pi-continuous-orchestration

A Pi extension that keeps a main agent working toward a high-level goal until the work is verifiably done, using durable Markdown memory and an independent adversarial verifier.

Install

Node >=22.19.0 is required. Three commands from a clean machine:

# 1. Install the pi coding agent
npm install -g @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent

# 2. Give pi a model to talk to (any one provider key)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-...

# 3. Install this extension
pi install npm:pi-continuous-orchestration

Any provider pi supports works — OPENAI_API_KEY, DEEPSEEK_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, XAI_API_KEY and others. Run pi --help for the full list.

That is the complete setup. The package bundles the tested pi-subagents runtime, its built-in agents, skills, and prompts, so there is no second package to install.

Use it

cd your-project
pi

Type your goal as an ordinary prompt, the way you would ask for any task:

Add rate limiting to the public API, with tests, and make sure the existing suite still passes.

The main agent stays your single point of contact for the whole run. It works, gets reviewed, and keeps going until the goal is met — you do not need to prompt it again between passes. Type a message at any time to interrupt, ask something, or change direction.

Give it a goal with a checkable finish line. "Make sure the test suite passes" gives the verifier something to confirm; "improve the code" does not.

To try it for one run without installing:

pi -e npm:pi-continuous-orchestration

To pick a specific model:

pi --model deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash

How it works

The main agent gets a static autonomous-work instruction and four durable files under .pi/meta/ in your working directory:

File	Purpose
GOAL.md	The durable goal, constraints, and evidence required to call it done
LEDGER.md	Working memory: decisions, evidence, failed approaches, blockers
STATUS.md	A short human-readable snapshot of results and remaining gaps
ROADMAP.md	Milestones, ordering, dependencies, and coverage

These are plain Markdown you can read or edit at any time. No database. The agent may add its own notes in the same directory.

When the agent finishes a work pass, one of two things happens:

• Known work is pending (a subagent or background command): a fallback wake fires after five minutes so a stalled wait gets inspected.
• Nothing is pending: an independent verifier reviews the goal, the notes, and the actual workspace evidence, running tests and live checks as needed.

If the verifier finds gaps, they come back to the main agent as an ordinary user follow-up. The agent is never told a reviewer exists, so it treats the feedback as direction rather than as a grade. When the goal is genuinely met, the run settles and reports completion.

Interrupt at any time by typing a message. That cancels any in-flight review, answers you, and resumes the work.

Configuration

Optional, at ~/.pi/agent/extensions/continuous-orchestration/config.json:

{
  "enabled": true,
  "idleWakeMs": 300000,
  "freshAdversaryEachReview": false,
  "delegationAckTimeoutMs": 10000,
  "adversaryAgent": "orchestration-adversary"
}

Key	Default	Meaning
enabled	true	Set false to keep the package installed but inactive
idleWakeMs	300000	Fallback wake interval while known work is pending
freshAdversaryEachReview	false	Always send the full review task instead of the incremental follow-up
adversaryAgent	orchestration-adversary	Agent name used for verification
delegationAckTimeoutMs	10000	How long to wait for pi-subagents to accept a review request before reporting verification unavailable

Status line

During a run pi's footer shows total elapsed time since your prompt, Main while the agent works, and review progress (turns, tools, tokens, current tool) while verification runs. Those statistics stay in the UI; the agent only receives substantive instructions.

Known limitation

The public pi-subagents delegation protocol cannot resume a prior child session, so each review starts a fresh reviewer process. After the first review the reviewer receives an incremental task that points it at the current notes and changed evidence rather than a full re-review, but it does not carry in-session memory across reviews.

License

MIT