pi-file-preview

Click a file link in the pi TUI and preview the file in a panel on the right — with the referenced line range highlighted. Click the floating × Close chip in the panel's top-right corner (or press q) to dismiss it.

Quick Open (Alt+O or /preview) searches the workspace with fd. While the preview is focused: g jumps to a line, e opens the file in the external editor (same as Ctrl+G: externalEditor / VISUAL / EDITOR), f inserts @file, l inserts @file:line. Remap in settings.json (filePreview.keys).

Works on fullscreen TUI ("tuiMode": "fullscreen" in ~/.pi/agent/settings.json).

Install

pi install npm:pi-file-preview

or straight from git:

pi install git:github.com/nephen/pi-file-preview

or try it without installing:

pi -e npm:pi-file-preview

Then restart pi (or /reload in the session).

Needs fd or rg on PATH (pi ships both locally). Remote search needs fd, fdfind, or rg on the SSH host. fd first, then rg --files.

Usage

Click a file link. Any file:// hyperlink pi prints (e.g. in tool output) opens the preview. pi usually prints the location as path/to/file.ts:110-149 — the extension folds that :110-149 suffix into the hyperlink so clicking it opens the file at those lines, scrolled to the start, with the range highlighted.

Quick Open searches the current workspace (SSH remote cwd if connected, otherwise local cwd):

Alt+O
/preview

Type to filter, Enter to preview. file:line / file:line:col / file:start-end jumps like VSCode Quick Open:

src/ugreen/ugos_serv/server/security/ssl/cert_parser.cc:44

Or open a path directly:

/preview src/index.ts:110-149
/preview src/index.ts

Keys — preview panel

Key	Action
q / Esc / Ctrl+C	Close
click × Close	Close (floating chip, top-right of the panel)
o / Alt+O / Ctrl+P	Quick Open (switch file)
g	Go to line
e	Edit in external editor, then reload the preview
f	Append @file to the editor
l	Append @file:line (or @file:start-end if the click range is still current)
click a line	Set current line (gutter >)
↑ / ↓	Scroll one line
PgUp / PgDn	Scroll one page
Home / End	Jump to top / bottom
mouse wheel	Scroll

Ctrl+P in the editor still cycles models. Quick Open from the editor is Alt+O by default (Ghostty eats Ctrl+Shift chords). Esc / Ctrl+C always close the preview.

Remap keys

In ~/.pi/agent/settings.json (string or array). /reload to apply. Don't bind a bare letter to quickOpen — it steals typing in the editor.

{
  "filePreview": {
    "keys": {
      "quickOpen": "alt+o",
      "search": "o",
      "goto": "g",
      "edit": "e",
      "mention": "f",
      "mentionLine": "l",
      "close": "q"
    }
  }
}

Clicking a second link while the panel is open reuses it (no stacking). @ inserts stay in the editor; they are not sent.

Remote (SSH) files

On each open, preview looks for a remote target (no extra protocol):

• --ssh / --ssh-cwd
• PI_SSH_TARGET
• .pi/ssh.json / .pi-web/ssh.json ({ "target": "user@host:/path" })

If a plugin also emits ssh:status / remote:status, that live connect/disconnect wins over leftover config. Otherwise it stays local. The preview header shows local <cwd> or SSH user@host <cwd>.

• Quick Open lists files with fd in remoteCwd
• Preview reads via sed on the remote (does not prefer a same-named local file)
• e runs the editor on the remote over ssh -t (needs a TTY editor on the host, e.g. vim/nano)
• @file paths are relative to remoteCwd

Disconnecting while Quick Open is up closes the picker. Set PI_SSH to the ssh binary if ssh is not on PATH. Custom SSH ports need a Host alias in ~/.ssh/config.

Notes

• Files are read as UTF-8; binary files report binary file instead of rendering.
• Syntax highlighting uses pi's own highlighter; unknown file types fall back to plain text.
• Only ~60 lines of context are read around the target range (max 800 lines per fetch), so opening a huge file stays cheap.
• File listing uses fd if present, otherwise rg --files (no git ls-files). --no-require-git is added when the workspace root has no .git, so nested project .gitignore / node_modules still apply.
• This extension patches pi's Text / alt-screen URL handling at runtime to route file:// clicks to the panel. That is version-sensitive: if pi's TUI internals change, links may stop being intercepted (they then fall back to the default open behaviour). Issues/PRs welcome.

License

MIT