Pi Code Blocks

Bordered, syntax-highlighted code panels with clickable clipboard buttons for Pi.

This extension changes how assistant code blocks are displayed—not the response, saved conversation, or model context. It copies code from the source rather than the wrapped terminal display, preserving tabs and code-body whitespace.

Install

From npm:

pi install npm:@nuclear-ant/pi-code-blocks

Or directly from GitHub:

pi install git:github.com/nuclear-ant/pi-code-blocks

Run /reload in an existing Pi session after installing or updating.

Use

Click Copy in a code block's header. That button shows Copied ✓ on success or Failed ✗ on failure, then resets after two seconds. Clipboard failures also report an error with the underlying reason.

Panels support streaming responses, multiple code blocks, nested lists and blockquotes, and terminal resizing. They use Pi's existing syntax-highlighting theme.

Clickable buttons and timed feedback require fullscreen mode, which is Pi's default. To select it explicitly:

pi --tui-mode fullscreen

Regular mode displays the panels but leaves mouse handling to the terminal. Print, JSON, and RPC modes are unchanged.

The extension uses Pi's clipboard helper. On Linux, it may require wl-clipboard for Wayland or xclip/xsel for X11. Remote and headless sessions depend on the terminal's OSC 52 clipboard support.

Compatibility

Tested with Pi 1.0.2. This extension relies on unsupported renderer internals: it wraps the assistant component's content update method, decorates Markdown instances, and observes fullscreen render requests. Pi updates can break those integration points; other extensions patching the same renderer may conflict.

It does not edit installed Pi files. Its patches and feedback timers are cleaned up on reload and shutdown. When a source block cannot be matched safely to rendered code, it keeps Pi's normal rendering instead of offering an incorrect copy action.

Development

Requires Node.js 22.19 or newer. Pi packages used by tests are pinned development dependencies; users receive the host packages from Pi itself.

npm ci --ignore-scripts

npm run check

npm test

Try the extension without installing it:

pi -e ./src/extension.ts

Inspect the publishable files:

npm pack --dry-run

Only the extension source, package metadata, README, and license are distributed. Publishing runs type-checking and tests first.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.