@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent 0.16.0 → 0.18.0

package/docs/rpc.md

@@ -0,0 +1,870 @@
+# RPC Mode
+
+RPC mode enables headless operation of the coding agent via a JSON protocol over stdin/stdout. This is useful for embedding the agent in other applications, IDEs, or custom UIs.
+
+**Note for Node.js/TypeScript users**: If you're building a Node.js application, consider using `AgentSession` directly from `@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent` instead of spawning a subprocess. See [`src/core/agent-session.ts`](../src/core/agent-session.ts) for the API. For a subprocess-based TypeScript client, see [`src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts`](../src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts).
+
+## Starting RPC Mode
+
+```bash
+pi --mode rpc [options]
+```
+
+Common options:
+- `--provider <name>`: Set the LLM provider (anthropic, openai, google, etc.)
+- `--model <id>`: Set the model ID
+- `--no-session`: Disable session persistence
+- `--session-dir <path>`: Custom session storage directory
+
+## Protocol Overview
+
+- **Commands**: JSON objects sent to stdin, one per line
+- **Responses**: JSON objects with `type: "response"` indicating command success/failure
+- **Events**: Agent events streamed to stdout as JSON lines
+
+All commands support an optional `id` field for request/response correlation. If provided, the corresponding response will include the same `id`.
+
+## Commands
+
+### Prompting
+
+#### prompt
+
+Send a user prompt to the agent. Returns immediately; events stream asynchronously.
+
+```json
+{"id": "req-1", "type": "prompt", "message": "Hello, world!"}
+```
+
+With attachments:
+```json
+{"type": "prompt", "message": "What's in this image?", "attachments": [...]}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{"id": "req-1", "type": "response", "command": "prompt", "success": true}
+```
+
+The `attachments` field is optional. See [Attachments](#attachments) for the schema.
+
+#### queue_message
+
+Queue a message to be injected at the next agent turn. Queued messages are added to the conversation without triggering a new prompt. Useful for injecting context mid-conversation.
+
+```json
+{"type": "queue_message", "message": "Additional context"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{"type": "response", "command": "queue_message", "success": true}
+```
+
+See [set_queue_mode](#set_queue_mode) for controlling how queued messages are processed.
+
+#### abort
+
+Abort the current agent operation.
+
+```json
+{"type": "abort"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{"type": "response", "command": "abort", "success": true}
+```
+
+#### reset
+
+Clear context and start a fresh session.
+
+```json
+{"type": "reset"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{"type": "response", "command": "reset", "success": true}
+```
+
+### State
+
+#### get_state
+
+Get current session state.
+
+```json
+{"type": "get_state"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "get_state",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {
+    "model": {...},
+    "thinkingLevel": "medium",
+    "isStreaming": false,
+    "isCompacting": false,
+    "queueMode": "all",
+    "sessionFile": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
+    "sessionId": "abc123",
+    "autoCompactionEnabled": true,
+    "messageCount": 5,
+    "queuedMessageCount": 0
+  }
+}
+```
+
+The `model` field is a full [Model](#model) object or `null`.
+
+#### get_messages
+
+Get all messages in the conversation.
+
+```json
+{"type": "get_messages"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "get_messages",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {"messages": [...]}
+}
+```
+
+Messages are `AppMessage` objects (see [Message Types](#message-types)).
+
+### Model
+
+#### set_model
+
+Switch to a specific model.
+
+```json
+{"type": "set_model", "provider": "anthropic", "modelId": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"}
+```
+
+Response contains the full [Model](#model) object:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "set_model",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {...}
+}
+```
+
+#### cycle_model
+
+Cycle to the next available model. Returns `null` data if only one model available.
+
+```json
+{"type": "cycle_model"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "cycle_model",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {
+    "model": {...},
+    "thinkingLevel": "medium",
+    "isScoped": false
+  }
+}
+```
+
+The `model` field is a full [Model](#model) object.
