@astralyn/pi 0.81.1-1 → 0.82.0

package/docs/environment-variables.md

@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+# Environment Variables
+
+Pi uses environment variables in three ways:
+
+- Variables such as `PI_OFFLINE` configure the Pi process.
+- Pi sets `PI_CODING_AGENT` so child processes can detect that they run inside Pi.
+- Commands run by the LLM-callable bash tool receive `PI_*` variables describing the current session.
+
+Provider API-key variables are documented separately in [Providers](providers.md#environment-variables-or-auth-file).
+
+## Process Marker
+
+The CLI and RPC entry points set `PI_CODING_AGENT=true`. Child processes inherit it and can use it to detect that they run inside Pi. It is not session-specific and is not set automatically when Pi is embedded through the SDK.
+
+## Bash Tool Session Environment
+
+Commands run by the bash tool receive the current Pi session state:
+
+| Variable | Description |
+|----------|-------------|
+| `PI_SESSION_ID` | Current session ID |
+| `PI_SESSION_FILE` | Absolute path to the current session JSONL file; unset for ephemeral sessions |
+| `PI_PROVIDER` | Currently selected model provider |
+| `PI_MODEL` | Currently selected model ID |
+| `PI_REASONING_LEVEL` | Current effective reasoning level: `off`, `minimal`, `low`, `medium`, `high`, `xhigh`, or `max` |
+
+The values are resolved when each command starts. Switching models or changing the reasoning level therefore affects the next bash command without restarting Pi. `PI_PROVIDER` and `PI_MODEL` identify the selected Pi model, not a different upstream model that a router may choose internally.
+
+When asked which model or provider is running, inspect these variables instead of inferring the answer from the system prompt:
+
+```bash
+printf '%s/%s\n' "$PI_PROVIDER" "$PI_MODEL"
+printf 'reasoning=%s session=%s\n' "$PI_REASONING_LEVEL" "$PI_SESSION_ID"
+```
+
+The session file can be inspected directly when the session is persistent:
+
+```bash
+if [ -n "$PI_SESSION_FILE" ]; then
+  tail -n 1 "$PI_SESSION_FILE"
+fi
+```
+
+These variables are injected into the LLM-callable bash tool. They are not injected into user-entered `!` or `!!` commands.
+
+### Custom Bash Tools
+
+Bash tools created with `createBashTool()` expose the session environment by default when registered with Pi. Injection happens before `spawnHook`, so a hook receives the variables in `ctx.env`:
+
+```typescript
+const bashTool = createBashTool(cwd, {
+  spawnHook: (ctx) => ({
+    ...ctx,
+    env: { ...ctx.env, CI: "1" },
+  }),
+});
+```
+
+Disable session metadata independently of the spawn hook:
+
+```typescript
+const bashTool = createBashTool(cwd, {
+  exposeSessionEnvironment: false,
+  spawnHook: (ctx) => ctx,
+});
+```
+
+When disabled, Pi removes inherited values for these variables so nested Pi processes do not expose stale parent-session metadata.
+
+## Pi Process Configuration
+
+These variables are read by Pi itself:
+
+| Variable | Description |
+|----------|-------------|
+| `PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR` | Override the config directory; default is `~/.pi/agent` |
+| `PI_CODING_AGENT_SESSION_DIR` | Override session storage; overridden by `--session-dir` |
+| `PI_PACKAGE_DIR` | Override the package directory, useful for Nix/Guix store paths |
+| `PI_OFFLINE` | Disable startup network operations, including npm version checks, package update checks, and model refresh |
+| `PI_SKIP_VERSION_CHECK` | Skip the Pi version update check at startup. This prevents the npm registry latest-version request |
+| `PI_TELEMETRY` | Override optional provider attribution headers: `1`/`true`/`yes` or `0`/`false`/`no`. This does not disable version checks |
+| `PI_CACHE_RETENTION` | Set to `long` for extended provider prompt caching where supported |
+| `PI_SHARE_VIEWER_URL` | Override the base URL used by `/share` |
+| `PI_HARDWARE_CURSOR` | Set to `1` to show the hardware cursor; see [Terminal setup](terminal-setup.md) |
+| `VISUAL`, `EDITOR` | Fallback external editor for Ctrl+G when `externalEditor` is unset; defaults to Notepad on Windows and `nano` elsewhere |
+| `HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY` | Proxy outbound HTTP requests |
+
+Provider credentials such as `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_API_KEY`, and cloud-provider configuration are listed in [Providers](providers.md#environment-variables-or-auth-file).