quiet-tools

A pi extension that makes collapsed built-in tool rows and MCP tool rows quieter in the TUI.

When loaded on a supported pi host, quiet rendering is always on: each collapsed tool row shows one invocation line plus a separate (Ctrl+O to expand) hint line. Tool output is hidden until expanded. The global Ctrl+O binding, per-row expansion, and native expanded result rendering remain available.

quiet-tools only changes the visual renderer. It does not truncate, summarize, or rewrite the actual tool results sent to the model. Expanded rendering delegates back to pi's renderer, preserving pi's default output for every tool.

How it works

On pi >=1.0.1, quiet-tools registers a single pi.registerToolRenderer resolver. The resolver intercepts collapsed rows for the 7 built-in tools and any mcp__* tool and renders them quietly. All other tools are passed through to pi's default rendering. There is no opt-out setting, environment variable, or persistence mechanism.

On pi <1.0.1 (where registerToolRenderer is not available), the extension registers no renderers and shows a one-time warning notification on session start. The read-only /quiet-tools status command remains available, but rendering is inactive.

Covered tools

Built-in tools: bash, edit, find, grep, ls, read, write

Each built-in has a compact one-line summary (for example, $ echo hello, read ~/project/notes.txt:1-20, or grep /TODO/ in src/). Collapsed error and aborted rows retain a terse [failed] marker; the full native result remains available when expanded.

MCP tools: any tool whose name starts with mcp__

MCP collapsed call lines show the tool name followed by compact JSON arguments (sanitized to a single line and truncated to the available TUI width). MCP collapsed results render empty, like built-in collapsed results.

For every covered tool, the collapsed invocation is truncated to a single visual line. Expanding restores pi's normal renderer.

Command

/quiet-tools
/quiet-tools status

Both forms report the always-on status. status is the only completion and valid action; other arguments show Usage: /quiet-tools status and cannot change rendering.

Export-style contexts

Quiet call headers are also used in export-style renderer contexts. As a result, an export may omit a native write-call preview; this is an accepted tradeoff. Native expanded result rendering remains available in the TUI, including native error text, timing, and image handling.

Requirements

Pi >=1.0.1 is required for quiet rendering. On older pi hosts, the extension loads without error and the status command remains available, but rendering is inactive.

Install

Standalone npm package

pi install npm:@diegopetrucci/pi-quiet-tools

Collection package

pi install npm:@diegopetrucci/pi-extensions

GitHub package

pi install git:github.com/diegopetrucci/pi-extensions

Then reload pi:

/reload

Notes

• quiet-tools uses pi's registerToolRenderer API to wrap only visual renderers, without touching tool execution, metadata, active-tool selection, or model-visible results.
• It affects assistant-invoked tool rows. User !/!! bash commands are rendered by a separate pi component and keep pi's default preview behavior.
• Pi renders image attachments outside tool result renderers, so inline image display for image reads is still controlled by pi's image settings.
• MCP tool argument lines are sanitized (ANSI and control characters) and truncated to fit the TUI width. Expand to see full output.