@howaboua/pi-subagent-review

pi-subagent-review

@howaboua/pi-subagent-review is a Pi extension that adds one slash command:

• /review
• /review loop

It runs an isolated review subagent against your current repo, optionally prepares a compact conversation-context summary first, injects the findings back into the session as a user message, and asks the main agent to triage those advisory findings before deciding what to address. It is modelled after Codex CLI's /review command.

What it does

/review:

• detects the current git repo
• chooses a base branch automatically
• computes the merge base with HEAD
• if no usable base branch or merge base exists, reviews the current checkout as-is
• if the checkout is clean and has no diff against the selected base, reviews the latest commit instead of stopping early
• inspects committed and dirty worktree changes
• summarizes the current Pi session branch as review context, when enabled
• runs an isolated review subagent
• sends the findings back into the current Pi session as a user message
• makes clear that the findings are advisory, not direct user instructions, so the main agent should triage them against prior context before editing

/review loop starts a review loop. It sets a review-specific marker at the current conversation point, strips the loop word from the review guidance, and then runs the normal review.

The first /review in a session branch also adds a visible advisory preface without starting an agent turn. The preface tells the main agent not to treat review findings as a TODO list, and to summarize and triage them against session context and the current implementation before changing code.

After that, plain /review detects the active review marker, summarizes the work since that marker back into a compact review-fix increment, advances the review marker, and then runs the next isolated review pass from the compacted point. If the stored marker is gone, /review simply behaves like a normal review.

The review marker is separate from @howaboua/pi-auto-trees' generic /marker, so both extensions can be used in the same session.

While /review is running, the extension shows a small review widget above the editor with one of two states:

• Preparing review context…
• Reviewing changes…

The widget is UI-only and is cleared when the command finishes, fails, or is cancelled.

Automatic base branch selection

The command chooses the base branch automatically:

• if you are on a branch other than main, master, or dev, it reviews against dev
• if no local dev exists, it falls back to main, then master
• if you are on dev, it reviews against main, then master
• if you are on main or master, it prefers dev when available

This means you usually never need to specify the diff base manually.

User arguments

Anything after /review is treated as extra review guidance.

If the first word is loop in any casing, it starts review-loop mode and that word is removed from the review guidance.

Examples:

/review
/review loop
/review LoOp focus extra attention on migrations and tests
/review focus extra attention on migrations and tests
/review assess whether we introduced new UI elements instead of reusing established components and existing CSS patterns

Config

On first load, the extension creates:

• ~/.pi/agent/pi-subagent-review.json

If Pi is using a custom agent directory via PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR, the file is created there instead.

Edit that file to change the default review model or thinking level, and the model used to summarize conversation context before review:

{
  "model": "openai-codex/gpt-5.5",
  "thinking": "medium",
  "summary": {
    "enabled": true,
    "model": "openai/gpt-5.4-mini",
    "thinking": "low"
  }
}

The summary model uses the same provider/model string format as the reviewer model. The generated summary is injected into the isolated review task as branch-style context; raw conversation turns are not sent to the review subagent. If the configured review or summary model is not available for the user, /review falls back to the current session model automatically. If conversation summarization still fails, /review continues with a diff-only review.

Existing config files from older versions are migrated on load. If a config has model and thinking but no summary block, the extension adds one using the same model and low thinking:

{
  "summary": {
    "enabled": true,
    "model": "<existing review model>",
    "thinking": "low"
  }
}

If a summary block already exists, it is left unchanged.

Install

Installation methods:

pi install /absolute/path/to/pi-subagent-review
pi install npm:@howaboua/pi-subagent-review
pi install git:github.com/IgorWarzocha/pi-subagent-review

Then reload or restart Pi.

Notes

• This extension registers /review.
• Do not load it together with another extension that also registers /review unless you intentionally want that command collision.