pi-footer

A composable footer for pi with provider-driven data and a compiled pipeline renderer.

• Template-based footer rendering with dynamic data from context providers.
• Context providers (data sources) that resolve values from the current state (e.g. model, git, time).
• Context transforms that reshape provider values (e.g. humanise, colorize).
• Left/right alignment + flex growth.
• Built-in providers for model, git, cwd/path, and time.
• Debug command for inspecting pipeline execution.
• API to register custom providers and transforms from other extensions.

Usage

pi install @zenobius/pi-footer

Quick start (60 seconds)

Create ~/.pi/agent/pi-footer.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zenobi-us/pi-footer/main/config.schema.json",
  "template": [
    [
      "{path}",
      {
        "items": ["{model_provider}.{model_name}"],
        "align": "right"
      }
    ]
  ]
}

Then run:

/pi-footer reload

Advanced template example

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zenobi-us/pi-footer/main/config.schema.json",
  "template": [
    [
      "{model_provider}.{model_name} [{model_context_window}:{model_context_used | humanise_percent | context_used_color}]",
      "{path}",
      { "items": ["[{git_worktree_name}:{git_branch_name}]"], "align": "right" }
    ],
    [
      {
        "items": [
          "ctx:{model_context_used_tokens | humanise_number} in:{usage_tokens_read | humanise_number} out:{usage_tokens_write | humanise_number} $:{usage_cost_usd | round(4)} mode:{model_thinking_mode} plan:{usage_plan}"
        ],
        "align": "right"
      }
    ]
  ]
}

Renders:

openai-codex.gpt-4.0 [200k:64%] /mnt/Store/Projects/Mine/Github/pi-footer              [my-worktree:main]
ctx:128,400 in:110,002 out:18,398 $:0.2321 mode:normal plan:pro

Architecture (provider → transform → transform)

You can skip this section unless you are building custom providers/transforms.

Each { ... } expression in a template is compiled into a pipeline.

Example:

{ model_context_used | humanise_percent | context_used_color }

Execution flow:

1. model_context_used provider resolves raw value (e.g. 64)
2. humanise_percent updates text to "64%"
3. context_used_color applies theme color based on numeric value
4. Pipeline returns final text

Pipelines are parsed once (cached by template string) and executed each render.

---

Template syntax

Basic

{provider_key}

Literal sources are also supported:

{"static text"}

Value transforms (pipelines)

{model_context_used | humanise_percent | context_used_color}
{"words" | fg("error")}

Args: literal vs context reference

• Quoted args are literals:
  • fg('accent') → literal string accent
• Unquoted args are context refs:
  • clamp(0, model_context_window)

If an unquoted ref key does not exist, it falls back to the raw token string.

---

Built-in providers

Core

• {time} – current local time
• {cwd} – current directory name
• {path} – full current working directory path
• {model_name} – active model id
• {model_provider} – active model provider
• {model_context_used} – context usage as number 0..100
• {model_context_used_tokens} – raw used context tokens
• {model_context_window} – context window (e.g. 200k)
• {model_thinking_level} – current thinking level
• {model_thinking_mode} – best-effort compatibility alias for thinking mode (- when unavailable)
• {usage_tokens_read} – latest assistant read tokens (input + cacheRead)
• {usage_tokens_write} – latest assistant write tokens (output + cacheWrite)
• {usage_cost_usd} – cumulative branch/session assistant cost in USD
• {usage_plan} – best-effort account plan/tier from runtime metadata (- when unavailable)

Git

• {git_branch_name}
• {git_worktree_name}
• {git_status} (structured object)
• {recent_commits} (structured object)

---

Built-in transforms

• humanise_time
• humanise_percent (alias: humanise_percentage)
• humanise_amount
• humanise_number
• round(n)
• clamp(min,max)
• fg('themeColor')
• bg('themeColor')
• thinking_level_icons('ascii' | 'unicode')
• git_status_icons('ascii' | 'unicode')
• context_used_color (alias: model_context_colors)

context_used_color thresholds:

• < 50 → success
• 50..79 → warning
• >= 80 → error

---

Template layout config

• A template is an array of rows.
• Each row can be a string, an array of strings, an array of template objects, or a mix.
• Template objects support additional layout config (alignment, separator, flex growth).
• Before rendering, all strings are parsed into template objects (caching by string value) and compiled into pipelines. They align to the left by default.

Set in services/config/defaults.ts or override via Config.template.

Note: The built-in default template remains intentionally compact for backwards compatibility; the expanded example below shows how to opt into path, token usage, cost, and plan fields.

Example:

~/.pi/agent/pi-footer.json

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zenobi-us/pi-footer/main/config.schema.json",
  "template": [
    [
      "{path}",
      {
        "items": [
          "{model_provider}.{model_name} [{model_context_window}:{model_context_used | humanise_percent | context_used_color}]",
          "[{git_worktree_name}:{git_branch_name}]"
        ],
        "align": "right",
        "separator": " "
      }
    ],
    [
      {
        "items": [
          "ctx:{model_context_used_tokens | humanise_number}",
          "in:{usage_tokens_read | humanise_number}",
          "out:{usage_tokens_write | humanise_number}",
          "$:{usage_cost_usd | round(4)}",
          "mode:{model_thinking_mode}",
          "plan:{usage_plan}"
        ],
        "align": "right"
      }
    ]
  ]
}

Supported object item fields:

• items: (string | FooterTemplateObjectItem)[]
• separator?: string
• align?: 'left' | 'right'
• flexGrow?: boolean

---

JSON Schema

The config schema is published as a JSON Schema document at:

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zenobi-us/pi-footer/main/config.schema.json

You can also use the normalized/internal shape schema at:

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zenobi-us/pi-footer/main/resolved-config.schema.json

Schemas are generated from src/services/config/schema.ts via:

mise run generate-schema

---

Extension API usage

Providing more context values and transforms is a common use case for other extensions.

For example:

• a project management extension might want to provide current task/issue info from the active branch or project directory.
• a cost-tracking extension might want to provide more detailed cost breakdowns or projections based on current usage patterns.
• a system monitoring extension might want to provide resource usage stats or alerts.
• a subagent extension might want to track how many subagents are currently active and provide that as context.

import { Footer } from '@zenobius/pi-footer';

export default function yourCustomPiValuesExtension(): void {
  // Add provider
  Footer.registerContextValue('custom_value', ({ ctx }) => ctx.cwd.length);

  // Add pipeline transform
  Footer.registerContextTransform('custom_format', (state) => {
    if (state.source !== 'custom_value') return state;

    const value = `len=${state.value}`;

    return {
      ...state,
      value,
      text: value,
    };
  });
}

---

Commands

• /pi-footer – show command help
• /pi-footer providers – show a scrollable list of registered context providers
• /pi-footer debug {expr} – inspect template pipeline execution for an expression
• /pi-footer reload – reload ~/.pi/agent/pi-footer.json and rerender footer
• /pi-footer <subcommand> [args] – run extension-registered subcommands (e.g. quota)

Example:

/pi-footer debug {model_context_used | humanise_percent | context_used_color}
/pi-footer quota