pi-editor-cursor

A small Pi coding agent package that replaces the input editor cursor with a slow blinking symbol and prefixes the editor with >: .

While Pi is working, the cursor becomes a static dim symbol.

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Installation

Install the package globally:

pi install npm:pi-editor-cursor

The extension loads automatically and works with its defaults. For a project-local installation, add -l:

pi install -l npm:pi-editor-cursor

Configuration

Create ~/.pi/agent/editor-cursor.json (or editor-cursor.json in the directory selected by PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR):

{
  "blinkMs": 700,
  "prompt": ">: ",
  "symbol": "█",
  "color": "accent",
  "working": {
    "symbol": "░"
  }
}

These are the complete supported settings:

• blinkMs — idle blink interval in milliseconds. Set 0 for a permanently visible idle cursor.
• prompt — one-line editor prefix, at most 24 characters.
• symbol — exactly one terminal-cell-wide Unicode code point used for the idle cursor.
• color — a Pi theme color name or #rrggbb.
• working.symbol — exactly one terminal-cell-wide Unicode code point used while the agent is working; it is rendered dim and does not blink.

Missing or invalid fields use their defaults. Named colors are validated against the active theme at startup; unknown names fall back to accent. The file is not watched: edit it, then restart Pi or use Pi's manual /reload command to reload the extension and configuration in the current session.

Compatibility and recovery

This package depends on Pi's custom-editor extension API, a private and unstable renderer hook. It was developed against Pi 0.80.10 on Node 24.18.0.

At startup it verifies the editor API and cursor-rendering protocol before replacing the editor. If a check or installation fails, it restores the stock editor while it still owns the replacement and shows one concise warning. A pre-existing or later custom editor is left untouched.

To disable the package, remove it and restart Pi:

pi remove npm:pi-editor-cursor

If Pi fails before the extension warning is visible, remove the package entry from ~/.pi/agent/settings.json (or .pi/settings.json for a project-local (-l) install), then restart Pi.

Development

pnpm install
pnpm run check
pnpm run pack:dry

License

MIT