Answer

Extracts questions from the last assistant message, lets you answer them in a terminal UI, and compiles the responses back into the chat. Trigger with /answer.

Install

pi install npm:@petechu/pi-answer-studio
/reload

Usage

1. Run /answer after an assistant message that contains questions.
2. Answer each question in the UI.
3. Press Ctrl+R or finish the last question to enter review.
4. Press Enter on the review screen to submit.

Keys

Key	Action
← / →	switch questions
Enter	commit answer, move to next
Ctrl+R	review / submit
↑ / ↓	select an option / move cursor
1 – 9	jump to option number / toggle
type while option selected	switch to custom text input
Shift+Enter	newline in custom input
Ctrl+T	apply next answer template
Ctrl+M	toggle single-select / multi-select
Space (multi-select)	toggle option at cursor
Ctrl+C	cancel
Esc (on review)	back to editing

Answer modes

Each question defaults to single-select (radio buttons). Press Ctrl+M to switch the current question to multi-select (checkboxes) and vice versa. The mode indicator [S] or [M] is shown next to the choices label.

• Single-select: ↑/↓ changes the selection, Enter commits
• Multi-select: ↑/↓ moves the cursor (▸), Space or a number key toggles the option at cursor, selected options are joined with , in the answer

The compiled submission omits unanswered questions and context lines.

Design & workflow

The extension has three layers: extraction, answering, and submission.

Extraction

When /answer runs, the extension walks the current session branch from newest to oldest and uses the latest completed assistant text message as the source. It then selects an extraction model from the configured preferences, falling back to the current chat model if none of the preferred models are available with credentials.

The assistant message is sent to the extraction model with a structured extract_questions tool when supported. If that tool path fails, the extension retries with the plain JSON system prompt. Extracted questions are normalized before display: ids are stabilized, empty questions are dropped, optional headers/context are trimmed, and choices are kept only when they have usable labels.

Answering

Questions are shown in a custom terminal UI called Answer Studio. The UI keeps the extracted order, shows optional context and choices, and always offers an "Other / custom answer" path for choice-based questions. You can move between questions, select numbered options, type free-form responses, cycle configured templates, and enter a review screen before submitting.

Answer templates are applied locally in the TUI using {{question}}, {{context}}, {{answer}}, {{index}}, and {{total}} placeholders. They only change the current draft text; they do not re-run extraction or call another model.

Drafts and submission

Drafts are stored as custom session entries tied to the assistant message id and the normalized question list. While enabled, answer changes are autosaved after the configured debounce interval, restored only when the same questions are extracted again, and cleared after a successful submission.

When you submit from the review screen, the extension sends one new chat message that starts with I answered your questions in the following way: followed by the compiled Q/A text, then triggers the next assistant turn. Cancelling keeps or flushes the current draft depending on where you exit; submitting clears it.

Configuration

The extension reads answer settings from Pi's global agent settings and project .pi/settings.json (project overrides global):

{
  "answer": {
    "systemPrompt": "Custom extraction prompt...",
    "extractionModels": [
      { "provider": "openai-codex", "id": "gpt-5.4-mini" },
      { "provider": "github-copilot", "id": "gpt-5.4-mini" },
      { "provider": "github-copilot", "id": "gemini-3-flash-preview" },
      { "provider": "anthropic", "id": "claude-haiku-4-5" }
    ],
    "answerTemplates": [
      { "label": "Brief", "template": "{{answer}}" },
      { "label": "Need info", "template": "I need more details about: " }
    ],
    "drafts": {
      "enabled": true,
      "autosaveMs": 1000,
      "promptOnRestore": true
    }
  }
}

Template placeholders: {{question}}, {{context}}, {{answer}}, {{index}}, {{total}}.