pi-in-zellij

Why?

Pi only supports tmux out of the box. But let's be honest — Zellij is just gorgeous. Floating panes, smooth UX, modern feel. Who is Tmux?

So I built this extension to bring Pi into Zellij, and things got a lot more interesting along the way.

What can it do?

🖊️ Floating editor pane

Hit alt+e and a floating editor pane appears right in your terminal. Edit code or notes while keeping Pi's full context visible beside you. No more alt-tabbing to a separate editor. And, you can move and resize this floating pane anywhere. No more losing your train of thought.

Close the pane when you're done — your edits come right back into Pi's input. It's just nice.

🔄 Two Pies are better than one

This is the real deal. Pi spawns another Pi in a floating pane, and they talk to each other over a tiny protocol.

• /dd [agentName] <task>: Direct Delegate — skip the prompt-polishing, send the task straight to the Worker
• /dc [agentName] <task>: Delegate with Context — same as /dd but the Worker inherits your full conversation context

Main-Pi thinks, Worker-Pi do.

• Main-Pi runs the expensive, smart model — it thinks, plans, and coordinates
• Worker-Pi run cheaper models — searching code, writing boilerplate, reviewing PRs, checking types
• No context pollution — Worker-Pi runs in his own pane, main-Pi stays clean
• Full visibility — every Pi output streams in front of you. Interrupt if needed.

Agents ready.

If you have custom agents (defined in .pi/agents/), you can assign them to the Worker: /dd code-reviewer "review this PR"

For more on agents and delegation, see PI-AGENTS.md.

/dc is same as /dd but the Worker inherits your full conversation context via pi --fork. Use it when the discussion content matters for the Worker's task. For most tasks, /dd (no context) is the better default — faster and cheaper.

💾 Geometry memory

Pi remembers where you like your floating panes. Close a pane, open it again later — it comes back exactly where you left it. Pane positions are saved per-pane-type (editor vs. worker), stored in ~/.pi/tmp/zellij-geometry.

Quick start

pi install npm:pi-in-zellij

That's it. Restart Pi and you're ready.

Configuration

Want to customize? Create .pi/pi-in-zellij/config.json in your project root. Any field you set overrides the default — the rest stays as-is.

Example — use a cheap model for the Worker:

{
  "models": "google/gemini-2.5-flash",
  "mode": "work"
}

Requirements

• Zellij — you're using it, right?
• Pi — obviously
• A terminal that supports floating panes (Zellij does by default)

Sollawen

email: [email protected]