pi-context-inspector

PS: Forked from the extinct https://github.com/YuGiMob/pi-context-inspector

Opens a tabbed overlay with the full LLM context of the current session in pi-coding-agent: token breakdown, system prompt, active tools, every message, and a complete context dump.

What you get

• One command, five views. /context opens a centered overlay with Stats, System, Tools, Messages and Full tabs.
• Token breakdown that matches reality. Raw character-based estimates are scaled to the provider-reported token count, so category percentages are proportional to the real usage — not to a guess.
• A visual usage grid. A 10×5 colored grid (50 blocks, 2% each) shows at a glance how much of the context window is system prompt, tools, skills, messages, available space, and the auto-compact buffer.
• Scroll, search, copy. Every content tab supports vim-style scrolling, live / search with match navigation, and y to copy the raw text to the clipboard.
• Skill-aware accounting. Tool calls that read skill files (.agents/skills/, .pi/agent/*/skills/, skills/*/SKILL.md) are counted under Skills instead of Tools.

Quick start

Run /context at any point during a session:

/context

The overlay opens with the Stats tab active. Tab / Shift+Tab cycles tabs, q or Escape closes the overlay.

Installation

pi install npm:pi-context-inspector

From a local checkout:

pi install /path/to/pi-context-inspector

The tabs

Tab	Shows
Stats	Model name, token usage vs. context window (with percent), a 10×5 colored usage grid, a per-category breakdown (system prompt, system tools, tools, skills, messages, available, auto-compact buffer), and safe-left tokens.
System	The full system prompt, line-numbered, scrollable and searchable.
Tools	Active tool definitions with their parameter schemas (required vs. optional, descriptions).
Messages	All session messages formatted with roles, model, token usage, stop reasons, tool calls, image placeholders and errors.
Full	Complete context dump: system prompt + messages + context usage, ready to copy.

Keyboard

Key	Action
Tab / Shift+Tab	Cycle tabs
↑ / ↓, j / k	Scroll
g / G	Jump to top / bottom
PgUp / PgDn, Ctrl+b / Ctrl+f, Ctrl+u / Ctrl+d	Page scroll
/	Live search (type, Enter to commit)
n / N	Next / previous match
y	Copy the tab's raw text to the clipboard
q / Escape	Close the overlay

How the token breakdown works

Each category is estimated from raw text (chars ÷ 4, using pi's own per-message token estimator so thinking and image content are counted), then all estimates are scaled by a single ratio so they sum to the provider-reported token count. The grid reserves the auto-compact buffer as its own segment; the remaining blocks are filled proportionally by category. safeAvailable is the context window minus the reserve minus current usage — when it hits zero, the overlay reports that the auto-compact threshold has been reached.

Troubleshooting

• "No context usage data available." Send a message first, then re-open /context — usage is only reported once a turn has run.
• The overlay doesn't open. /context requires interactive (TUI) mode; it is a no-op when ctx.hasUI is false.
• Percentages look off. The breakdown scales estimates to the provider's reported total, so category sizes are proportional — but the provider total itself is only as accurate as the provider's usage reporting.

Development

Requires Node.js ≥ 22.19 and npm.

npm install
npm test
npm run typecheck

Credits

• badlogic, pi-coding-agent and the TUI APIs this overlay is built on
• Agnish Chakraborty, author of @agnishc/edb-context-viewer — this package is a fork of that extension

License

MIT