+
+#### get_available_models
+
+List all configured models.
+
+```json
+{"type": "get_available_models"}
+```
+
+Response contains an array of full [Model](#model) objects:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "get_available_models",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {
+    "models": [...]
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### Thinking
+
+#### set_thinking_level
+
+Set the reasoning/thinking level for models that support it.
+
+```json
+{"type": "set_thinking_level", "level": "high"}
+```
+
+Levels: `"off"`, `"minimal"`, `"low"`, `"medium"`, `"high"`, `"xhigh"`
+
+Note: `"xhigh"` is only supported by OpenAI codex-max models.
+
+Response:
+```json
+{"type": "response", "command": "set_thinking_level", "success": true}
+```
+
+#### cycle_thinking_level
+
+Cycle through available thinking levels. Returns `null` data if model doesn't support thinking.
+
+```json
+{"type": "cycle_thinking_level"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "cycle_thinking_level",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {"level": "high"}
+}
+```
+
+### Queue Mode
+
+#### set_queue_mode
+
+Control how queued messages (from `queue_message`) are injected into the conversation.
+
+```json
+{"type": "set_queue_mode", "mode": "one-at-a-time"}
+```
+
+Modes:
+- `"all"`: Inject all queued messages at the next turn
+- `"one-at-a-time"`: Inject one queued message per turn (default)
+
+Response:
+```json
+{"type": "response", "command": "set_queue_mode", "success": true}
+```
+
+### Compaction
+
+#### compact
+
+Manually compact conversation context to reduce token usage.
+
+```json
+{"type": "compact"}
+```
+
+With custom instructions:
+```json
+{"type": "compact", "customInstructions": "Focus on code changes"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "compact",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {
+    "tokensBefore": 150000,
+    "summary": "Summary of conversation..."
+  }
+}
+```
+
+#### set_auto_compaction
+
+Enable or disable automatic compaction when context is nearly full.
+
+```json
+{"type": "set_auto_compaction", "enabled": true}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{"type": "response", "command": "set_auto_compaction", "success": true}
+```
+
+### Bash
+
+#### bash
+
+Execute a shell command and add output to conversation context.
+
+```json
+{"type": "bash", "command": "ls -la"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "bash",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {
+    "output": "total 48\ndrwxr-xr-x ...",
+    "exitCode": 0,
+    "cancelled": false,
+    "truncated": false
+  }
+}
+```
+
+If output was truncated, includes `fullOutputPath`:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "bash",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {
+    "output": "truncated output...",
+    "exitCode": 0,
+    "cancelled": false,
+    "truncated": true,
+    "fullOutputPath": "/tmp/pi-bash-abc123.log"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+**How bash results reach the LLM:**
+
+The `bash` command executes immediately and returns a `BashResult`. Internally, a `BashExecutionMessage` is created and stored in the agent's message state. This message does NOT emit an event.
+
+When the next `prompt` command is sent, all messages (including `BashExecutionMessage`) are transformed before being sent to the LLM. The `BashExecutionMessage` is converted to a `UserMessage` with this format:
+
+```
+Ran `ls -la`
+\`\`\`
+total 48
+drwxr-xr-x ...
+\`\`\`
+```
+
+This means:
+1. Bash output is included in the LLM context on the **next prompt**, not immediately
+2. Multiple bash commands can be executed before a prompt; all outputs will be included
+3. No event is emitted for the `BashExecutionMessage` itself
+
+#### abort_bash
+
+Abort a running bash command.
+
+```json
+{"type": "abort_bash"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{"type": "response", "command": "abort_bash", "success": true}
+```
+
+### Session
+
+#### get_session_stats
+
+Get token usage and cost statistics.
