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Pi Extensions & Skills

Permissions & safety

Pi gives the model bash, write, and edit tools — powerful, and worth guarding. These packages add permission prompts, path protection, and oversight so the agent can’t quietly run something destructive.

Alternatives

Section titled “Alternatives”

1. @gotgenes/pi-permission-system

Section titled “1. @gotgenes/pi-permission-system”

A permission enforcement extension: intercept tool calls and require approval (or block) based on rules.

Terminal window
pi install npm:@gotgenes/pi-permission-system

Benefits

  • Centralized, rule-based control over what the agent may do.
  • Actively maintained and widely used.
  • Good default for shared or sensitive machines.

Drawbacks

  • Approval prompts add friction to fast iterative work.
  • You must tune rules to avoid over- or under-blocking.

2. Built-in permission-gate / path-protection examples

Section titled “2. Built-in permission-gate / path-protection examples”

The Pi repo ships example extensions for a permission-gate and path protection. Minimal, official, and easy to adapt.

Terminal window
# Copy the example into ~/.pi/agent/extensions/ and /reload

Benefits

  • Official, auditable, zero third-party trust.
  • Great base to build a custom policy on.

Drawbacks

  • Examples, not turnkey products — expect to extend them.
  • Fewer features than a full permission system.

3. @a5c-ai/babysitter-pi

Section titled “3. @a5c-ai/babysitter-pi”

An oversight (“babysitter”) package that watches an autonomous run and steps in — useful when you let Pi work unattended for long stretches.

Terminal window
pi install npm:@a5c-ai/babysitter-pi

Benefits

  • Designed for long, unattended runs.
  • Adds a supervisory layer rather than per-call prompts.

Drawbacks

  • Oversight ≠ hard sandboxing; pair with permissions for real safety.
  • Adds its own behaviour to reason about.

Which should I pick?

Section titled “Which should I pick?”
  • Want rule-based approval/blocking: @gotgenes/pi-permission-system.
  • Want a minimal, official base to customize: the permission-gate example.
  • Running Pi unattended for long stretches: add @a5c-ai/babysitter-pi on top of a permission system.