pi-conventions

Pi package for enforcing deterministic codebase conventions: structure, naming, documentation, size, and lightweight dependency boundaries.

Install

pi install npm:pi-conventions

Quick start

1. Restart pi or run /reload after install.
2. Scaffold a config: /conventions create (or create rust|typescript|ts|go|python|documentation|fallback).
3. Inspect with /conventions. Tune with /skill:conventions-guard if you want guided review.

Config lookup: project .pi/conventions.json, global fallback ~/.pi/agent/conventions.json. Project replaces global by default; set "extendsGlobal": true to layer global policies underneath project rules.

When active policies exist, the extension injects a compact ## Conventions summary into the system prompt, and intercepts write/edit to enforce them.

Commands

Command	Use
/conventions	Show active config
/conventions create [<lang>]	Scaffold config (rust, typescript, ts, go, python, documentation, fallback)
/conventions reload	Reload after manual config edits
/conventions check <path>	Evaluate one file or proposed path
/conventions audit	Read-only repo scan (Git-aware; falls back to built-in ignore list)
/conventions audit --include-ignored	Include Git-ignored files
/conventions audit --changed	Audit only locally changed files (staged + unstaged + untracked; deleted files skipped)
--json	Machine-readable output (works on check and audit)
--policy <name>	Filter to one family: structure, naming, documentation, size, dependencies, package, files

Config shape

{
  "$schema": "./conventions.schema.json",
  "extendsGlobal": true,
  "ignorePaths": ["vendor/**", "**/*.generated.ts"],
  "policies": {
    "structure": {
      "mode": "block",
      "editMode": "warn",
      "sourceRoots": ["src/"],
      "forbiddenSegments": ["utils", "helpers", "common", "misc"]
    },
    "naming": {
      "rules": [
        {
          "id": "naming.rs.modules",
          "prefixes": ["src/"],
          "pathKinds": ["file"],
          "extensions": ["rs"],
          "requireCase": "snake_case",
          "forbiddenNames": ["util", "utils", "helper", "helpers"]
        }
      ]
    },
    "size": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "id": "size.core.500",
          "prefixes": ["src/"],
          "extensions": ["ts", "tsx", "rs", "go"],
          "exclude": ["src/**/*.generated.ts"],
          "maxLines": 500
        }
      ]
    },
    "dependencies": {
      "mode": "block",
      "rules": [
        {
          "from": ["src/**/*.ts"],
          "exclude": ["src/extract/**"],
          "to": ["src/extract/verticals/**"],
          "reason": "Reach verticals through src/extract/registry.ts only."
        }
      ]
    },
    "documentation": {
      "rules": [
        {
          "kind": "requireFileOverview",
          "paths": ["src/**/*.ts"],
          "exclude": ["src/**/*.d.ts"]
        },
        {
          "kind": "todoFormat",
          "paths": ["src/**", "test/**"],
          "format": "TAG: concrete action - referent"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Each rule/limit accepts an optional id (surfaced in diagnostics as policy:id) and exclude (suppresses the rule for matching paths). Top-level ignorePaths suppresses findings across all policies. See schemas/conventions.schema.json for the full schema.

Policies

Structure — file placement, architecture zones, catch-all folder blocking (utils, helpers, common, misc), legacy zones, new top-level file control.

Naming — case styles (kebab-case, snake_case, camelCase, PascalCase), forbidden generic names, scoped by prefix/extension/path kind.

Size — maxLines and maxBytes budgets, optional ignoreBlankLines/ignoreCommentLines. Useful as a split-by-responsibility nudge.

Dependencies — lightweight relative import boundaries (from → to, with exclude) and raw specifier patterns (forbidSpecifiers/allowSpecifiers). Each rule supports allow to whitelist public entrypoints (e.g. src/features/*/index.ts). Scans static import/export ... from and relative dynamic imports. Does not do TS compiler resolution, path aliases, package export maps, call graphs, or circular dep detection. Use a linter for those.

Documentation — deterministic rules: requireTsdocOnExports, requireFileOverview, forbidFileHeaders, forbidCommentPatterns, todoFormat, requireRationaleComments.

Files — deterministic repo shape checks: require (must exist), forbid (must not exist), or source + requireAny for source/companion pairing with {stem}/{dir}/{path} placeholders. Required-file checks fire during audit; pairing and forbid fire per-file (write/edit and check).

Package — manifest hygiene for npm/Pi packages: requireFields, requireFiles, piPackage.requireKeyword, piPackage.verifyResourcePaths (verifies pi.extensions[]/pi.skills[] paths exist), and npm.requireFilesCoverage (verifies package.json files covers configured entries). All checks are local file/JSON — no network, no npm publish.

All policies default to warn and are additive — present only what you configure. Modes: warn, confirm, block. See examples/ for focused starting points (conventions.size.json, conventions.documentation.json, conventions.dependencies.json, conventions.package.json, conventions.files.json, conventions.extends-global.json).