+
+```json
+{"type": "get_session_stats"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "get_session_stats",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {
+    "sessionFile": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
+    "sessionId": "abc123",
+    "userMessages": 5,
+    "assistantMessages": 5,
+    "toolCalls": 12,
+    "toolResults": 12,
+    "totalMessages": 22,
+    "tokens": {
+      "input": 50000,
+      "output": 10000,
+      "cacheRead": 40000,
+      "cacheWrite": 5000,
+      "total": 105000
+    },
+    "cost": 0.45
+  }
+}
+```
+
+#### export_html
+
+Export session to an HTML file.
+
+```json
+{"type": "export_html"}
+```
+
+With custom path:
+```json
+{"type": "export_html", "outputPath": "/tmp/session.html"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "export_html",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {"path": "/tmp/session.html"}
+}
+```
+
+#### switch_session
+
+Load a different session file.
+
+```json
+{"type": "switch_session", "sessionPath": "/path/to/session.jsonl"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{"type": "response", "command": "switch_session", "success": true}
+```
+
+#### branch
+
+Create a new branch from a previous user message. Returns the text of the message being branched from.
+
+```json
+{"type": "branch", "entryIndex": 2}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "branch",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {"text": "The original prompt text..."}
+}
+```
+
+#### get_branch_messages
+
+Get user messages available for branching.
+
+```json
+{"type": "get_branch_messages"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "get_branch_messages",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {
+    "messages": [
+      {"entryIndex": 0, "text": "First prompt..."},
+      {"entryIndex": 2, "text": "Second prompt..."}
+    ]
+  }
+}
+```
+
+#### get_last_assistant_text
+
+Get the text content of the last assistant message.
+
+```json
+{"type": "get_last_assistant_text"}
+```
+
+Response:
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "get_last_assistant_text",
+  "success": true,
+  "data": {"text": "The assistant's response..."}
+}
+```
+
+Returns `{"text": null}` if no assistant messages exist.
+
+## Events
+
+Events are streamed to stdout as JSON lines during agent operation. Events do NOT include an `id` field (only responses do).
+
+### Event Types
+
+| Event | Description |
+|-------|-------------|
+| `agent_start` | Agent begins processing |
+| `agent_end` | Agent completes (includes all generated messages) |
+| `turn_start` | New turn begins |
+| `turn_end` | Turn completes (includes assistant message and tool results) |
+| `message_start` | Message begins |
+| `message_update` | Streaming update (text/thinking/toolcall deltas) |
+| `message_end` | Message completes |
+| `tool_execution_start` | Tool begins execution |
+| `tool_execution_end` | Tool completes |
+| `auto_compaction_start` | Auto-compaction begins |
+| `auto_compaction_end` | Auto-compaction completes |
+
+### agent_start
+
+Emitted when the agent begins processing a prompt.
+
+```json
+{"type": "agent_start"}
+```
+
+### agent_end
+
+Emitted when the agent completes. Contains all messages generated during this run.
+
+```json
+{
+  "type": "agent_end",
+  "messages": [...]
+}
+```
+
+### turn_start / turn_end
+
+A turn consists of one assistant response plus any resulting tool calls and results.
+
+```json
+{"type": "turn_start"}
+```
+
+```json
+{
+  "type": "turn_end",
+  "message": {...},
+  "toolResults": [...]
+}
+```
+
+### message_start / message_end
+
+Emitted when a message begins and completes. The `message` field contains an `AppMessage`.
+
+```json
+{"type": "message_start", "message": {...}}
+{"type": "message_end", "message": {...}}
+```
+
+### message_update (Streaming)
+
+Emitted during streaming of assistant messages. Contains both the partial message and a streaming delta event.
