# 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 images:
```json
{"type": "prompt", "message": "What's in this image?", "images": [{"type": "image", "source": {"type": "base64", "mediaType": "image/png", "data": "..."}}]}
```

**During streaming**: If the agent is already streaming, you must specify `streamingBehavior` to queue the message:

```json
{"type": "prompt", "message": "New instruction", "streamingBehavior": "steer"}
```

- `"steer"`: Interrupt the agent mid-run. Message is delivered after current tool execution, remaining tools are skipped.
- `"followUp"`: Wait until the agent finishes. Message is delivered only when agent stops.

If the agent is streaming and no `streamingBehavior` is specified, the command returns an error.

**Extension commands**: If the message is a hook command (e.g., `/mycommand`), it executes immediately even during streaming. Extension commands manage their own LLM interaction via `pi.sendMessage()`.

**Prompt templates**: File-based prompt templates (from `.md` files) are expanded before sending/queueing.

Response:
```json
{"id": "req-1", "type": "response", "command": "prompt", "success": true}
```

The `images` field is optional. Each image uses `ImageContent` format with base64 or URL source.

#### steer

Queue a steering message to interrupt the agent mid-run. Delivered after current tool execution, remaining tools are skipped. File-based prompt templates are expanded. Extension commands are not allowed (use `prompt` instead).

```json
{"type": "steer", "message": "Stop and do this instead"}
```

Response:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "steer", "success": true}
```

See [set_steering_mode](#set_steering_mode) for controlling how steering messages are processed.

#### follow_up

Queue a follow-up message to be processed after the agent finishes. Delivered only when agent has no more tool calls or steering messages. File-based prompt templates are expanded. Extension commands are not allowed (use `prompt` instead).

```json
{"type": "follow_up", "message": "After you're done, also do this"}
```

Response:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "follow_up", "success": true}
```

See [set_follow_up_mode](#set_follow_up_mode) for controlling how follow-up messages are processed.

#### abort

Abort the current agent operation.

```json
{"type": "abort"}
```

Response:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "abort", "success": true}
```

#### new_session

Start a fresh session. Can be cancelled by a `session_before_switch` hook.

```json
{"type": "new_session"}
```

With optional parent session tracking:
```json
{"type": "new_session", "parentSession": "/path/to/parent-session.jsonl"}
```

Response:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "new_session", "success": true, "data": {"cancelled": false}}
```

If a hook cancelled:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "new_session", "success": true, "data": {"cancelled": 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,
    "steeringMode": "all",
    "followUpMode": "one-at-a-time",
    "sessionFile": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
    "sessionId": "abc123",
    "autoCompactionEnabled": true,
    "messageCount": 5,
    "pendingMessageCount": 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 `AgentMessage` 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 Modes

#### set_steering_mode

Control how steering messages (from `steer`) are delivered.

```json
{"type": "set_steering_mode", "mode": "one-at-a-time"}
```

Modes:
- `"all"`: Deliver all steering messages at the next interruption point
- `"one-at-a-time"`: Deliver one steering message per interruption (default)

Response:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "set_steering_mode", "success": true}
```

#### set_follow_up_mode

Control how follow-up messages (from `follow_up`) are delivered.

```json
{"type": "set_follow_up_mode", "mode": "one-at-a-time"}
```

Modes:
- `"all"`: Deliver all follow-up messages when agent finishes
- `"one-at-a-time"`: Deliver one follow-up message per agent completion (default)

Response:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "set_follow_up_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": {
    "summary": "Summary of conversation...",
    "firstKeptEntryId": "abc123",
    "tokensBefore": 150000,
    "details": {}
  }
}
```

#### 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}
```

### Retry

#### set_auto_retry

Enable or disable automatic retry on transient errors (overloaded, rate limit, 5xx).

