pi-model-cycler

Interactive model switcher for Pi coding agent — browse, search, favorite, and cycle models directly from the terminal.

/model-picker       Open the interactive picker
Ctrl+Alt+M          Quick shortcut to open the picker
Ctrl+Shift+L        Cycle through your favorite models

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Why?

Pi has a rich model registry, but switching models mid-session is tedious — you either remember exact model IDs or guess. pi-model-picker gives you a full-screen TUI to visually browse providers, search by name, mark favorites, and switch with one keystroke.

• Browse all models grouped by provider
• Filter by typing any part of the name, ID, or provider
• Favorite models with Space for quick cycling
• See what's active — current model is marked (current)
• Cycle through favorites with a single shortcut

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Installation

From npm (recommended)

pi install npm:pi-model-cycler

Then restart Pi.

Manual (local)

# Clone or copy the extension directory
git clone https://github.com/baflow/pi-model-cycler.git ~/.pi/agent/extensions/pi-model-cycler

Then restart Pi.

Note: The extension loads from ~/.pi/agent/extensions/pi-model-cycler/. Make sure the directory contains index.ts and tsconfig.json.

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Usage

Open the picker

/model-picker

Or use the shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+M

A full-screen TUI opens showing all available models grouped by provider:

╭── Model Picker ───────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ ◎  type to filter...                                              │
│                                                                   │
│ ─── ollama-cloud ──────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ > ★  DeepSeek V4 Pro           ollama-cloud/deepseek-v4-pro       │
│   ☆  DeepSeek V4 Flash         ollama-cloud/deepseek-v4-flash     │
│   ★  Gemini 3 Flash Preview    ollama-cloud/gemini-3-flash-preview│
│   ★  GLM 5.1                   ollama-cloud/glm-5.1               │
│   ★  Gemma4:31b                ollama-cloud/gemma4:31b            │
│   ☆  Kimi K2.6 (current)      ollama-cloud/kimi-k2.6             │
│   ★  MiniMax M2.7              ollama-cloud/minimax-m2.7          │
│                                                                   │
│ ↑↓ = nav  Enter = pick  Space = fav  Esc = close                  │
╰───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Controls

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Navigate through models
Enter	Select model and switch session
Space	Toggle favorite (★)
Esc / q	Close without switching
Type any text	Filter models by name, ID, or provider
Backspace	Remove last character from filter

Cycle favorites

Ctrl+Shift+L — cycles through your favorited models one by one. Useful for quick A/B comparisons between models.

The cycle order matches the order models appear in the picker (sorted by provider, then by name). Wraps around when reaching the end.

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Configuration

Favorites

Favorites are stored in ~/.pi/agent/extensions/pi-model-cycler/favorites.json:

[
  "ollama-cloud/deepseek-v4-pro",
  "ollama-cloud/kimi-k2.6",
  "ollama-cloud/gemini-3-flash-preview"
]

You can edit this file directly. Entries are provider/model-id strings matching Pi's model registry keys.

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How it works

The extension uses Pi's built-in APIs:

• ctx.modelRegistry.getAvailable() — fetches all registered models with metadata (provider, ID, name, reasoning support, context window, token limits, costs)
• pi.setModel(model) — switches the current session model
• ctx.ui.custom() — renders a custom TUI component as an overlay
• ctx.model — reads the currently active model

No external dependencies. Zero network calls. The extension is a single TypeScript file (~5KB after stripping types).

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Key bindings reference

All shortcuts are registered globally in Pi:

Shortcut	Command	Description
Ctrl+Alt+M	Open picker	Opens the interactive model picker
Ctrl+Shift+L	Cycle favorite	Cycles through favorited models

To change shortcuts, edit the pi.registerShortcut() calls in index.ts.

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Tips

1. Filter is fuzzy-ish — typing deep matches deepseek-v4-pro, deepseek-v4-flash
2. Star your top 3-5 models — then use Ctrl+Shift+L to rotate through them during a session
3. No favorites set? Cycle does nothing (shows a warning)
4. Combined with pi-prompt-template-model — use the picker for session-wide switching, and templates for one-shot model overrides
5. The picker shows all available models including those from multiple providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Ollama Cloud, etc.)

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Development

# Make changes to index.ts
# Restart Pi to reload the extension

The extension has a minimal footprint: one file, no build step, no external npm packages beyond Pi's own API.

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Acknowledgments

This extension builds on the Pi coding agent ecosystem. Special thanks to:

• pi-subagents by nicopreme — the TUI overlay rendering (ctx.ui.custom()) and component architecture that powers the model picker's UI was inspired by pi-subagents' approach to interactive components. pi-subagents also complements this extension perfectly: use the picker to set a session model, then delegate tasks to subagents with different models via pi-subagents' subagent({model: "..."}).

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License

MIT