@lazco-studio/pi-rich-model-selector

A model picker for pi. It shows model facts, and it keeps your starred models in the order you set.

The picker in pi shows the model id, the provider, and the name. This extension also shows the context size, the price, the thinking level, and the key state. You can set the thinking level of each model, star a model, hide a model, and sort your starred models.

Table of contents

• Install
• Open the picker
• Keys
• Commands
• What a row shows
• The three views
• Set the thinking level of a model
• Keys the filter box keeps
• Star and sort your models
• Hide a model you do not use
• Set the model pi starts with
• Make Ctrl+P follow your star order
• Hide the built-in /model menu entry
• Where your data goes
• Limits
• FAQ
• License

Install

pi install npm:@lazco-studio/pi-rich-model-selector

To try it for one session only:

pi -e npm:@lazco-studio/pi-rich-model-selector

Open the picker

There are three ways. All three open the same picker.

1. Type /model. This extension takes over the built-in command.
2. Type /models.
3. Press Ctrl+L, or press Alt+M.

To open the picker with a filter, add a word:

/model opus

The picker opens at once on the models pi already knows. It then asks each provider for a fresh catalog in the background, and the list updates when the answer comes. That refresh stops when you close the picker, and it gives up after 15 seconds. Either way you keep the models pi already had.

Keys

Key	Action
Type text	Filter the list
Up / Down	Move the cursor
Tab	Move the thinking level of the model to the next one
Ctrl+S	Star the model, or remove the star
Ctrl+D	Make the model the startup model, or clear it
Ctrl+E	Hide the model, or show it again
Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down	Move a starred model up or down
Alt+Up / Alt+Down	Move a starred model up or down (second key)
Shift+Tab	Change the view
Enter	Use the model under the cursor
Esc or Ctrl+C	Close the picker and change nothing

Commands

Command	What it does
/model	Open the picker
/model <text>	Open the picker with <text> in the filter
/models	Open the picker
/models sync	Copy your star order into the Ctrl+P cycle
/models unsync	Undo /models sync
/models hide	Remove the /model line from the command menu
/models show	Put the /model line back

What a row shows

→ ★ <model-id>  1.0M $5/$25  xhigh ✓ ·default

• → is the cursor.
• ★ means the model is starred.
• · means the model is not starred.
• ✗ means the model is hidden.
• 1.0M is the context size.
• $5/$25 is the price for 1M input tokens and 1M output tokens.
• xhigh is the thinking level this model runs at. A dot after it, as in xhigh ·, means the level comes from your global default. No dot means you set the level for this model. A - means the model cannot think.
• ✓ means pi uses this model now.
• ·default means pi starts with this model.
• ·no key means there is no API key. Run /login to add one.

The panel on the right shows more facts about the model under the cursor. On a narrow terminal, that panel moves below the list.

╭─ Select a model ── ↵ · ⇥ · ^S★ · ^↑↓ · ^D · ^E · ⇧⇥ · esc ─╮
│ View: starred | all | hidden  2 starred, 1 hidden, 3 total │
│ >                                                          │
├───────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┤
│ → ★ <model-id>        │ <model-id>…                        │
│   ★ <other-model-id>  │ Name    …                          │
╰───────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────╯

The three views

Press Shift+Tab to go to the next view.

View	What it lists
starred	Your starred models, in your order
all	Every model, except the hidden ones
hidden	Only the hidden models

Set the thinking level of a model

Press Tab to move the level of the model under the cursor. The level is saved against the model, so every model can hold its own. Pi applies it when you switch to that model.

→ · <model-id>  1.0M $5/$25  medium ·      before
→ · <model-id>  1.0M $5/$25  high         after Tab

Tab goes up, and starts again at the bottom after the top level. One key reaches every level that way.

The dot tells you where the level came from.

Row	Meaning
high ·	No level set. The model follows your global default.
high	You set this level. It stays, whatever the default becomes.
-	The model cannot think. Both keys do nothing.

Each model offers its own levels. A model may go off, low, medium, high, xhigh, max, and another may only go low, medium, high. A model with one level, or with none, ignores the key.

To hand a model back to your global default, step the level onto the default. The dot comes back, and the entry leaves settings.json.

Your global default stays where it is. Use pi's own /thinking command to change that.

