pi-pipe.nvim

Keep your pi coding agent aware of what you're looking at in Neovim — in real time via Unix domain sockets.

As you move your cursor or select code, pi receives live updates. On every prompt, the current selection (or buffer) is automatically injected as context.

How it works

Two pieces communicating over a local Unix domain socket:

1. Neovim plugin — starts a Unix socket server at /tmp/pi-pipe/pipe-<nvim-pid>.sock, broadcasts cursor/selection as NDJSON on every CursorMoved / ModeChanged. On connect, sends a handshake with its cwd.

2. Pi extension — scans /tmp/pi-pipe/ for .sock files from alive processes, connects to each, reads the handshake, and keeps the first one whose cwd matches (same project or ancestor/descendant). Caches the latest selection. Shows the current file and selection in pi's footer status line. The /nvim command sends a prompt with that selection (or file) attached as context.

CursorMoved → selection.lua → Unix Socket → pi extension caches
                                        │
                           updates footer status line
                                        │
                     `/nvim <prompt>`: sent to LLM as context

Installation

1. Pi extension

This repo is a pi package. Install with pi install:

# From git (once pushed)
pi install git:github.com/nullco/pi-pipe.nvim

# From local path (for development)
pi install ~/Projects/pi-pipe.nvim

Restart pi. You should see pi-pipe ready (cwd: ...) on startup.

2. Neovim plugin

lazy.nvim

{
    "nullco/pi-pipe.nvim",
    dir = "~/Projects/pi-pipe.nvim", -- or omit for git install
    config = function()
        require("pi-pipe").setup()
    end,
}

Usage

No keymaps, no commands to run. Just open pi in your project, then open Neovim. The plugin starts automatically.

To send a prompt with your current Neovim context attached, use the /nvim command in pi. It attaches the active selection, or — if nothing is selected — the current file and cursor position:

/nvim explain what this function does
/nvim refactor this to use async/await

The args can be multiline (everything after the first space is the prompt). The context is attached as a hidden message — it reaches the LLM but doesn't clutter the editor, which only shows your prompt. With no args, only the context is sent. You'll also see the current file and selection state in pi's footer:

• nvim: file.lua — nothing selected
• nvim: file.lua:10-25 — text selected on lines 10-25

Commands

Command	Action
:PiStart	Start the Unix socket server and selection tracking
:PiStop	Stop tracking and shut down the server
:PiStatus	Show socket path and current selection info
:PiTest	Force a test broadcast to verify connectivity

Configuration

require("pi-pipe").setup({
    -- Debounce time for selection updates (ms)
    debounce_ms = 100,

    -- Start automatically on setup
    auto_start = true,
})

How matching works

Pi scans /tmp/pi-pipe/ for port files from running Neovim instances. It matches any Neovim that shares a common project tree with pi — same directory, ancestor, or descendant (any depth). Multiple project pairs work independently.

Troubleshooting

No notification on startup: Make sure the pi extension is installed. Run pi and look for pi-pipe ready.

Selection not showing up: Ensure Neovim is running (with the plugin loaded) before you start pi in the same project. Run :PiStatus in Neovim to verify.

pi-pipe: Failed to start server: Check permissions on /tmp/pi-pipe/. Run :PiStart manually to see the error.

License

MIT

Tests

# TypeScript helpers (node:test)
npm run test:ts

# Lua selection spec (requires plenary.nvim on your runtimepath)
npm run test:nvim

# Both
npm test