pi-recent-user

A pi extension that keeps a persistent widget showing your recent prompts, so you can pick up context fast when returning to a long session.

Problem

A pi session accumulates many turns over time. Leave for a while, come back, and the screen is full of the latest LLM thinking and answer — you scroll forever to find "what did I ask last?". This extension puts a persistent widget above the editor showing your last N prompts. One glance and you're back in context.

What it looks like

📝 Recently you asked:
· help me review the token-refresh logic in the login module
· what are typical Redis use cases
▶ what to consider when designing a flash-sale system

Latest entry is marked with ▶, earlier ones with ·.

Install

# local path (dev/personal)
pi install /path/to/pi-recent-user

# GitHub
pi install git:github.com/ichewm/pi-recent-user@v0.1.0
# or unpinned
pi install https://github.com/ichewm/pi-recent-user

# npm
pi install npm:pi-recent-user

Once installed, every pi start auto-loads it (no -e needed). Uninstall: pi remove <source>.

Usage

Auto-works on install. One command to adjust:

Command	Effect
/recent	show current status
/recent on / /recent off	show / hide the widget
/recent 5	show last 5 prompts (range 1–10)

All adjustments persist (written to the config file) and survive restart.

Config

Stored in the extension's own file: ~/.pi/agent/pi-recent-user.json — not in pi's settings.json (follows the pi ecosystem convention, so no config leftover on uninstall).

Field	Type	Default	Description
count	number	3	how many recent prompts to show (1–10, auto-clamped)
maxLine	number	70	max display width per line, in terminal columns (10–200)
show	boolean	true	whether the widget is shown

To change defaults without /recent, edit DEFAULTS in src/index.ts.

How it works

• Triggers: session_start (return/new session) + turn_end (refresh after each turn)
• Source: reads ctx.sessionManager.getBranch(), takes the last N role === "user" messages
• Display: ctx.ui.setWidget(), a persistent widget above the editor
• Zero side effects: read-only — doesn't touch context, doesn't alter the message stream, makes no LLM calls

Notes

1. Truncation by display width (CJK characters counted as 2 columns) via truncateToWidth, so wide-glyph text doesn't overflow.
2. Widget position: above the editor by default. For below: pass { placement: "belowEditor" } to setWidget.
3. After pi remove: the config file ~/.pi/agent/pi-recent-user.json remains but is harmless (not read when the extension is unloaded). Delete it manually to fully clean up.
4. Empty session: the widget is hidden when there's no user-message history yet.
5. Multi-line/long input: each entry is collapsed to a single line.
6. Editing the config file by hand: restart pi to take effect — only /recent changes apply live.

Customize

Single file src/index.ts (~130 lines). Common tweaks:

• Defaults: DEFAULTS
• Widget title: the "📝 Recently you asked:" string in updateWidget
• Position below editor: add { placement: "belowEditor" } to setWidget
• Truncation width: DEFAULTS.maxLine

After edits: /reload or restart pi.

Dependencies

• Runtime: @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent and @earendil-works/pi-tui (bundled with pi, listed as peerDependencies, not bundled here)
• No build step — pi runs .ts directly via jiti

License

MIT