pi-presets-plus

A Pi extension that bundles a model, thinking level, tools, and system prompt into switchable presets.

Why

Pi lets you choose the model, thinking effort, tools, and system prompt separately. That works for one-off changes. It gets tedious when you keep returning to the same setups: a fast, cheap model for boilerplate; a heavier model for tricky design; a "review only" setup with no write tools and a strict prompt; or separate planning and implementation modes.

Presets Plus saves those settings together as a named preset. You can switch presets with one keystroke.

Requirements

• Tested only against the latest stable release of Pi

Install

pi install npm:@sherif-fanous/pi-presets-plus

Or try it without installing:

pi -e npm:@sherif-fanous/pi-presets-plus

To uninstall:

pi remove npm:@sherif-fanous/pi-presets-plus

Usage

1. Run /presets in any Pi session to open the preset picker.
2. Press n to create a new preset, or e to edit an existing one.
3. Press Enter on the Prompt row to open the multi-line prompt editor, or press F1 on any row to get help for that row.
4. Save your preset and, optionally, give it a hotkey. From then on, pressing the hotkey switches to the preset. Run /presets clear to go back to Pi's defaults.

Commands

Command	What it does
/presets	Opens the picker.
/presets <name>	Activates the named preset.
/presets clear	Clears the active preset and returns to Pi's defaults.
/presets reload	Re-reads your configuration files after you edit them by hand.
/presets status	Shows the active preset compared to Pi's defaults, and the state of each configuration file.
/presets policy	Shows allowed and prohibited presets for the current directory.
/presets show-prompt [name]	Shows the active preset's prompt, or the named preset's prompt.

Start Pi with --preset <name> to activate a preset at startup:

pi --preset plan

The picker

The picker lists your presets and activates the one you choose. It can also filter by name, switch scopes, reorder presets, make copies, and delete them. Its footer lists the keys that work at that moment.

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Move the selection
PgUp / PgDn	Move one page
← / →	Switch the scope filter
Enter	Activate the selected preset
n	Create a preset
e	Edit the selected preset
d	Duplicate the selected preset
x	Delete the selected preset
c	Clear the active preset
s	Show the active preset's status
Ctrl+↑ / Ctrl+↓	Move the selected preset up or down
/	Filter by name
Esc	Close

While you type a filter, ↑ / ↓ and PgUp / PgDn still move the selection, and Enter or Esc goes back to the list. If you have remapped Pi's keys, the picker follows your bindings.

The preset editor

The preset editor opens from the picker. Its footer lists the keys for the focused row.

Key	Action
Tab / Shift+Tab / ↑ / ↓	Move between rows
← / →	Change the value, or move between tools
Enter	Search, edit the prompt, toggle a tool, or run a button
Space	Switch the tools mode, or run the selected button
F1	Show help for the focused row
Ctrl+S	Save
Ctrl+T	Test the preset without saving
Esc	Cancel

If you have remapped Pi's keys, the editor follows your bindings.

Configuration

Presets Plus reads one config.json per scope:

Scope	Path
User	~/.pi/agent/presets-plus/config.json
Project	.pi/presets-plus/config.json

The Project path is relative to the directory Pi starts in. If you set PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR, it replaces ~/.pi/agent. Presets from both files are available, and a Project preset takes precedence over a User preset with the same name. For showInactiveStatus, the Project value wins over the User value, which wins over the default. Policy rules are read only from the User file.

Presets Plus reads, migrates, and saves the Project file only while Pi trusts the project. In an untrusted project it skips the file, warns when the session starts and on /presets reload, and shows skipped (untrusted) in /presets status. An untrusted project without the file stays silent. See Pi's project trust documentation for how to trust a project.

Neither file exists until you save a preset or create it yourself. This User file has every setting at its default:

{
  "version": 2,
  "showInactiveStatus": true,
  "presets": [],
  "policy": { "rules": [] }
}

The following table lists the keys. Paths use [] for an item in an array. A Project file supports every key except policy, which produces a warning there.

Key	Default	Description
version	2	The file format. A file without it reads as version 2. A file with another value is ignored with a warning.
showInactiveStatus	true	Set to false to hide Preset: none when no preset is active.
presets	[]	An array of preset objects.
presets[].name	required	Unique name within the file.
presets[].provider	required	Provider that hosts the model.
presets[].model	required	Model identifier.
presets[].thinkingLevel	none	Reasoning level to request: off, minimal, low, medium, high, xhigh, or max.
presets[].tools	none	Exact tool list. Omit it or leave it empty to keep the active tools.
presets[].instructions	none	Extra instructions added to Pi's system prompt.
presets[].hotkey	none	Key combination that activates the preset.
presets[].order	none	Ordering value preserved in the file. The array order is used.
policy	none	Directory rules. Only the User file supports this key.
policy.rules	[]	Array of directory policy rules.
policy.rules[].match	required	Regular expression tested against the current working directory.
policy.rules[].allow	none	Matchers that form the allow list. If present, a preset must match one of them.
policy.rules[].prohibit	none	Matchers that prevent activation. Prohibited matches override allowed matches.
policy.rules[].default	none	Matcher used to choose a preset in a fresh session.
policy.rules[].allow[].field	name	Field to test: name, provider, or model.
policy.rules[].allow[].pattern	required	Regular expression tested against the selected field.
policy.rules[].prohibit[].field	name	Field to test: name, provider, or model.
policy.rules[].prohibit[].pattern	required	Regular expression tested against the selected field.
policy.rules[].default.field	name	Field to test: name, provider, or model.
policy.rules[].default.pattern	required	Regular expression tested against the selected field.

