Pi Parse Commands

A pi coding agent extension that lists every command in a chained bash tool call.

Problem

Agents often emit dense one-liners like:

cd /repo && rg -c "foo" out.json; rg -c "bar" out.json; rg -c "baz" out.json && node -e "..."

The default renderer prints that as a single long line, so it is hard to tell which commands actually ran. This extension keeps the normal command line and adds a nested box below it with one line per command:

$ cd /repo && rg -c "foo" out.json; rg -c "bar" out.json; rg -c "baz" out.json && node -e "..."

  1. cd /repo &&
  2. rg -c "foo" out.json ;
  3. rg -c "bar" out.json ;
  4. rg -c "baz" out.json &&
  5. node -e "..."

The breakdown box uses a slightly different background color so it reads as an inset annotation rather than tool output. Configured command names are highlighted in the breakdown and command line.

What it splits on

By default the breakdown splits on the main command-list operators plus newlines:

• &&, ||, ;, and newlines

The pipe and background operators are opt-in through the separators config:

• |&, |, &

It does not split inside:

• single quotes ('a && b')
• double quotes ("a; b")
• escaped separators (a\;b)
• comments (echo a # not; a; command)
• redirections (2>&1, >&2, &>file)

Here-documents are recognized, so an embedded Python, Node, or bash program is not split into one bogus command per line. The body up to the terminator stays part of the command that opened it, and a multi-line segment is collapsed in the box to its first line plus a … (+N lines) marker so the body is not reprinted.

Command substitution $(...) and case statements are parsed naively: separators inside them are treated as command boundaries. This is usually fine for a quick overview.

Installation

Install from npm with pi:

pi install npm:@lglen/pi-parse-commands

Or straight from GitHub:

pi install git:github.com/LaishGlenberg/pi-parse-commands

Pi loads index.ts through the package manifest in package.json.

Command highlighting

Create a config directory at ~/.pi/agent/extensions/pi-parse-commands-config/ and add one of config.jsonc, config.json, config.yaml, or config.yml (the first file found is used). JSONC supports comments and trailing commas:

{
  // 0 = green, 1 = yellow, 2 = orange, 3 = red
  "commands": {
    "node": 1,
    "rm": 3,
    "rg": 2
  },
  // List operators that start a new breakdown line.
  // Defaults to the three below; add any of "|&", "|", "&" to opt in.
  "separators": ["&&", "||", ";"]
}

The YAML equivalent is:

commands:
  node: 1
  rm: 3
  rg: 2
separators: ["&&", "||", ";"]

When a newer version adds a top-level option, run /parse-commands config to bring an existing config up to date: it inserts the missing option with its default (keeping comments) and writes a .bak backup first. Nothing is migrated or written automatically on load; a malformed config is left untouched unless you confirm the regenerate prompt.

Slash commands

Run /parse-commands in the TUI to control the extension at runtime:

| Command | Effect | | --- | --- | | /parse-commands on | Enable the command breakdown for this session | | /parse-commands off | Disable it for this session and restore the built-in command line | | /parse-commands config | Create, upgrade, or regenerate the config file |

on/off are session-scoped: they flip a runtime flag and reset to on the next time pi starts.

/parse-commands config manages the config file from the TUI. With no config it writes the default template to config.jsonc; with a config that predates a newer top-level option it inserts the option in place (keeping comments) and writes a .bak backup; with a current config it reports it is up to date and offers to regenerate it from the default. A malformed config is never overwritten unless you confirm that prompt. Changes take effect immediately, and the command is TUI-only. The command completes on, off, and config as you type.

Behavior

The extension overrides only the rendering of the built-in bash tool. Execution, output truncation, timing, and the expanded result view are unchanged.

Development

Requirements: Node.js 22.19 or newer and npm.

npm install
npm test
npm run typecheck
npm run lint

See docs/development.md for parser details, test strategy, and release steps.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.

License

MIT.