+
+```json
+{
+  "type": "message_update",
+  "message": {...},
+  "assistantMessageEvent": {
+    "type": "text_delta",
+    "contentIndex": 0,
+    "delta": "Hello ",
+    "partial": {...}
+  }
+}
+```
+
+The `assistantMessageEvent` field contains one of these delta types:
+
+| Type | Description |
+|------|-------------|
+| `start` | Message generation started |
+| `text_start` | Text content block started |
+| `text_delta` | Text content chunk |
+| `text_end` | Text content block ended |
+| `thinking_start` | Thinking block started |
+| `thinking_delta` | Thinking content chunk |
+| `thinking_end` | Thinking block ended |
+| `toolcall_start` | Tool call started |
+| `toolcall_delta` | Tool call arguments chunk |
+| `toolcall_end` | Tool call ended (includes full `toolCall` object) |
+| `done` | Message complete (reason: `"stop"`, `"length"`, `"toolUse"`) |
+| `error` | Error occurred (reason: `"aborted"`, `"error"`) |
+
+Example streaming a text response:
+```json
+{"type":"message_update","message":{...},"assistantMessageEvent":{"type":"text_start","contentIndex":0,"partial":{...}}}
+{"type":"message_update","message":{...},"assistantMessageEvent":{"type":"text_delta","contentIndex":0,"delta":"Hello","partial":{...}}}
+{"type":"message_update","message":{...},"assistantMessageEvent":{"type":"text_delta","contentIndex":0,"delta":" world","partial":{...}}}
+{"type":"message_update","message":{...},"assistantMessageEvent":{"type":"text_end","contentIndex":0,"content":"Hello world","partial":{...}}}
+```
+
+### tool_execution_start / tool_execution_end
+
+Emitted when a tool begins and completes execution.
+
+```json
+{
+  "type": "tool_execution_start",
+  "toolCallId": "call_abc123",
+  "toolName": "bash",
+  "args": {"command": "ls -la"}
+}
+```
+
+```json
+{
+  "type": "tool_execution_end",
+  "toolCallId": "call_abc123",
+  "toolName": "bash",
+  "result": {
+    "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "total 48\n..."}],
+    "details": {...}
+  },
+  "isError": false
+}
+```
+
+Use `toolCallId` to correlate `tool_execution_start` with `tool_execution_end`.
+
+### auto_compaction_start / auto_compaction_end
+
+Emitted when automatic compaction runs (when context is nearly full).
+
+```json
+{"type": "auto_compaction_start"}
+```
+
+```json
+{
+  "type": "auto_compaction_end",
+  "result": {
+    "tokensBefore": 150000,
+    "summary": "Summary of conversation..."
+  },
+  "aborted": false
+}
+```
+
+If compaction was aborted, `result` is `null` and `aborted` is `true`.
+
+## Error Handling
+
+Failed commands return a response with `success: false`:
+
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "set_model",
+  "success": false,
+  "error": "Model not found: invalid/model"
+}
+```
+
+Parse errors:
+
+```json
+{
+  "type": "response",
+  "command": "parse",
+  "success": false,
+  "error": "Failed to parse command: Unexpected token..."
+}
+```
+
+## Types
+
+Source files:
+- [`packages/ai/src/types.ts`](../../ai/src/types.ts) - `Model`, `UserMessage`, `AssistantMessage`, `ToolResultMessage`
+- [`packages/agent/src/types.ts`](../../agent/src/types.ts) - `AppMessage`, `Attachment`, `AgentEvent`
+- [`src/core/messages.ts`](../src/core/messages.ts) - `BashExecutionMessage`
+- [`src/modes/rpc/rpc-types.ts`](../src/modes/rpc/rpc-types.ts) - RPC command/response types
+
+### Model
+
+```json
+{
+  "id": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
+  "name": "Claude Sonnet 4",
+  "api": "anthropic-messages",
+  "provider": "anthropic",
+  "baseUrl": "https://api.anthropic.com",
+  "reasoning": true,
+  "input": ["text", "image"],
+  "contextWindow": 200000,
+  "maxTokens": 16384,
+  "cost": {
+    "input": 3.0,
+    "output": 15.0,
+    "cacheRead": 0.3,
+    "cacheWrite": 3.75
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### UserMessage
+
+```json
+{
+  "role": "user",
+  "content": "Hello!",
+  "timestamp": 1733234567890,
+  "attachments": []
+}
+```
+
+The `content` field can be a string or an array of `TextContent`/`ImageContent` blocks.
