Requirements & costs
The site and the plugins are separate
Section titled “The site and the plugins are separate”This is a static Astro/Starlight site. Reading it, searching it and building it require no model credentials and no backend service. Search uses a build-time Pagefind index served with the site. Fonts are bundled locally; the site does not load remote font services.
Installing a Pi extension is different: it runs code inside your agent process. A shell task can run whatever command you give it, and a planner or subagent can consume your configured model access.
The suite is tested against Pi 1.1.0. Classifier-dependent components generally require Pi 0.99 or later; next-prompt requires Pi 1.0 or later. Private terminal hooks can change independently of those minimums.
What needs something else?
Section titled “What needs something else?”| Component or feature | Requirement and boundary |
|---|---|
| Background jobs | A shell environment with bash; commands may need their own tools or credentials. Process groups are used for stopping work. |
| Subagents | A runnable pi command and usable model/provider configuration. Child sessions make model calls. |
| Subagent worktrees | The external worktree CLI, only when worktree: true is requested. Not needed for ordinary delegation. |
| Plan mode | Credentials or subscription access for the selected planner and helper models. One or two planner sessions cost separately. Optional tools bring their own requirements. |
| Diff review and rewind | A Git repository. Snapshots include non-ignored untracked files and are not a backup service. |
| Herdr integration | An interactive Pi in Herdr. Herdr’s own Pi integration owns working/blocked/idle state. PR metadata also needs an authenticated gh command. |
| Herdr worktree children | The external worktree CLI. Normal child tabs do not require a new checkout. |
| Notebook observation | A running marimo server with the registry/session/SSE interfaces the extension uses. Token-protected servers need MARIMO_TOKEN. Editing is a separate marimo-pair workflow. |
| Status footer | Optional provider quota sources; its Nerd Font plug glyph needs terminal font support. Basic session rows do not require a Claude Code account. |
| Clipboard picker | Pi’s clipboard support in your terminal environment. Optional Jev ranking. |
| Terminal refinements | Relevant TUI hooks and terminal behavior; clear-screen needs fullscreen mode, scrollbar-width only acts inside Herdr. |
The documentation does not assert a Windows compatibility matrix for the whole collection. Several components use POSIX shell/process behavior. Check each component’s implementation before adopting it in a different environment.
Classifier features are optional, not free
Section titled “Classifier features are optional, not free”Jev is a classifier model accessed through Pi’s model registry. When enabled and available it receives the data needed for the judgment; requests can be billed by the configured provider.
| Plugin | What the classifier sees | Without it |
|---|---|---|
| Auto effort | Requests and recent run activity | Keeps the thinking level |
| Cache guard | Tool output or conversation items being trimmed/compacted | Warnings and clock still work; normal Pi compaction remains available |
| Tool gate | Proposed calls, recent user intent and rules | Uses a tool-hint/UI fallback; not equivalent protection |
| Subagents | Delegation task and candidate choices | Uses agent configuration and parent/default choices |
| Copy picker | Candidate excerpts and recent messages | Recency ordering |
| Next prompt | Suggested next step and answer | Can show the suggestion without vetting |
| Plan mode | Planning task and available tools | You can select tools manually |
For most plugins, "jev": { "enabled": false } in the plugin’s own configuration disables classifier use. Plan mode uses "jevToolSelection": false. There is no suite-wide Jev switch. See the reference pages for filenames and merge precedence.
The default TypeSafe provider uses Pi’s credentials, such as TYPESAFE_API_KEY or /login typesafe. Do not put credentials in these docs, a public repository, or a front-end environment variable. Cache guard supports additional provider choices; that does not imply identical fallback discovery in every component.
Read the right number
Section titled “Read the right number”Footer cost is a reported token-price estimate, not an invoice or a subscription charge. Cache guard uses published model prices where available and an idle-time heuristic where a cache TTL is unknown. Jev latency and savings depend on the workload and provider; benchmark anecdotes are not performance guarantees.
Quota lookup can make authenticated HTTP requests without making a model call. The status footer’s Claude account reading may belong to a different account from Pi’s model session. Manage context and cost explains the distinctions.