Tau

Tau is a batteries-included distribution for Pi, a brilliant coding agent by @badlogic that's barebones yet highly (and elegantly) extensible by design.

It takes Pi's minimal core and turns it into an opinionated, complete, polished experience, adding a websearch tool to complement the four default built-in tools, plus several useful skills and tasteful extensions, split into purpose-driven packages:

Package	Purpose
tau-coding-agent	Coding package.
tau-all-agent	Full package.

Install

Install Pi, and then:

pi install npm:tau-coding-agent
# or
pi install npm:tau-all-agent

Project-local install allows you to pin Tau for everyone working on the project:

pi install -l npm:tau-coding-agent

Agent configuration

Tau does not include agent configuration; those files are highly personal.

Check out goncalossilva/.agents for my AGENTS.md, settings.json, sandbox.json, etc.

Extensions

Extension	Command	Coding	All	Description
answer	/answer	✓	✓	Extract and interactively answer agent questions.
branch-term	/branch	✓	✓	Open a new terminal on the current session's git branch.
btw	/btw	✓	✓	Run a one-off side request with read-only tools and no context persistence.
ghostty	—	✓	✓	Ghostty tab title enhancements while the agent is working, waiting, or idle.
git-diff-stats	—	✓	✓	Status bar diff stats for local changes in the current repo.
git-pr-status	—	✓	✓	Status bar PR number and link for the current branch.
insights	/insights	✓	✓	Analyze Pi sessions and suggest reusable instructions, templates, skills, and extensions.
stash	alt+x	✓	✓	Stash the current message draft, send one message, then restore it.
loop	/loop	✓	✓	Repeat a prompt until the agent signals success.
memory	/memory	✓	✓	Opt-in project-local memory for learning and continuity across sessions.
notify	—	✓	✓	Terminal notification when the agent is waiting for input.
openai-fast	/fast	✓	✓	Toggle priority service tier for supported OpenAI models.
openai-verbosity	/verbosity	✓	✓	Set verbosity for supported OpenAI models.
review	/review, /triage	✓	✓	Multi-focus review and PR feedback triage for PRs, branches, commits, and local changes, with integrated follow-up fixes.
sandbox	/sandbox	✓	✓	OS-level sandboxing for bash commands with runtime overrides.
tool-display-mode	ctrl+o	✓	✓	Cycle tool output between Pi's default rendering, expanded output, and compact summaries.
usage	/usage	✓	✓	Historical provider usage breakdown with all-provider history and live quota snapshots.
websearch	—	✓	✓	Web search via Gemini, OpenAI, or Claude, leveraging Pi or browser session credentials.
worktree	/worktree	✓	✓	Create, list, and archive git worktrees, optionally opening them in a new terminal or tmux pane.
telegram	/telegram	—	✓	Interact with Pi via a Telegram bot and local daemon.
todoist	/todoist	—	—	Todoist-backed tasks with offline outbox sync for single or multi-session work.

Skills

Skill	Coding	All	Description
browser-tools	✓	✓	Interactive browser automation via Chrome DevTools Protocol.
git-clean-history	✓	✓	Reimplement a branch on a fresh branch off main with a clean commit history.
git-commit	✓	✓	Tidy, focused commits with clear rationale in messages.
oracle	✓	✓	Second opinion from another LLM for debugging, refactors, design, or code reviews.
sentry	✓	✓	Fetch and analyze Sentry issues, events, transactions, and logs.
update-changelog	✓	✓	Update CHANGELOG.md following Keep a Changelog.
web-design	✓	✓	Distinctive, production-ready web interfaces.
homeassistant-ops	—	✓	Operate a Home Assistant instance via REST/WebSocket APIs.
openscad	—	✓	Create and render OpenSCAD 3D models, export STL.

Themes

Theme	Coding	All	Description
tau-dark	✓	✓	Pi's official dark theme with a calmer, more cohesive polish.

Development

npm install
npm run check

pi -e ./packages/tau-coding-agent
pi -e ./packages/tau-all-agent

The source package manifests reference local resources so pi -e ./packages/... works from this checkout. npm run package stages self-contained publishable packages under dist/.

Publishing

All publishable packages share the same version. Release tags use the plain version number, for example 0.1.0.

The GitHub Actions publish workflow stages packages under dist/ and publishes in this order:

1. tau-coding-agent
2. tau-all-agent

Published packages are self-contained copies of their selected Tau resources.

Acknowledgements

Some extensions and skills were inspired by prior work from other agent setups and Pi users:

• @mitsuhiko for answer, btw, loop, openscad, sentry, update-changelog, and web-design
• @badlogic for sandbox and browser-tools
• @mjakl for stash

License

Released under the MIT License.