What it is

pi-soly turns a plain pi-coding-agent session into a structured project: plans become git branches, state lives in .agents/STATE.md (visible to the LLM every turn), and rules load automatically into a ## ⚠️ MANDATORY block in the system prompt. Workflows (plan / execute / verify / pause / resume) are first-class slash commands — no LLM round-trip needed, no external subagent plugin.

The LLM doesn't drive the workflow — you do, via /sly / soly new / soly execute. The LLM is the executor inside that frame, following the rules and writing to the agreed paths.

Install

pi install npm:pi-soly

That registers the extension in your current pi session. Restart pi (/reload won't work for a fresh install — you need a session restart to pick up the new package's session_start event), then:

# inside a pi session:
/sly                # open the project picker (aliases: /soly, /s)
/sly init           # scaffold a new project (.agents/, docs/, rules/)

Manual install (no pi)

cd ~/.pi/agent/npm
npm install pi-soly

Then add "pi-soly" to your project's ~/.pi/agent/extensions.json (or just to .pi/extensions.json for project-local).

Quick start

# 1. Start a project
/sly init
# 2. Scaffold a plan
soly new feat/auth-jwt
# 3. Discuss / flesh out the plan (interactive)
/sly
→ click "plan" → /sly fills out PLAN.md via ask_pro
# 4. Execute (the LLM runs the plan, follows rules, writes SUMMARY.md)
soly execute feat/auth-jwt
# 5. Self-review until clean
soly verify
# 6. Commit + push + open draft PR
soly done feat/auth-jwt

Commands

Slash command	Plain-text verb	What it does
/sly · /soly · /s	soly <sub>	Project state inspection + picker (Status / Inspect / Manage groups)
/rules	—	Toggle / disable / reload rules; show token breakdown
/docs	—	Toggle / show intent docs
/why	—	What rules + state grounded the LLM's last turn
/artifacts	—	Browse this session's html_artifact gallery
/rulewizard	—	Decide whether a constraint should be a rule, .editorconfig, or linter
/sly settings	—	Interactive config editor (toggles, enums, numbers)

Text verb	What it does
soly init	Scaffold .agents/ (templates: minimal / web-app / library / cli)
soly new <slug>	Create branch + .agents/plans/<slug>/PLAN.md
soly discuss <slug>	Interactive discussion of a plan (uses ask_pro)
soly plan <slug>	Fill out PLAN.md via ask_pro
soly execute <slug>	Run the plan (production commits → SUMMARY.md → status: done)
soly verify [N]	Self-review loop until "No issues found" (max N; soly verify stop)
soly pause · soly resume	Save / restore a HANDOFF.json snapshot
soly status · soly log	Read-only, no LLM round-trip
soly done <slug>	Commit + push + open draft PR via gh

Rules & Docs

Rules are markdown files with optional frontmatter. Two locations, project wins over global:

.agents/rules/             # project — version-controlled
~/.agents/rules/            # global — per-user
.agents/rules.local/        # project-local — gitignored

Glob-scoped rules load conditionally (only when the prompt mentions matching file paths). always: true rules load every turn. See the .agents/rules/ directory in your soly project for live examples.

The ask_pro multi-question picker is built into the extension — the LLM uses it (not the LLM-driven soly_ask_user) for discuss flow when the config flag agent.preferAskPro: true is set. Single-pick options get a ⭐ recommended default, multi-select supports min/max bounds, every options question has a free-text "Other…" escape hatch.

The decision_deck is for architectural forks — when the LLM needs to compare global-shape options by code, not by paragraph. Full-screen cards, side-by-side previews, ⭐ marks the recommended.

The mandatory block

Every system prompt gets a ## ⚠️ MANDATORY: soly project rules section injected after the user's prompt. The LLM is told, in plain text: these rules are non-negotiable; if a rule contradicts the LLM's instinct, the rule wins.

## ⚠️ MANDATORY: soly project rules

**These rules are NON-NEGOTIABLE. If a rule contradicts
your instinct, the rule wins.**

### [soly] {10} temp-files.md
# Temporary Files Rule
> **OS-aware temp paths.** Never hardcode `/tmp` — use `os.tmpdir()` …

Built-in rules (the soly sourceLabel) ship with the extension and have highest priority — user rules can't override them. /sly settings is the interactive config editor that drives everything else.

Architecture

                      ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
                      │            pi-coding-agent               │
                      │  ┌────────────────────────────────────┐  │
   user input  ─────► │  │  soly extension                     │  │ ───► LLM
                      │  │  • session_start  → load state       │  │
                      │  │  • agent_start   → inject rules      │  │
   /sly  ────────────►│  │  • slash commands /sly, /rules, ... │  │
   soly new ────────► │  │  • soly_workflow tool  (LLM-side)   │  │
                      │  │  • built-in rules  (soly/*)          │  │
                      │  │  • visual chrome (top bar, footer)   │  │
                      │  └────────────────────────────────────┘  │
                      │  ┌────────────────────────────────────┐  │
                      │  │  .agents/  (project state)          │  │
                      │  │  STATE.md  ROADMAP.md  plans/         │  │
                      │  │  rules/    docs/    iterations/     │  │
                      │  └────────────────────────────────────┘  │
                      └─────────────────────────────────────────┘

State lives in .agents/. Files are plain markdown, git-friendly, human-readable. The LLM reads them, the extension writes them, the chrome shows them. No external DB, no migrations, no lock file.

For event names and the full dependency list, see Architecture.

Releases

Version	Highlights
2.2.2	.soly/ legacy removed; .agents/ is the only path
2.2.1	commands.ts split into per-command modules; release-discipline.md built-in rule
2.2.0	Grouped /sly picker (Status / Inspect / Manage); interactive /sly settings; aliases /sly / /s
2.1.5	Dedicated ## 🔒 Built-in rules (shipped with soly) system-prompt block
2.1.4	Built-in rules system (first rule: temp-files.md — never hardcode /tmp)
2.1.3	ask_pro read-only summary view before submit
2.1.2	Info / warning notifications silenced — only errors fire
2.1.1	Goal-aware verification at end of execute
2.0.x → 2.1.0	soly_workflow first-party tool; soly migrate verb; ~/.agents/ global config

Full history: CHANGELOG.md.

Compatibility

• pi-coding-agent >= 0.78
• Node >= 20 (we test on 24)
• Bun >= 1.3 for dev — bun test, bun run typecheck
• npm >= 8 for the published package
• No OS-specific code — works on macOS / Linux / Windows (uses os.tmpdir() etc., never hardcodes /tmp)

Development

git clone https://github.com/lowern1ght/pi-soly.git
cd pi-soly
bun install
bun test                 # all 600+ tests
bun run typecheck         # tsc --noEmit, both packages

Edit a file, then in pi: /reload to pick up changes. Live-reload handles the chrome, rules, and intent-doc watchers.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.