tgrep-pi

Pi extension that installs Microsoft tgrep and uses it for the built-in grep tool.

tgrep is a trigram-indexed search engine (the same engine GitHub Copilot CLI uses for large-repo grep). This package downloads the latest prebuilt binary for your OS, keeps it updated, and routes Pi’s grep calls through it.

• npm: tgrep-pi
• pi.dev: pi.dev/packages/tgrep-pi
• Source: github.com/shahidshabbir-se/pi-tgrep
• Upstream: microsoft/tgrep · releases · benchmarks

Why use it

Pi’s default grep (and tools like ripgrep) scan every file on every query — O(total bytes). In a 100k+ file monorepo that is slow enough that the agent spends more time waiting than reading.

tgrep pre-builds a trigram index, then only opens files that could match. On large trees that is often an order of magnitude faster (see tgrep’s own numbers: up to ~50× vs ripgrep on gecko-dev / Chromium / Linux).

This extension exists so you do not have to:

1. Hunt for a tgrep binary
2. Keep it current
3. Teach the model a new tool name

You get the same grep tool Pi already uses, backed by tgrep.

	Default Pi grep	tgrep-pi
Engine	built-in scanner	microsoft/tgrep
Large repos	linear scan	trigram index + candidate verify
Binary	none	latest GitHub release, checksum-verified
Tool name	grep	still grep (override)

Use it if you search big checkouts, generated trees, or anything where cold rg/grep feels sticky. On tiny repos the difference is small; tgrep still works.

Install

pi install npm:tgrep-pi

Reload Pi (/reload or restart). Confirm with /tgrep-status.

From git instead of npm:

pi install git:github.com/shahidshabbir-se/pi-tgrep

Requires a network path to GitHub Releases on first grep (or when /tgrep-update runs).

What you get

• grep tool override — same parameters Pi already documents (pattern, path, exclude, caseSensitive, context, limit, cursor). Smart-case by default.
• Managed binary — stored next to the package (bin/tgrep or bin/tgrep.exe), not in ~/.local/bin. Safe on NixOS and other immutable systems.
• Latest release — fetched from microsoft/tgrep releases. Archive SHA-256 is checked against checksums.txt when GitHub publishes it. Replace is atomic (tgrep.new → rename).
• Background check — session start does not block the TUI. First grep ensures the binary; a 24h cache avoids hitting the API every turn.
• Platforms — Linux/macOS/Windows, x64 and arm64 (musl static builds on Linux).

Commands

Command	What it does
/tgrep-status	Managed path, VERSION, whether the binary exists
/tgrep-update	Force download and replace with the current latest release

How the binary is kept

1. Detect host triple (x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, aarch64-apple-darwin, …).
2. GET https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/tgrep/releases/latest.
3. Download the matching .tar.gz / .zip, verify checksum, extract, chmod +x, atomic replace.
4. Write bin/VERSION (release tag, e.g. v1.0.4).

If GitHub is down and a local binary already exists, grep keeps using it.

GitHub API rate limits are tight unauthenticated. Set GITHUB_TOKEN or GH_TOKEN if updates start failing.

Grep mapping

Pi grep arg	tgrep
pattern	regex / literal (tgrep auto)
path glob (*.ts, src/**)	-g
path file or directory	positional path
exclude directory	-g '!dir/**'
exclude glob	-g '!glob'
caseSensitive: true	-s
caseSensitive: false	-i
omitted	-S smart-case
context	-C
limit / cursor	applied in the extension (default 20)

Output is grouped by file, with a continuation cursor when truncated.

Optional: run tgrep serve / tgrep index in a repo yourself for the full server+index path. The extension does not start a daemon; tgrep will use a running server if one is already there.

Development

git clone https://github.com/shahidshabbir-se/pi-tgrep.git
cd pi-tgrep

Local Pi also auto-loads ~/.pi/agent/extensions/pi-tgrep/ if you keep a copy there. Do not install the npm package and a local copy at the same time or grep will be registered twice.

License

MIT. Upstream tgrep is also MIT.