pi-yank

Lightweight /yank extension for pi.

/yank copies the last assistant response to the clipboard, or lets you choose an individual fenced code block from that response. You can also target earlier messages with /yank N (e.g. /yank 2 operates on the 2nd-to-last assistant message).

Features

• Copy the last assistant message to the clipboard
• Use /yank N to target the N-th latest assistant message (/yank 2 = 2nd-to-last)
• Detect fenced Markdown code blocks in the selected assistant message
• Use arrow keys + Enter to choose a specific code block
• Optionally disable the menu for the current session so /yank behaves like /copy
• Reuse pi's official clipboard pipeline via copyToClipboard() for /copy-compatible behavior
• Zero third-party runtime dependencies

Installation

Quick test

Load temporarily without installing:

pi --extension /path/to/pi-yank/extensions/yank.ts

Install as pi package

Globally:

pi install /path/to/pi-yank

Project-local:

pi install -l /path/to/pi-yank

Install as a project-local extension file

mkdir -p .pi/extensions
cp /path/to/pi-yank/extensions/yank.ts .pi/extensions/yank.ts

Install as a global extension file

mkdir -p ~/.pi/agent/extensions
cp /path/to/pi-yank/extensions/yank.ts ~/.pi/agent/extensions/yank.ts

Usage

/yank       # copy from the latest assistant message
/yank 1     # same as /yank
/yank 2     # copy from the 2nd-to-last assistant message
/yank N     # copy from the N-th latest assistant message

Behavior:

• No assistant message yet → shows No agent messages to copy yet.
• N-th latest message not found → shows No N-th latest agent message to copy yet.
• Selected assistant message has no fenced code blocks → copies the full message
• Selected assistant message has code blocks → opens a selection menu
• Selecting a code block copies only that code block's content
• Selecting the session option disables the menu for later /yank calls in the current session
• Pressing Escape in the selector cancels without copying

Code block detection notes

/yank uses a line-by-line fenced block parser instead of a simple regex. This makes it more robust for LLM output such as:

• a top-level ````markdownfenced block containing literal nested ```js ` examples
• multiple top-level sibling code blocks
• ~~~ fenced blocks
• unterminated fences, which are ignored

Menu previews include more context when available, for example:

• 1. Full latest message (24 lines • 812 chars)
• 2. Code block — markdown: # Title (18 lines • 640 chars)
• 3. Code block — js: console.log("hi") (1 line • 18 chars)
• 4. Always copy full selected message in this session

When using /yank N with N > 1, the menu title shows the target (e.g. "Yank from 2nd latest response").

Development

Run parser tests:

npm run check

Package structure

This repository follows pi package conventions:

• extension entry: extensions/yank.ts
• package.json includes a pi manifest
• pi core package is declared as a peerDependency

License

MIT