Improve hooks.md UI documentation

- Add 'Key capabilities' section highlighting UI features
- Expand ctx.ui docs with custom component details
- Reference snake.ts example for custom UI
This commit is contained in:
Mario Zechner 2025-12-31 13:02:28 +01:00
parent 88e39471ea
commit 29e0ed9cd1

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@ -2,14 +2,21 @@
Hooks are TypeScript modules that extend pi's behavior by subscribing to lifecycle events. They can intercept tool calls, prompt the user, modify results, inject messages, and more.
**Example use cases:**
- Block dangerous commands (permission gates for `rm -rf`, `sudo`)
- Checkpoint code state (git stash at each turn, restore on branch)
- Protect paths (block writes to `.env`, `node_modules/`)
- Inject messages from external sources (file watchers, webhooks)
- Custom slash commands and UI components
**Key capabilities:**
- **User interaction** - Hooks can prompt users via `ctx.ui` (select, confirm, input, notify)
- **Custom UI components** - Full TUI components with keyboard input via `ctx.ui.custom()`
- **Custom slash commands** - Register commands like `/mycommand` via `pi.registerCommand()`
- **Event interception** - Block or modify tool calls, inject context, customize compaction
- **Session persistence** - Store hook state that survives restarts via `pi.appendEntry()`
See [examples/hooks/](../examples/hooks/) for working implementations.
**Example use cases:**
- Permission gates (confirm before `rm -rf`, `sudo`, etc.)
- Git checkpointing (stash at each turn, restore on `/branch`)
- Path protection (block writes to `.env`, `node_modules/`)
- External integrations (file watchers, webhooks, CI triggers)
- Interactive tools (games, wizards, custom dialogs)
See [examples/hooks/](../examples/hooks/) for working implementations, including a [snake game](../examples/hooks/snake.ts) demonstrating custom UI.
## Quick Start
@ -187,7 +194,7 @@ Fired when branching via `/branch`.
```typescript
pi.on("session_before_branch", async (event, ctx) => {
// event.entryIndex - entry index being branched from
return { cancel: true }; // Cancel branch
// OR
return { skipConversationRestore: true }; // Branch but don't rewind messages
@ -207,10 +214,10 @@ Fired on compaction. See [compaction.md](compaction.md) for details.
```typescript
pi.on("session_before_compact", async (event, ctx) => {
const { preparation, branchEntries, customInstructions, signal } = event;
// Cancel:
return { cancel: true };
// Custom summary:
return {
compaction: {
@ -236,7 +243,7 @@ pi.on("session_before_tree", async (event, ctx) => {
const { preparation, signal } = event;
// preparation.targetId, oldLeafId, commonAncestorId, entriesToSummarize
// preparation.userWantsSummary - whether user chose to summarize
return { cancel: true };
// OR provide custom summary (only used if userWantsSummary is true):
return { summary: { summary: "...", details: {} } };
@ -267,7 +274,7 @@ Fired after user submits prompt, before agent loop. Can inject a persistent mess
pi.on("before_agent_start", async (event, ctx) => {
// event.prompt - user's prompt text
// event.images - attached images (if any)
return {
message: {
customType: "my-hook",
@ -315,7 +322,7 @@ Fired before each LLM call. Modify messages non-destructively (session unchanged
```typescript
pi.on("context", async (event, ctx) => {
// event.messages - deep copy, safe to modify
// Filter or transform messages
const filtered = event.messages.filter(m => !shouldPrune(m));
return { messages: filtered };
@ -333,7 +340,7 @@ pi.on("tool_call", async (event, ctx) => {
// event.toolName - "bash", "read", "write", "edit", etc.
// event.toolCallId
// event.input - tool parameters
if (shouldBlock(event)) {
return { block: true, reason: "Not allowed" };
}
@ -359,7 +366,7 @@ pi.on("tool_result", async (event, ctx) => {
// event.content - array of TextContent | ImageContent
// event.details - tool-specific (see below)
// event.isError
// Modify result:
return { content: [...], details: {...}, isError: false };
});
@ -388,7 +395,9 @@ Every handler receives `ctx: HookContext`:
### ctx.ui
UI methods for user interaction:
UI methods for user interaction. Hooks can prompt users and even render custom TUI components.
**Built-in dialogs:**
```typescript
// Select from options
@ -403,19 +412,31 @@ const ok = await ctx.ui.confirm("Delete?", "This cannot be undone");
const name = await ctx.ui.input("Name:", "placeholder");
// Returns string or undefined if cancelled
// Notification
// Notification (non-blocking)
ctx.ui.notify("Done!", "info"); // "info" | "warning" | "error"
```
// Custom component with keyboard focus
**Custom components:**
For full control, render your own TUI component with keyboard focus:
```typescript
const handle = ctx.ui.custom(myComponent);
// Returns { close: () => void, requestRender: () => void }
// Component can implement handleInput(data: string) for keyboard
// Call handle.close() when done
```
Your component can:
- Implement `handleInput(data: string)` to receive keyboard input
- Implement `render(width: number): string[]` to render lines
- Implement `invalidate()` to clear cached render
- Call `handle.requestRender()` to trigger re-render
- Call `handle.close()` when done to restore normal UI
See [examples/hooks/snake.ts](../examples/hooks/snake.ts) for a complete example with game loop, keyboard handling, and state persistence.
### ctx.hasUI
`false` in print mode (`-p`) and RPC mode. Always check before using `ctx.ui`:
`false` in print mode (`-p`), JSON print mode, and RPC mode. Always check before using `ctx.ui`:
```typescript
if (ctx.hasUI) {