Keys the filter box keeps

The filter box takes every key the picker does not claim. The arrow keys reach it, so the text stays editable in the normal way.

Key	What it does
Left / Right	Move the cursor one character
Ctrl+B / Ctrl+F	Move the cursor one character
Alt+Left / Alt+Right	Move the cursor one word
Home / Ctrl+A	Jump to the start
End	Jump to the end

Star and sort your models

1. Move the cursor to a model.
2. Press Ctrl+S to star it.
3. Press Shift+Tab until the view shows starred.
4. Press Ctrl+Up or Ctrl+Down to move the model.

The order applies to starred models only.

Hide a model you do not use

Press Ctrl+E to hide the model under the cursor. A hidden model leaves the all view.

To get it back:

1. Press Shift+Tab until the view shows hidden.
2. Move the cursor to the model.
3. Press Ctrl+E.

Three rules apply:

1. A star wins over a hide. If you star a hidden model, the model becomes visible again.
2. If you hide a starred model, the star goes away.
3. You cannot hide the model you use now. Change to another model first.

Set the model pi starts with

1. Move the cursor to the model.
2. Press Ctrl+D.

The row shows ·default at once. Pi opens with that model the next time it starts.

To clear it, move the cursor to the default model and press Ctrl+D again. Pi then goes back to its own defaults. Restart pi to apply the change.

Make Ctrl+P follow your star order

Ctrl+P steps through models in pi. It reads the enabledModels list in settings.json. This extension can write your star order into that list.

1. Star the models you want, in the order you want.
2. Run /models sync.
3. Restart pi.

To undo this, run /models unsync and restart pi.

Warning: enabledModels limits which models pi can reach. After a sync, only your starred models stay available.

Hide the built-in /model menu entry

Pi defines /model inside its own code, so no setting can remove that command. This extension takes the command over, so /model opens this picker.

You can still remove the extra /model line from the command menu.

• Run /models hide to remove it. Only /models stays in the menu. Both commands still work.
• Run /models show to put the line back.

Where your data goes

The extension writes two files in your pi agent directory.

File	What it holds
~/.pi/agent/rich-model-selector.json	Your stars, your star order, your hidden models, and the menu setting
~/.pi/agent/settings.json	The thinking level of each model, the startup model, and the enabledModels list after a sync

The thinking levels go into the modelThinkingLevels field, which pi reads by itself. So a level set here works the same as one set any other way.

{
  "modelThinkingLevels": {
    "<provider>/<model-id>": "xhigh"
  }
}

You can edit both files by hand. You can also run more than one pi session at a time. The picker reads both files each time it opens. A write keeps the fields it does not own, because it locks the file first.

Limits

1. An open picker does not follow file changes. Close the picker and open it again to see an edit made somewhere else.
2. Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down save the order that the picker loaded at open time. A star added by another session after that point can go away.
3. If two sessions write at the same moment, the last write wins.
4. A level you set applies the next time pi switches to that model. It does not change the level of the session you are in until then.
5. Ctrl+E hides a model, so it does not jump to the end of the filter text. Use End for that.

FAQ

Why do Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down do nothing on macOS?

macOS takes Ctrl+Up for Mission Control and Ctrl+Down for Application Windows. Those keys never reach pi.

You have two options:

1. Use Alt+Up and Alt+Down. They do the same thing.
2. Turn the macOS shortcuts off. Go to System Settings, then Keyboard, then Keyboard Shortcuts, then Mission Control. Clear the Mission Control box and the Application Windows box.

Does this break my other editor extensions?

No. Pi runs one editor only, but this extension adds to the editor instead of replacing it. An extension such as @xynogen/pix-display keeps working. The load order in settings.json does not matter.

Why did my level lose its dot, or get one back?

The dot means the row follows your global default.

When you step a level onto the default, the picker removes the entry instead of saving one that only repeats the default. The dot comes back to show that. If the default later changes, that model follows it.

Can I pin a level that equals my global default?

No. A level equal to the default is stored as "follow the default". To pin one model apart from the rest, set the other models instead, or change your global default with /thinking.

I changed a file while pi was running. What happens?

Open the picker again to see the change. A /models hide or /models show in one session reaches the other sessions on the next key press.

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE.