the next session. No agent directories to manage, no agent definitions to write.
• Minimal interface: Only task and optional skills. We removed model, cwd, agent, and other parameters that add more confusion than value.
• No agent definitions: Unlike almost every other subagent tool, we don't use ~/.pi/agent/agents/*.md or any custom agent discovery. If you need specialization, reuse your existing pi skills via the skills parameter.
• One focused system prompt: Every subagent gets the same lean, task-oriented prompt designed for delegation and clear reporting.
• Transparent long-task handling: Tasks longer than 4000 chars are automatically spilled to a temp file so they never hit CLI length limits.

Features

• Isolated context: Each subagent runs in a separate pi process
• Live progress: See turn-by-turn updates as the subagent works
• Optional skills: Preload capabilities via --skill flags
• Auto-spill: Long tasks (>4000 chars) are automatically written to a temp file to avoid CLI limits
• Clean result rendering: Final output is clearly marked with a ✓ --- Result --- separator
• No recursive nesting: When running inside a subagent process, the tool automatically unregisters itself so subagents cannot spawn further subagents

Installation

pi install npm:@jerryan/pi-subagent-lite

The extension will be available the next time you start a pi session.

To try it without installing permanently:

pi -e npm:@jerryan/pi-subagent-lite

For local development, run inside the repo:

pi -e .

Usage

Once installed, the subagent tool is available:

Run a subagent to find all test files in the project

With skills:

Run a subagent with skills ["code-review"] to review src/auth.ts

You can also invoke multiple subagents in parallel by making separate tool calls in the same turn.

Tool Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
task	string	Yes	The task to delegate to the subagent
skills	string[]	No	Optional skill paths or names to load via --skill

License

MIT © jerryan