Answer extension

Interactive Q&A extraction for pi. Run /answer to extract questions from the last assistant message, answer them in a TUI, and send the compiled answers back into the chat.

Install

pi install npm:pi-answer

Usage

1. Trigger with /answer.
2. Review each extracted question.
3. If options are available, choose one with ↑/↓ (or 1-9) or switch to Other and type a custom answer.
4. Press Enter to commit the current answer and move forward; use Tab/Shift+Tab to navigate without committing.
5. On the last question, press Enter once to open confirmation and Enter again to submit.

Note: The compiled response omits context lines and skips unanswered questions.

Navigation:

• Tab: next question (without committing current answer)
• Shift+Tab: previous question (without committing current answer)
• Enter: commit current answer and move to next question
• ↑/↓: select an option (when options are present and not editing custom text)
• 1-9: jump to option number (including Other, when not editing custom text)
• Type while an option is selected: switch to custom answer input
• When editing Other: clear the custom text, then use ↑/↓ to switch back to options
• Shift+Enter: newline in custom answer input
• Ctrl+T: apply the next answer template (if configured)
• Ctrl+C: cancel
• Esc (on submit confirmation): keep editing

Configuration

The extension reads settings from Pi's global agent dir settings.json (for example ~/.pi/agent/settings.json, or the directory selected via PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR) and .pi/settings.json (project overrides global). Add an answer block:

{
  "answer": {
    "systemPrompt": "Custom extraction prompt...",
    "extractionModels": [
      { "provider": "openai-codex", "id": "gpt-5.4-mini" },
      { "provider": "github-copilot", "id": "gpt-5.4-mini" },
      { "provider": "openai-codex", "id": "gpt-5.3-codex-spark" },
      { "provider": "github-copilot", "id": "gemini-3-flash-preview" },
      { "provider": "github-copilot", "id": "claude-haiku-4.5" },
      { "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

Templates support these placeholders:

• {{question}} — current question text
• {{context}} — optional context (empty if missing)
• {{answer}} — current answer text
• {{index}} — 1-based question index
• {{total}} — total number of questions

Draft persistence

Draft answers are saved to the session while you type. When you re-run /answer for the same assistant message, the extension can restore the draft (if enabled).

Draft settings:

• autosaveMs: debounce interval in milliseconds for saving drafts (0 saves immediately).
• promptOnRestore: prompt before restoring saved drafts when true (auto-restore when false).

Acknowledgements

This extension is inspired by the original implementation from mitsuhiko/agent-stuff.

Tests

Run the utility tests with bun:

bun test answer/tests/utils.test.ts
bun test answer/tests/qna-adapter.test.ts