pi-fast-tools

Fewer and faster tool calls for Pi.

In long coding sessions most of the wall time goes to two things: the model taking one small step per turn (one grep, one read, one test), and slow or hung shell commands. This extension attacks both.

What it does

1. Guards model-issued bash calls

Command	Rewrite	Why
grep -r / -R / egrep -r / command grep -r	adds --exclude-dir= for node_modules, .git, .next, .turbo, .worktrees, dist, build, out, coverage, storybook-static, .venv, __pycache__	same results without walking dependencies and build output (4.5 s → 0.8 s on a large Next.js repo)
vitest, jest, bun test, tsc, eslint, pytest, playwright test, next build, npm/pnpm/yarn/bun run build|test|lint|typecheck, verify*.mjs	sets bash timeout to 600 s	a hung test run cannot block the session
tsc / tsgo	prefixes NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=8192	large projects abort on the default heap

Your explicit choices always win: an existing timeout, NODE_OPTIONS, or --exclude-dir is never overridden. A grep that targets an excluded directory on purpose (grep -r x node_modules/next) is left alone. Dev servers and watchers (nohup, next dev, vite, --watch, -w, trailing &) never get a timeout.

grep is deliberately not rewritten to rg. Their flags differ (-r, -E, --include), and a silent mistranslation would return wrong results.

2. Adds tool-speed rules to the system prompt

A <tool_speed> section tells the model to:

• batch independent reads and searches in one message (parallel tool calls)
• use codemode for fan-out when it is active
• search with rg / fd instead of grep -r / find
• read with read + offset/limit instead of repeated sed -n / cat
• run only the tests the change touches, with a timeout and filtered output
• run full typechecks once at the end, and long-lived processes in the background

Lines that name a tool only appear when that tool is active.

The section opens by deferring to project instructions: when a repo's AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md forbids running tests without permission, or requires build/lint/typecheck through a specific subagent or command, the model follows the project instead of these generic rules.

3. Optionally enables codemode

Pi's built-in codemode tool lets the model run many tool calls from one script in parallel and return only a filtered result. Turn it on with fastTools.codemode: true, or natively with "defaultTools": ["+codemode"].

Install

pi install npm:@fahrizkyputra/pi-fast-tools

Then /reload in a running session, or start a new one. Guard and rules are on right away; codemode is off until you turn it on.

Commands

/fast-tools                 show the effective configuration
/fast-tools status          same
/fast-tools codemode-on     activate codemode now and save fastTools.codemode: true
/fast-tools codemode-off    deactivate codemode now and save fastTools.codemode: false
/fast-tools guard-on|off    bash rewrites (grep excludes, timeout, tsc heap)
/fast-tools rules-on|off    the <tool_speed> prompt section

Toggles apply to the next tool call or model request without a reload, and are saved to the user settings file (~/.pi/agent/settings.json) so new sessions start the same way. Only fastTools.<key> is written; every other setting is kept. Tab completes the arguments.

Two things can still override a saved toggle in new sessions, and the command tells you when it sees them:

• a project .pi/settings.json with its own fastTools value;
• "defaultTools": ["+codemode"], which turns codemode on regardless of fastTools.codemode. Remove it if you want codemode-off to stick.

Configure

All keys are optional. Put them in ~/.pi/agent/settings.json, or in a project's .pi/settings.json to override them for that project.

{
  "fastTools": {
    "guard": true,
    "rules": true,
    "codemode": false,
    "timeoutSeconds": 600,
    "tscHeapMb": 8192,
    "extraExcludeDirs": ["vendor"]
  }
}

Key	Default	Meaning
guard	true	rewrite bash calls (section 1)
rules	true	add the <tool_speed> prompt section
codemode	false	activate codemode at session start
timeoutSeconds	600	automatic timeout; 0 disables it
tscHeapMb	8192	tsc heap; 0 disables it
excludeDirs	list above	replaces the exclude list
extraExcludeDirs	[]	appended to the exclude list

Settings are read on every call, so edits apply without a restart.

More speed, outside this package

• Thinking level. Each turn at xhigh is much slower than at high. Use high as defaultThinkingLevel and raise it only for hard problems.
• Project-specific notes (which test command is right, how long the full typecheck takes) belong in that repo's AGENTS.md.

Develop

npm install
npm test             # unit + wiring tests
npm run typecheck
npm run test:e2e     # real pi process with a scripted faux model, no API key
node scripts/e2e-rpc.mjs --without-extension      # must fail: proves the e2e bites
node scripts/e2e-toggle.mjs --without-extension   # must fail too

License

MIT