```json
{"type": "set_auto_retry", "enabled": true}
```

Response:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "set_auto_retry", "success": true}
```

#### abort_retry

Abort an in-progress retry (cancel the delay and stop retrying).

```json
{"type": "abort_retry"}
```

Response:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "abort_retry", "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. Can be cancelled by a `before_switch` hook.

```json
{"type": "switch_session", "sessionPath": "/path/to/session.jsonl"}
```

Response:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "switch_session", "success": true, "data": {"cancelled": false}}
```

If a hook cancelled the switch:
```json
{"type": "response", "command": "switch_session", "success": true, "data": {"cancelled": true}}
```

#### branch

Create a new branch from a previous user message. Can be cancelled by a `before_branch` hook. Returns the text of the message being branched from.

```json
{"type": "branch", "entryId": "abc123"}
```

Response:
```json
{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "branch",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"text": "The original prompt text...", "cancelled": false}
}
```

If a hook cancelled the branch:
```json
{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "branch",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"text": "The original prompt text...", "cancelled": true}
}
```

#### 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": [
      {"entryId": "abc123", "text": "First prompt..."},
      {"entryId": "def456", "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_update` | Tool execution progress (streaming output) |
| `tool_execution_end` | Tool completes |
| `auto_compaction_start` | Auto-compaction begins |
| `auto_compaction_end` | Auto-compaction completes |
| `auto_retry_start` | Auto-retry begins (after transient error) |
| `auto_retry_end` | Auto-retry completes (success or final failure) |
| `hook_error` | Hook threw an error |

### 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 `AgentMessage`.

```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_update / tool_execution_end

Emitted when a tool begins, streams progress, and completes execution.

```json
{
  "type": "tool_execution_start",
  "toolCallId": "call_abc123",
  "toolName": "bash",
  "args": {"command": "ls -la"}
}
```

During execution, `tool_execution_update` events stream partial results (e.g., bash output as it arrives):

```json
{
  "type": "tool_execution_update",
  "toolCallId": "call_abc123",
  "toolName": "bash",
  "args": {"command": "ls -la"},
  "partialResult": {
    "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "partial output so far..."}],
    "details": {"truncation": null, "fullOutputPath": null}
  }
}
```

When complete:

```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 events. The `partialResult` in `tool_execution_update` contains the accumulated output so far (not just the delta), allowing clients to simply replace their display on each update.

### auto_compaction_start / auto_compaction_end

Emitted when automatic compaction runs (when context is nearly full).

```json
{"type": "auto_compaction_start", "reason": "threshold"}
```

The `reason` field is `"threshold"` (context getting large) or `"overflow"` (context exceeded limit).

```json
{
  "type": "auto_compaction_end",
  "result": {
    "summary": "Summary of conversation...",
    "firstKeptEntryId": "abc123",
    "tokensBefore": 150000,
    "details": {}
  },
  "aborted": false,
  "willRetry": false
}
```

If `reason` was `"overflow"` and compaction succeeds, `willRetry` is `true` and the agent will automatically retry the prompt.

If compaction was aborted, `result` is `null` and `aborted` is `true`.

### auto_retry_start / auto_retry_end

Emitted when automatic retry is triggered after a transient error (overloaded, rate limit, 5xx).

```json
{
  "type": "auto_retry_start",
  "attempt": 1,
  "maxAttempts": 3,
  "delayMs": 2000,
  "errorMessage": "529 {\"type\":\"error\",\"error\":{\"type\":\"overloaded_error\",\"message\":\"Overloaded\"}}"
}
```

```json
{
  "type": "auto_retry_end",
  "success": true,
  "attempt": 2
}
```

On final failure (max retries exceeded):
```json
{
  "type": "auto_retry_end",
  "success": false,
  "attempt": 3,
  "finalError": "529 overloaded_error: Overloaded"
}
```

### hook_error

Emitted when a hook throws an error.

```json
{
  "type": "hook_error",
  "hookPath": "/path/to/hook.ts",
  "event": "tool_call",
  "error": "Error message..."
}
```

## 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) - `AgentMessage`, `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");
});
```