A preset looks like this:

{
  "name": "plan",
  "provider": "anthropic",
  "model": "claude-opus-4-5",
  "thinkingLevel": "high",
  "hotkey": "ctrl+alt+p"
}

Applying changes

Pi reads this file at session start. Run /reload after editing it. Instead, /presets reload re-reads both files in place: it loads the new presets and the showInactiveStatus setting at once, shows any configuration warnings again, and names the presets whose hotkey changes still need /reload. Policy rules are read each time a preset activates. Saving from the picker or the editor writes the file directly, and offers a reload when a hotkey changed.

Migrating from 0.10 and earlier

Version 0.10 and earlier kept presets, settings, and policy rules in separate files. When a session starts, Presets Plus moves them into one config.json per scope and says so in one message naming the files it wrote:

• User scope: ~/.pi/agent/presets-plus/config.json (version 1), presets.json, and policy.json become one version 2 config.json.
• Project scope: .pi/presets-plus/presets.json becomes .pi/presets-plus/config.json. This happens only while Pi trusts the project; in an untrusted project the old file stays, and the session start warning names it.

The old files are deleted only after the new file is written. If any old file in a scope is unreadable, is not valid JSON, or lacks "version": 1, nothing in that scope changes, the scope starts empty for that session, and a warning names the file. Fix or remove that file, then run /reload or start a new session to retry. You can also write the version 2 config.json yourself. Once a config.json exists, the old files in that scope are left alone and ignored.

Directory policy

Policy rules use raw, unanchored JavaScript regular expressions. Rules whose match fits the current directory combine their allow and prohibit matchers. The default from the rule with the longest matching directory path wins, with file order breaking ties. If that default matches several permitted presets, the first one wins, with user presets ahead of project presets. The --preset flag and a successful session restore take precedence over an automatic default.

When a command, picker action, flag, or hotkey targets a prohibited preset, Pi asks whether to Override or Cancel. In RPC mode the client answers that question; in print and JSON mode nobody can, so the preset is not activated. Session restore does not run this check. Invalid policy patterns are skipped with a warning, so they do not block activation. Run /presets policy to inspect the effective policy.

When directory defaults apply

• Automatic presets apply only in Pi's interactive terminal interface. They do not apply in print, JSON, or RPC mode.
• If Pi starts with a different provider, model, or thinking level than your saved defaults, Presets Plus leaves them unchanged. This helps prevent a directory preset from replacing a choice supplied on the command line or by another tool. The comparison includes any project overrides you have allowed Pi to load.
• --preset and restoration of an existing preset take precedence over the directory default. These paths remain available in every mode.
• If Presets Plus cannot read your saved defaults or find the saved model, it skips automatic activation without a warning.

Set your Pi defaults

Pi stores your personal defaults in ~/.pi/agent/settings.json, separately from Presets Plus's configuration. A directory default requires a saved provider and model.

• In current Pi versions, open /model and press Ctrl+S on the model you want as your startup default.
• Open /thinking and press Ctrl+S to save your startup thinking level.
• You can also edit defaultProvider, defaultModel, and defaultThinkingLevel directly in the settings file.

See Pi's settings documentation for details.

Project defaults

A project's .pi/settings.json can override defaultProvider, defaultModel, and defaultThinkingLevel. Each project value replaces the corresponding personal value; omitted fields keep their personal defaults.

Pi loads these overrides only when you allow it to trust the project and load its local settings. Presets Plus uses that same trust decision when comparing startup values. Without permission, it uses only your personal defaults.

See Pi's project trust documentation for how to grant or change that permission.

SDK compatibility

Applications that create Pi sessions through its SDK can supply settings in memory without saving them to a file. In an interactive session, Presets Plus still compares startup values against the settings files described above. For example, if an application uses model B while your saved default is model A, automatic preset activation is skipped. Non-interactive sessions always skip it, regardless of where their settings come from.

Limitations

If you explicitly select the same provider, model, and thinking level as your saved defaults, a directory default can still replace that selection. Presets Plus cannot tell those matching values apart from an ordinary startup.

Troubleshooting

Run /presets status to compare the active preset with Pi's defaults and see the state of each configuration file and any warnings. Run /presets policy to see which presets the directory policy allows, prohibits, or picks by default here.

License

MIT