pi-atelier: Making AI Coding Assistants Professional
Who Is This Book For?
This book is for you if you’re doing any of the following:
- Writing code with AI coding assistants (pi, Cursor, Copilot, etc.)
- Feeling like your AI assistant is “almost” good enough
- Wanting to evolve AI from a “Q&A tool” into a “project partner”
What Is pi-atelier?
pi-atelier is a set of pi extensions that give AI coding assistants project management capabilities.
A regular AI assistant can write code, but:
- It forgets everything between sessions
- It tends to go off-track on large tasks
- It has no rules, making silly mistakes easily
- It gets dumber as the conversation grows longer
pi-atelier extensions fill these gaps:
🧠 Memory
Let AI retain knowledge across sessions
📋 Planning
Manage three-tier roadmaps: Epic → Story → Task
🛡️ Shepherd
Set rules for AI to prevent mistakes
🔍 Diagnostics
Control context quality + token consumption analysis
📊 Analysis
Search and revisit historical sessions
🗜️ Compression
Keep AI sharp in long sessions
For a detailed comparison, see the table below:
| Capability | Extension | One-Line Description |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | pi-memory | Let AI retain knowledge across sessions |
| Planning | pi-roadmap | Let AI manage Epic → Story → Task |
| Shepherd | pi-shepherd | Set rules for AI to prevent mistakes |
| Context & Diagnostics | pi-context-manager | Control what AI sees + token consumption diagnostics |
| Journal | pi-journal | Generate log reports (git activity + session events + memory changes) |
| Analysis | pi-session-analyzer | Search and revisit historical sessions |
| Compression | pi-smart-compact | Keep AI smart in long sessions |
| Scheduling | pi-scheduler | Timed reminders and recurring tasks |
| Workflow | pi-workflow | Sub-agent orchestration, parallel execution |
| Tool Library | pi-shared-utils | Common utility functions for extension development |
Reading Path
Quick Start Path (1 hour)
- Chapter 1: An AI’s Memory → Install pi-memory in 5 minutes
- Chapter 2: From Memory to Planning → Learn to manage tasks with roadmaps
- Chapter 7: Build Your Own Extension → Understand the extension mechanism
Comprehensive Path (3 hours)
Read all chapters in order. Each chapter includes:
- Pain Point: Real problems you will definitely encounter
- How It Works: How the extension works internally
- Use Cases: Real-world scenarios
- Best Practices: How to use it better
On-Demand Reference
When facing a specific problem, jump directly to the relevant chapter. Each chapter is self-contained.
Quick Install
Add the extensions you need to pi’s settings.json:
{
"packages": [
"pi-memory",
"pi-roadmap",
"pi-shepherd",
"pi-context-manager",
"pi-session-analyzer",
"pi-smart-compact",
"pi-scheduler"
]
}
Or install everything (pi-workflow and pi-shared-utils are development libraries; regular users don’t need to install them directly):
{
"packages": [
"pi-memory",
"pi-roadmap",
"pi-shepherd",
"pi-context-manager",
"pi-session-analyzer",
"pi-smart-compact",
"pi-scheduler",
"pi-workflow",
"pi-shared-utils"
]
}
Most extensions are ready to use out of the box — no additional configuration needed after installation (though you can customize as needed).
💡 Tip: pi-workflow and pi-shared-utils are development libraries used by other extensions; regular users generally don’t need to install them directly.
Important File Paths
Before you start, here are the key pi files you need to know:
| File | Path | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Global Config | ~/.pi/agent/settings.json | Install extensions, configure providers |
| Project Config | .pi/settings.json (project root) | Project-level custom configuration (overrides global) |
| Project Instructions | AGENTS.md (project root or .pi/agent/) | Project rules injected into the AI |
| Extension Install Dir | ~/.pi/agent/npm/node_modules/ | npm package installation location |
| Memory Directory | .pi/memory/ (project-level) | Project-level persistent memory |
| Global Memory | ~/.pi/agent/memory/ | Cross-project general memory |
💡 Newcomer Tip:
~refers to your home directory. On macOS/Linux it’s/home/your-username/, on Windows it’sC:\Users\your-username\.
Conventions
Examples in this book follow these conventions:
Code blocks: Commands, file paths, code snippets- Bold: Important concepts
-
💡 Tip: Practical tips and notes
- Tables: Quick comparisons and reference
Ready to get started? Flip to Chapter 1, and let’s begin with “memory.”