xz-pi-pmodel

A provider-grouped model picker with direct global/project default checkboxes for Pi. Thinking is read-only and always comes from Pi's actual session state.

The package adds /pmodel without replacing /model, /scoped-models, or /thinking.

Requirements

• Node.js 22.19 or newer
• Pi 1.0 or newer

Install

pi install npm:xz-pi-pmodel

For local development:

pi install /Users/admin/go/src/myai/xz-pi/xz-pi-pmodel

Run /reload after changing extension source.

Command and layout

/pmodel
/pmodel <initial search>

Scope: scoped · Sort: global
Pi thinking: high (read-only)
Global default: provider/model-a
Project default: provider/model-b

▾ provider
  ● model-b                      [ ] global [x] project
    model-a                      [x] global [ ] project

● is the current model. Global defaults are green, project defaults yellow, and the current marker blue, with dark/light theme contrast. Both saved defaults remain visible even when a project overrides global, a provider is folded, or a default is hidden/outside the active scope. Narrow rows use G and P and reserve space for the checkboxes before truncating model names. ‹…› identifies the focused checkbox.

Default checkboxes

Only scoped allows default changes. Use left/right on a model row to focus its name, global checkbox, or project checkbox. Space and Enter activate the focused checkbox.

• Each column has at most one selected default; choosing another model replaces only that column's selection.
• A saved global default cannot be unchecked, matching the built-in /model save behavior. An unset global default is shown as automatic rather than inventing a default.
• A project default can be unchecked; it then inherits global. Inherited defaults do not appear as checked project overrides.
• Project editing is disabled until project trust is granted.
• Saving a default does not switch the current model. Enter on the model name switches it through Pi's public API.
• Writes are serialized. Checks update only after persistence succeeds; failures retain the old state and show the error. The picker stays open and reloads official default caches once after closing when necessary.

Defaults use Pi's own defaultProvider and defaultModel fields. Global writes use SettingsManager; project writes preserve unrelated JSON fields. Native startup priorities, CLI overrides and session restore are not overridden.

Thinking: Pi owns the setting

The header reads pi.getThinkingLevel() and displays the actual current thinking level. Change thinking with Pi's built-in /thinking or native controls, then reopen /pmodel to see it. There are no per-row predictions, thinking menus, or thinking setters in this package. Model switches may change thinking according to Pi's own behavior, not an extension policy.

Keys

| Key | Action | | --- | --- | | ↑/↓ | Navigate provider/model rows; up from the first hidden row returns to visibility scope | | ←/→ | Fold/unfold provider rows; focus name/global/project on model rows | | Space/Enter | Activate a default checkbox; in all, check/uncheck scoped membership | | Enter on a model name | Switch the current model in scoped | | Printable input or / | Focus search; spaces in search separate keywords | | Tab | Toggle all/scoped | | Alt+↑/↓ | Reorder provider/models globally in scoped | | Ctrl+O | Show hidden management and its explicit global/project scope selector | | Ctrl+X | Hide/restore the model using the selected visibility scope | | Ctrl+R | Clear project visibility/model overrides; no thinking options | | Esc | Leave search/submenu, or close the picker |

There is no layer-switch shortcut or thinking-settings shortcut. Sorting never depends on visibility scope or default columns.

Search is case-insensitive, whitespace-tokenized, contiguous-substring AND matching across provider, model ID, provider/id, model name, current, and either default. While search has focus, Space is input, not a checkbox action; arrow navigation returns to the list.

All/scoped and official synchronization

all is a global scoped-membership checklist only. It includes all authenticated models, including extension-hidden models. It cannot modify defaults, visibility, ordering, or thinking. Its checkmark means saved global enabledModels membership, not the current model or a default.

scoped continues to use Pi's active session scope, with extension visibility layered on top. With no explicit active scope it falls back to all available models.

all saves global enabledModels through Pi's SettingsManager. Project enabledModels or startup --models can override that global selection, and the picker reports differences. Restart Pi completely (for example pi -c) to synchronize the active /model, /scoped-models, and model cycle. /reload alone is insufficient for scoped runtime changes. Membership saves do not switch the model or reload.

Pi treats missing/empty/unresolved scopes as unrestricted. The picker rejects unchecking the last available member to avoid accidentally enabling everything. Canonical IDs, aliases, globs, case-insensitive matching and native thinking suffixes are retained; removing a pattern member expands only the affected pattern, so that pattern no longer automatically includes future additions.

Preferences and maintenance

Sorting is global-only in <agent-dir>/xz-pi-pmodel.json. Trusted legacy project ordering migrates only into missing global fields; existing global values win, including explicit empty lists. Unopened projects are not scanned.

Visibility remains field-wise global/project under providers[provider].visibleModels. Unset project visibility inherits global. The hidden manager directly shows [ ] global and [ ] project; choose with left/right and leave the control with Space, Enter or down. Empty allowlists intentionally hide everything; new catalog additions stay hidden after an explicit allowlist has been saved.

Before startup/selection saves, maintenance uses the full known catalog, not the authentication-filtered list:

• Deleted qualified global enabledModels references are cleaned, while unauthenticated known models, bare aliases, globs and native thinking suffixes are preserved. Empty/error catalogs skip destructive cleanup.
• Invalid project model defaults clear their model-field pair to inherit global.
• A project visibility list containing deleted IDs clears that provider's whole local visibility override. Valid and explicit empty lists are retained.
• Local catalog refresh is bounded and disables catalog network refresh. Models removed while the picker is open cannot be saved back.

One-time project thinking migration

On first entry to each trusted project after this upgrade, only the project's legacy defaultThinkingLevel and modelThinkingLevels fields are removed. No backup is made, by explicit user choice. Global thinking fields, model defaults, scoped patterns, packages, unknown fields and other projects remain untouched.

The marker migrations.projectThinkingDefaultsRemoved is stored in that project's extension preferences. Once completed, native thinking fields added later are not repeatedly removed. Both relevant JSON files are validated before cleanup; untrusted projects, malformed data and unreliable catalogs are skipped/reported rather than overwritten. No empty settings file is created when no legacy fields exist. A marker-write failure is reported and successful settings changes are still accounted for when refreshing caches.

The extension does not force a current-session thinking change during migration. Reload or restart Pi to refresh native caches; native session restore rules still apply.

Accepted settings-write risk

Global defaults and scoped membership use official persistence; project settings and ordering/visibility use preserving JSON read-modify-write without additional file locks or atomic replacement. In-process serialization does not eliminate races with other Pi processes or external edits. Avoid simultaneous settings edits from multiple processes. The one-time legacy thinking cleanup intentionally does not create backups.

Development

npm install
npm run check -w xz-pi-pmodel
npm pack --dry-run -w xz-pi-pmodel

Tests use Node's built-in runner with tsx, temporary directories and mock/stub extension contexts. No provider credentials, external services or containers are required.