avtc-pi-settings-ui

A schema-driven settings UI for pi extensions — define your settings, get a tabbed modal, a /:settings command, and layered persistence.

Features

• Schema-driven UI — define settings once in a typed schema; the library renders the full modal automatically
• Tabbed layout — group settings into tabs; each tab renders as a separate panel
• Typed setting items — 7 built-in types (string, number, duration, compact-threshold, boolean, model, thinking-level) with presets, optional min/max bounds, and custom type support
• Filter-first UI — type to filter every list by substring (over label + value); Tab/Shift+Tab switch tabs, Enter opens the value picker
• Layered persistence — choose any combination of three storage levels via storageLevels (session, project, global); see Persistence & session lifecycle
• Atomic writes — settings are saved atomically to prevent corruption
• Value normalization — every value is validated against the schema before it's saved
• Environment variable propagation — settings can be propagated to child processes via env vars (e.g. for subagents)

The rendered modal — tabbed panels, filter-first lists, and per-type value pickers:

Installation

Add it as a dependency of your extension:

npm install avtc-pi-settings-ui

Dialog coordination (optional)

The settings modal queues behind other open dialogs (instead of stealing keyboard focus) via avtc-pi-ui-components's dialog coordinator. If you want that coordination, also install ui-components and load it as a companion extension:

// your package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "avtc-pi-settings-ui": "^1.0.0",
    "avtc-pi-ui-components": "^1.0.0"
  },
  "pi": {
    "extensions": [
      "./index.ts",
      "node_modules/avtc-pi-ui-components/index.ts"
    ],
    "allowedCodeDeps": ["avtc-pi-settings-ui"]  // ui-components is loaded, not imported
  }
}

Without ui-components the settings modal still works — it just opens immediately rather than queuing.

Public API

Export	Purpose
registerSettingsCommand(pi, schema, opts)	Register the /<name>:settings command + modal; returns the settings handle you read from at runtime
settingsFilePaths(name)	Global + project file paths for <name>'s settings — ~/.pi/agent/<name>-settings.json and <cwd>/.pi/<name>-settings.json (spread into the schema)
SettingSchema, SettingsSchema	Define your settings and tabs
StorageLevel, SettingsHandle, RegisterSettingsOptions	Types: storage levels (session/project/global), the returned handle, the options bag
PresetsSource, PresetPair, PresetElement, PresetValue	Author presets: full pairs or bare values (string/number/boolean/null)
registerTypeDefinition, TypeDefinition, TypeContext	Register custom types (7 built-ins ship pre-registered)
formatHumanDuration	Human form of a duration

Usage

import { registerSettingsCommand, SettingsSchema, settingsFilePaths } from "avtc-pi-settings-ui";

const schema: SettingsSchema = {
  settings: [
    {
      id: "mySetting",
      label: "My Setting",
      description: "Controls something important",
      type: "string",
      defaultValue: "default",
      presets: [
        ["Default", "default"],
        ["Alternative", "alternative"],
      ],
    },
  ],
  tabs: [{ label: "General", settingIds: ["mySetting"] }],
  ...settingsFilePaths("my-extension"),
};

const settings = registerSettingsCommand(pi, schema, {
  commandName: "my-extension:settings",
  title: "My Extension Settings",
  titleRight: "avtc-pi-my-extension",
  storageLevels: ["session", "project", "global"],
  envVar: "PI_SETTINGS_MY_EXT",
});

settings.getSettings();

Setting types

Every setting has a type resolved through a first-class TypeDefinition registry. Seven built-ins ship out of the box:

Type	Stored value	Notes
string	string	Text; closed enums via presets (["a", "b"])
number	number | null	Optional min/max bounds; null (unbounded/off) via a null preset
duration	number | null	Human-readable (5m, 1h, 30s, 14d); stored as milliseconds. null = unbounded/off, via a null preset
compact-threshold	string	Compact-context thresholds (none, compact, compact>75K, …)
boolean	boolean	true/false; presets [true, false]
model	string | null	Model id (provider/id); presets generated from the available models. Nullable via a ["Default", null] preset
thinking-level	string	Thinking level (label equals value)

A presets array can hold full [label, value] pairs or bare values ("a", 5, true, null); a bare value pairs with itself, except a duration string which parses to milliseconds.

Custom types: register your own via registerTypeDefinition(def) and reference it as type: "<def.id>". A TypeDefinition declares how values parse/format and optional presets; null support comes from including a null-valued preset (e.g. ["Off", null]).

Persistence & session lifecycle

Choose your storage levels via storageLevels on registerSettingsCommand (default: all three):

• session — in-memory only; survives /reload (same process) but not a full restart or new terminal. When session is included, settings are also propagated to subagents via the env var.
• project — <cwd>/.pi/<name>-settings.json. Survives across processes in that project.
• global — ~/.pi/agent/<name>-settings.json. Survives everywhere.

How edits save: with a single file level (global or project), each edit writes straight to that file, so every pi instance reads the same on-disk truth. With multiple levels (or session), edits are held as a draft until you press a save key — Ctrl+S saves project, Ctrl+D saves global (each only when its level is enabled).

Full suite

Check out the full suite of related extensions, avtc-pi — deterministic feature development, subagent delegation, working-memory, behavioral learning, parallel-work guardrails, durable decisions, notifications, and more.

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License

MIT