Pi Atelier Sidebar Only

A conflict-safe activity sidebar for Pi.

This is a maintained sidebar-only fork of michaelmjhhhh/pi-atelier. It leaves Pi's existing footer and editor untouched by default, so status-line and composer extensions can keep owning those UI slots.

Watch the demo

Features

• Live agent, tool, context, workspace, usage, and TODO information, kept compact while a Turn is running
• Responsive, resizable sidebar panels
• Model, thinking-level, tool, session, rename, and compaction controls
• Explicit footer/editor ownership controls, disabled by default
• Safe cleanup that only releases UI slots installed by this package
• No telemetry or external network requests

Requirements

• Pi 0.84.0 or newer
• Node.js 22.19.0 or newer
• Interactive TUI mode

Install

pi install npm:pi-atelier-sidebar-only

Install the current GitHub version:

pi install git:github.com/jacqueline-JQ/pi-atelier-sidebar-only

Run a local checkout without installing it:

pi -e ./pi-atelier-sidebar-only

Pi packages run with your system permissions. Review third-party source before installation.

Use

Open the control center:

/atelier

Default shortcut: alt+a

The control center includes display settings, sidebar controls, model and tool selection, session details, rename, and compaction.

Commands:

/atelier display            # display settings
/atelier sidebar            # toggle sidebar
/atelier sidebar on|off     # set sidebar visibility
/atelier sidebar tools      # toggle tool names
/atelier footer on|off      # set Atelier status rail ownership
/atelier editor on|off      # set Atelier editor ownership
/atelier enable|disable     # set extension state

/atelier footer and /atelier editor toggle their current setting when on|off is omitted. Ownership changes are saved to the global user configuration. Commands reload Pi automatically; when the Control Center is opened with Alt+A, run /reload after changing either ownership setting.

The sidebar starts visible and hides when the terminal is too narrow. Press Ctrl+Shift+R to resize it.

If it is hidden, run:

/atelier sidebar on

In Pi fullscreen TUI mode, the sidebar is rendered as a separate split-layout child so transcript selection and copy stay scoped to Pi output. Regular TUI mode remains terminal-native, so a rectangular terminal selection can still include sidebar text.

The TODO panel supports Pi todo results and the optional @juicesharp/rpiv-todo extension.

Status rail presets remain available only when manageFooter is explicitly enabled:

• editorial: default layout
• minimal: compact layout
• classic: detailed telemetry

The Atelier composer and its rounded frame are available only when manageEditor is explicitly enabled.

Pi supports one custom footer and one custom editor at a time. This fork does not claim either slot by default.

Configuration

User configuration:

~/.pi/agent/pi-atelier.json

Trusted project configuration:

<project>/.pi/pi-atelier.json

Project settings override user settings. Session changes override both. Global sidebar and notification preferences remain user-only.

{
  "preset": "editorial",
  "shortcut": "alt+a",
  "density": "comfortable",
  "contextWarning": 70,
  "contextDanger": 90,
  "showSidebarOnStartup": true,
  "showSidebarToolNames": false,
  "completionNotifications": false,
  "manageFooter": false,
  "manageEditor": false
}

Keep manageFooter and manageEditor set to false when another extension already provides the status line or composer. Completion notifications are also suppressed while both ownership controls are disabled, allowing a dedicated notification extension to remain authoritative.

The same settings are available under Settings → Atelier status rail and Settings → Atelier editor.

Use Settings → Display to reorder or hide status rail segments and sidebar panels.

Privacy

Pi Atelier:

• Does not collect telemetry or analytics
• Does not store prompts, responses, credentials, or session content
• Uses read-only Git inspection for workspace status only after the project is trusted
• Does not read untracked file contents
• Reads project configuration only for trusted projects
• Does not include prompts or responses in notifications

Troubleshooting

• Shortcut unavailable: use /atelier, change shortcut, then run /reload.
• Sidebar missing: use TUI mode, widen the terminal, or run /atelier sidebar on.
• Status rail missing: expected in sidebar-only mode; your existing footer remains authoritative.
• Metric mismatch: token and cost totals cover the session; context usage covers the current model context.

Development

git clone https://github.com/jacqueline-JQ/pi-atelier-sidebar-only.git
cd pi-atelier-sidebar-only
npm install
npm run check
npx --no-install pi -e .

This fork is based on Pi Atelier 0.10.0. Upstream development and original documentation live at michaelmjhhhh/pi-atelier.

License

MIT