Pi insert

Paste large text into Pi without filling your prompt editor with it.

Pi insert adds one command:

/insert

Paste one or more text blocks. For each text block, Pi insert first asks for an optional short label. Press Enter to use the text-N.md fallback. The resulting filename is then shown in the content editor before you paste the text. Each block is shown in a compact native summary.

Pi insert - 3 text files

Add more
Continue
1. successful-build.md   8.3 KiB  Embed      "successful build"
2. failed-build.md       21.4 KiB  Reference  "failed build"
3. text-3.md             72.4 KiB  Reference  recommended

Add more is the first selection. Select a file row to open its controls:

failed-build.md

Mode: Reference
Edit label
Remove

Selecting the mode toggles between Embed and Reference. Files up to 64 KiB default to Embed; larger files default to Reference as a recommendation, but either mode can always be selected manually.

• Embed uses Pi-style <file> framing with the path, raw byte count, optional exact label, and full contents.
• Reference uses the same framing as a self-closing tag, so the agent gets the path, byte count, and optional exact label without the contents and can decide whether to read, grep, diff, or parse the temporary file.

Editing a label renames its temporary file too. Duplicate labels get -2, -3, and so on. Removing a file deletes that temporary file. Remove is only offered when another file would remain.

Press Esc from the summary to cancel /insert. Esc from a file submenu returns to the summary. If no files have been added yet, /insert exits; otherwise you return to the summary.

• Esc from content returns to the label step.
• Esc from the label step cancels adding that file.

Example

An embedded file follows Pi's native file framing, with bytes added as explicit metadata:

<file name="/tmp/pi-insert-AbCd12/successful-build.md" bytes="8529" label="successful build">
...your pasted text...
</file>

A referenced file stays compact:

<file name="/tmp/pi-insert-AbCd12/failed-build.md" bytes="74231" label="failed build" />

bytes is the raw UTF-8 byte count. When present, label preserves the exact human label even when the generated filename is normalized, truncated, or deduplicated.

Selecting Continue prepares the files in Pi's normal input editor instead of submitting them immediately. Large prepared content uses Pi's native collapsed paste display, so it may appear as a compact [paste #…] marker.

• Continue prepares the content in Pi's editor with the cursor ready on the following line for additional instructions.

Add or edit your instructions in the normal Pi editor, then press Enter when you are ready to send. Text supplied after /insert is appended to the prepared file payload.

For example:

Compare these logs and explain why the second run fails.

Install

From npm:

pi install npm:pi-insert

From GitHub:

pi install git:github.com/boadij/pi-insert

For a one-off local test from this repository:

pi -e ./extensions/index.ts

Temporary files

Pi insert deliberately leaves cleanup to the operating system's temporary-directory policy. It does not add persistence, configuration, indexing, MIME detection, or a custom UI.

Requirements

A current version of Pi with extension commands and native extension UI support.

Development

The extension is TypeScript, loaded directly by Pi. There are no runtime dependencies and no build step.

npm test
npm pack --dry-run

License

Apache-2.0