pi-toolchain

pi install @aliou/pi-toolchain

Toolchain

Opinionated toolchain enforcement for pi. Transparently rewrites commands to use preferred tools instead of blocking and forcing retries.

Installation

pi install npm:@aliou/pi-toolchain

Or from git:

pi install git:github.com/aliou/pi-toolchain

Features

Rewriters (transparent, via spawn hook)

These features rewrite commands before shell execution. By default the agent does not see that the command was changed, but you can enable optional rewrite notifications in the config.

• enforcePackageManager: Rewrites npm/yarn/bun commands to the selected package manager. Also handles npx -> pnpm dlx/bunx.
• rewritePython: Rewrites python/python3 to uv run python and pip/pip3 to uv pip.
• gitRebaseEditor: Injects GIT_EDITOR=true and GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR=: env vars for git rebase commands so they run non-interactively.

Blockers (via tool_call hooks)

These features block commands that have no clear rewrite target.

• preventBrew: Blocks all brew commands. Homebrew has no reliable 1:1 mapping to Nix.
• preventDockerSecrets: Blocks docker inspect and common docker exec env-exfiltration commands (env, printenv, /proc/*/environ).
• python confirm (part of rewritePython): When python/pip is used outside a uv project (no pyproject.toml), shows a confirmation dialog. Also blocks poetry/pyenv/virtualenv unconditionally.

Settings Command

Run /toolchain:settings to open an interactive settings UI with two tabs:

• Local: edit project-scoped config (.pi/extensions/toolchain.json)
• Global: edit global config (~/.pi/agent/extensions/toolchain.json)

Use Tab / Shift+Tab to switch tabs. Feature modes, the package manager, and bash source mode can be changed directly. Configure rewrite notification visibility in JSON for now.

Configuration

Configuration is loaded from two optional JSON files, merged in order (project overrides global):

• Global: ~/.pi/agent/extensions/toolchain.json
• Project: .pi/extensions/toolchain.json

Configuration Schema

{
  "enabled": true,
  "features": {
    "enforcePackageManager": "disabled",
    "rewritePython": "disabled",
    "gitRebaseEditor": "rewrite"
  },
  "packageManager": {
    "selected": "pnpm"
  },
  "bash": {
    "sourceMode": "override-bash"
  },
  "ui": {
    "showRewriteNotifications": false
  }
}

All fields are optional. Missing fields use the defaults shown above.

Feature Defaults

Feature	Default	Description
enforcePackageManager	"disabled"	Opt-in. Rewrites or blocks package-manager commands.
rewritePython	"disabled"	Opt-in. Rewrites or blocks python/pip commands to uv equivalents.
gitRebaseEditor	"rewrite"	On by default. Injects non-interactive env vars for git rebase.
bash.sourceMode	"override-bash"	Select how rewrite hooks reach bash at runtime. Only matters when at least one feature is set to "rewrite".
ui.showRewriteNotifications	false	Show a visible Pi notification each time a rewrite happens.

Examples

Enforce pnpm, rewrite python commands, use explicit override mode, and show rewrite notifications:

{
  "features": {
    "enforcePackageManager": "rewrite",
    "rewritePython": "rewrite"
  },
  "packageManager": {
    "selected": "pnpm"
  },
  "bash": {
    "sourceMode": "override-bash"
  },
  "ui": {
    "showRewriteNotifications": true
  }
}

Use composed bash integration with an external bash composer:

{
  "features": {
    "enforcePackageManager": "rewrite"
  },
  "packageManager": {
    "selected": "pnpm"
  },
  "bash": {
    "sourceMode": "composed-bash"
  }
}

Block package-manager mismatches instead of rewriting them:

{
  "features": {
    "enforcePackageManager": "block"
  },
  "packageManager": {
    "selected": "pnpm"
  }
}

How It Works

Rewriters vs Blockers

The extension uses two pi mechanisms:

1. Spawn hook (createBashTool with spawnHook): Rewrites commands before shell execution. The agent sees the original command in the tool call UI but gets the output of the rewritten command.
2. tool_call event hooks: Block commands entirely. The agent sees a block reason and retries with the correct command. Used for commands that have no safe rewrite target.
3. Optional rewrite notifications: When ui.showRewriteNotifications is enabled, a warning-level Pi notification is shown before the rewritten command runs. The message is prefixed with [override-bash] or [composed-bash] for debug clarity.

Execution Order

1. Guardrails tool_call hooks run first (permission gate, env protection)
2. Toolchain tool_call hooks run (blockers, optional rewrite notifications)
3. If not blocked and at least one feature is in rewrite mode, runtime routing depends on bash.sourceMode:
   • override-bash: toolchain registers its own bash tool with spawn hook
   • composed-bash: toolchain waits for an external composer to request and compose its spawn hook
4. Shell executes the rewritten command

AST-Based Rewriting

All rewriters use structural shell parsing via @aliou/sh to identify command names in the AST. This avoids false positives where tool names appear in URLs, file paths, or strings. If the parser fails, the command passes through unchanged -- a missed rewrite is safe, a false positive rewrite corrupts the command.

Bash Source Mode

bash.sourceMode controls how rewrite hooks attach to bash at runtime.

• override-bash (default): toolchain registers bash when rewrite is active.
• composed-bash: toolchain contributes its rewrite hook to an external bash composer.

Important:

• Source mode matters only when at least one feature is set to "rewrite".
• Features set to "block" are unaffected.
• In override-bash mode, Pi core still uses first-wins tool registration. If another extension earlier in load order already registered bash, toolchain cannot replace it.
• In composed-bash mode, rewrites run only if an external composer emits ad:bash:spawn-hook:request and collects contributors.
• If no composer exists, rewrites will not run in composed-bash mode by design.

Migration from Guardrails

If you were using preventBrew, preventPython, or enforcePackageManager in your guardrails config:

1. Install @aliou/pi-toolchain
2. Create .pi/extensions/toolchain.json with the equivalent config
3. Remove the deprecated features from your guardrails config

The guardrails extension will continue to honor these features with a deprecation warning until they are removed in a future version.