Task Subagents extension

Standalone delegated research tools for pi.

Install

pi install npm:pi-task-subagents

What it does

Adds two general-purpose tools:

• subagents — launch one or more isolated read-only research tasks from a single tool call, preferably as one batched tasks array
• steer_subagent — rerun one task from a previous subagents run with extra guidance

Each subagent gets its own temporary pi agent directory copy so concurrent runs can reuse auth and settings without fighting over lock files.

subagents also accepts two optional launch-level parameters:

• thinking_level — off, minimal, low, medium, high, or xhigh; defaults to the current thinking level
• context — fresh or fork; defaults to fresh. fork launches each subagent from the current saved session.

In interactive UI mode, subagents opens a pre-launch review screen before any child process starts. You can review each prompt and cwd, cycle per-task model and thinking overrides, cycle per-task launch context with Ctrl+F, cancel individual tasks with a note, and launch from the same review flow. The review screen starts a 30s auto-launch countdown as soon as it opens, shows the remaining time inline, and launches automatically when the timer expires. Any interaction stops the countdown permanently for that review, Esc is a quick way to stop it without changing anything else on the review screen, and Ctrl+C still cancels the launch review. Once the countdown has been stopped, Enter keeps the usual manual flow: it advances through tasks and opens the final confirmation screen on the last task, where Enter confirms and Esc returns to editing without any countdown running there. If more tasks are merged into an already-open review, the countdown resets so the expanded task list still gets a fresh timeout. By default, launched subagents inherit the main agent's current model and thinking level unless thinking_level is provided. Concurrent subagents tool calls share one merged launch review so you do not get overlapping TUI prompts. In headless mode, tasks still launch immediately.

Run results now report launched, succeeded, failed, and cancelled counts, and steer_subagent reuses any reviewed model/thinking overrides and fork context when it reruns a task.

After a run starts, press Ctrl+Shift+O to enable an inline inspector for the latest active run. The selected task's expanded-style details render directly in the main tool result, while the input editor becomes a per-task steering editor with task tabs above it. Enter submits steering for the current tab and Shift+Enter inserts a newline. The inspector closes when the run finishes.

Notes

• This extension is optional and works on its own.
• It complements pi-plan-md, but pi-plan-md does not require it.
• If both extensions are installed, subagents and steer_subagent are also available during plan mode.
• subagents keeps recent run IDs in memory so steer_subagent can target prior tasks from the same session.
• The inline inspector can also reconstruct completed runs from saved subagents/steer_subagent tool results on the current branch.