+
+### AssistantMessage
+
+```json
+{
+  "role": "assistant",
+  "content": [
+    {"type": "text", "text": "Hello! How can I help?"},
+    {"type": "thinking", "thinking": "User is greeting me..."},
+    {"type": "toolCall", "id": "call_123", "name": "bash", "arguments": {"command": "ls"}}
+  ],
+  "api": "anthropic-messages",
+  "provider": "anthropic",
+  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
+  "usage": {
+    "input": 100,
+    "output": 50,
+    "cacheRead": 0,
+    "cacheWrite": 0,
+    "cost": {"input": 0.0003, "output": 0.00075, "cacheRead": 0, "cacheWrite": 0, "total": 0.00105}
+  },
+  "stopReason": "stop",
+  "timestamp": 1733234567890
+}
+```
+
+Stop reasons: `"stop"`, `"length"`, `"toolUse"`, `"error"`, `"aborted"`
+
+### ToolResultMessage
+
+```json
+{
+  "role": "toolResult",
+  "toolCallId": "call_123",
+  "toolName": "bash",
+  "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "total 48\ndrwxr-xr-x ..."}],
+  "isError": false,
+  "timestamp": 1733234567890
+}
+```
+
+### BashExecutionMessage
+
+Created by the `bash` RPC command (not by LLM tool calls):
+
+```json
+{
+  "role": "bashExecution",
+  "command": "ls -la",
+  "output": "total 48\ndrwxr-xr-x ...",
+  "exitCode": 0,
+  "cancelled": false,
+  "truncated": false,
+  "fullOutputPath": null,
+  "timestamp": 1733234567890
+}
+```
+
+### Attachment
+
+```json
+{
+  "id": "img1",
+  "type": "image",
+  "fileName": "photo.jpg",
+  "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
+  "size": 102400,
+  "content": "base64-encoded-data...",
+  "extractedText": null,
+  "preview": null
+}
+```
+
+## Example: Basic Client (Python)
+
+```python
+import subprocess
+import json
+
+proc = subprocess.Popen(
+    ["pi", "--mode", "rpc", "--no-session"],
+    stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
+    stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+    text=True
+)
+
+def send(cmd):
+    proc.stdin.write(json.dumps(cmd) + "\n")
+    proc.stdin.flush()
+
+def read_events():
+    for line in proc.stdout:
+        yield json.loads(line)
+
+# Send prompt
+send({"type": "prompt", "message": "Hello!"})
+
+# Process events
+for event in read_events():
+    if event.get("type") == "message_update":
+        delta = event.get("assistantMessageEvent", {})
+        if delta.get("type") == "text_delta":
+            print(delta["delta"], end="", flush=True)
+    
+    if event.get("type") == "agent_end":
+        print()
+        break
+```
+
+## Example: Interactive Client (Node.js)
+
+See [`test/rpc-example.ts`](../test/rpc-example.ts) for a complete interactive example, or [`src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts`](../src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts) for a typed client implementation.
+
+```javascript
+const { spawn } = require("child_process");
+const readline = require("readline");
+
+const agent = spawn("pi", ["--mode", "rpc", "--no-session"]);
+
+readline.createInterface({ input: agent.stdout }).on("line", (line) => {
+    const event = JSON.parse(line);
+    
+    if (event.type === "message_update") {
+        const { assistantMessageEvent } = event;
+        if (assistantMessageEvent.type === "text_delta") {
+            process.stdout.write(assistantMessageEvent.delta);
+        }
+    }
+});
+
+// Send prompt
+agent.stdin.write(JSON.stringify({ type: "prompt", message: "Hello" }) + "\n");
+
+// Abort on Ctrl+C
+process.on("SIGINT", () => {
+    agent.stdin.write(JSON.stringify({ type: "abort" }) + "\n");
+});
+```