co-mono/packages/coding-agent/docs/packages.md

pi can help you create pi packages. Ask it to bundle your extensions, skills, prompt templates, or themes.

Pi Packages

Pi packages bundle extensions, skills, prompt templates, and themes so you can share them through npm or git. A package can declare resources in package.json under the pi key, or use conventional directories.

Table of Contents

• Install and Manage
• Package Sources
• Creating a Pi Package
• Package Structure
• Package Filtering
• Enable and Disable Resources
• Scope and Deduplication

Install and Manage

pi install npm:@foo/bar@1.0.0
pi install git:github.com/user/repo@v1
pi install https://github.com/user/repo  # raw URLs work too

pi remove npm:@foo/bar
pi list    # show installed packages from settings
pi update  # update all non-pinned packages

By default, install and remove write to global settings (~/.pi/agent/settings.json). Use -l to write to project settings (.pi/settings.json) instead. Project settings can be shared with your team, and pi installs any missing packages automatically on startup.

To try a package without installing it, use --extension or -e. This installs to a temporary directory for the current run only:

pi -e npm:@foo/bar
pi -e git:github.com/user/repo

Package Sources

Pi accepts three source types in settings and pi install.

npm

npm:@scope/pkg@1.2.3
npm:pkg

• Versioned specs are pinned and skipped by pi update.
• Global installs use npm install -g.
• Project installs go under .pi/npm/.

git

git:github.com/user/repo@v1
https://github.com/user/repo@v1

• Raw https:// URLs work without the git: prefix.
• Refs pin the package and skip pi update.
• Cloned to ~/.pi/agent/git/<host>/<path> (global) or .pi/git/<host>/<path> (project).
• Runs npm install after clone or pull if package.json exists.

Local Paths

/absolute/path/to/package
./relative/path/to/package

Local paths work in settings but not with pi install. If the path is a file, it loads as a single extension. If it is a directory, pi loads resources using package rules.

Creating a Pi Package

Add a pi manifest to package.json or use conventional directories. Include the pi-package keyword for discoverability.

{
  "name": "my-package",
  "keywords": ["pi-package"],
  "pi": {
    "extensions": ["./extensions"],
    "skills": ["./skills"],
    "prompts": ["./prompts"],
    "themes": ["./themes"]
  }
}

Paths are relative to the package root. Arrays support glob patterns and !exclusions.

Package Structure

Convention Directories

If no pi manifest is present, pi auto-discovers resources from these directories:

• extensions/ loads .ts and .js files
• skills/ recursively finds SKILL.md folders and loads top-level .md files as skills
• prompts/ loads .md files
• themes/ loads .json files

Bundling Other Pi Packages

Bundle other pi packages by adding them as dependencies and listing them in bundledDependencies. Reference their resources via node_modules/ paths.

{
  "dependencies": {
    "shitty-extensions": "^1.0.1"
  },
  "bundledDependencies": ["shitty-extensions"],
  "pi": {
    "extensions": ["extensions", "node_modules/shitty-extensions/extensions"],
    "skills": ["skills", "node_modules/shitty-extensions/skills"]
  }
}

bundledDependencies embeds the package in the published tarball, keeping paths stable. See pi-package-test for a working example.

Package Filtering

Filter what a package loads using the object form in settings:

{
  "packages": [
    "npm:simple-pkg",
    {
      "source": "npm:my-package",
      "extensions": ["extensions/*.ts", "!extensions/legacy.ts"],
      "skills": [],
      "prompts": ["prompts/review.md"],
      "themes": ["+themes/legacy.json"]
    }
  ]
}

• Omit a key to load all of that type.
• Use [] to load none of that type.
• !pattern excludes matches.
• +pattern force-includes, even if excluded by manifest.
• Filters layer on top of the manifest. They narrow down what is already allowed.

Enable and Disable Resources

Use pi config to enable or disable extensions, skills, prompt templates, and themes from installed packages and local directories. Works for both global (~/.pi/agent) and project (.pi/) scopes.

Scope and Deduplication

Packages can appear in both global and project settings. If the same package appears in both, the project entry wins. Identity is determined by:

• npm: package name
• git: repository URL without ref
• local: resolved absolute path