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
• Dependencies
• Package Filtering
• Enable and Disable Resources
• Scope and Deduplication

Install and Manage

Security: Pi packages run with full system access. Extensions execute arbitrary code, and skills can instruct the model to perform any action including running executables. Review source code before installing third-party packages.

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

Dependencies

Third party runtime dependencies belong in dependencies in package.json. Dependencies that do not register extensions, skills, prompt templates, or themes also belong in dependencies. When pi installs a package from npm or git, it runs npm install, so those dependencies are installed automatically.

Pi bundles core packages for extensions and skills. If you import any of these, list them in peerDependencies with a "*" range and do not bundle them: @mariozechner/pi-ai, @mariozechner/pi-agent-core, @mariozechner/pi-coding-agent, @mariozechner/pi-tui, @sinclair/typebox.

Other pi packages must be bundled in your tarball. Add them to dependencies and bundledDependencies, then reference their resources through node_modules/ paths. Pi loads packages with separate module roots, so separate installs do not collide or share modules.

Example:

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

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"]
    }
  ]
}

+path and -path are exact paths relative to the package root.

• Omit a key to load all of that type.
• Use [] to load none of that type.
• !pattern excludes matches.
• +path force-includes an exact path.
• -path force-excludes an exact path.
• 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