pi-caveman

A pi coding agent extension that makes the agent respond in caveman mode — cutting ~75% of output tokens while keeping full technical accuracy.

Inspired by JuliusBrussee/caveman.

Install

pi install npm:@piotr-oles/pi-caveman

Usage

Control via the --pi-caveman CLI flag (takes precedence) or the PI_CAVEMAN environment variable:

pi --pi-caveman full     # default: drop articles, fragments ok
pi --pi-caveman lite     # drop filler, keep grammar (professional)
pi --pi-caveman ultra    # maximum compression, telegraphic
pi --pi-caveman off      # disable

PI_CAVEMAN=full pi       # same, via env variable

Default level when flag is not set: full.

Levels

Level	Behavior	Example
lite	Keep grammar. Drop filler and pleasantries.	"Add the dependency."
full	Drop articles, filler, pleasantries. Fragments ok.	"New object ref each render. Wrap in useMemo."
ultra	Maximum compression. Symbols over words.	"Inline obj prop → new ref → re-render. useMemo."

How it works

Injects the level's instruction file into the system prompt at session start. Instructions are imperative directives telling the agent exactly how to respond. Level is immutable for the entire session.

Code blocks, error messages, and technical terms are always written normally regardless of level.

This extension is very lite on context - adds only a few lines of text to the system prompt.

Development

pnpm install
pnpm test
pnpm typecheck
pnpm check

To test changes manually, pass the source entry point directly to pi:

pi -e packages/pi-caveman/src/index.ts