@eko24ive/pi-ask

@eko24ive/pi-ask is an ask tool that cares about your answers.

It lets an agent pause, ask structured questions in a terminal UI, and continue with normalized answers instead of guessing.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a74827fb-6093-412a-895f-69f9514bc4fe

Install

pi install npm:@eko24ive/pi-ask

You can also install from git:

pi install git:github.com/eko24ive/pi-ask

Features

Once installed, this package gives the agent a native way to ask for clarification instead of guessing.

• 🧭 Familiar ask-style interface: tabbed questions, single/multi select, and preview mode
• ✍️ Inline free-form Type your own answers
• 📝 Question-level and option-level notes
• 👀 Review tab with Submit, Elaborate, and Cancel
• 💬 Elaboration flow to capture note-based clarification before final submission
• ⌨️ Fast keyboard-first interaction (also mobile-friendly in remote sessions)

Feature walkthrough

Multi-question flow (tabs)

Move across several related questions in one ask flow.

Single-select question

Pick one option when answers are mutually exclusive.

Multi-select question

Choose multiple options when several answers apply.

Preview mode

Use a dedicated preview pane when options need richer detail.

Custom answer (Type your own)

Capture free-form input inline without leaving the flow.

Option notes

Attach clarification notes to a specific option (n).

Question notes

Add notes at question level for broader context (Shift+N).

Review tab — Submit

Review all answers before returning them to the agent.

Review tab — Elaborate

Ask the agent to elaborate on notes before finalizing choices.

Use

After installation, the package registers one tool: ask_user.

That is enough for the agent to gain this clarification capability. The extension already injects prompt guidance that encourages the agent to call ask_user when requirements are ambiguous or user preference matters, instead of guessing.

This package also includes an optional skill profile at skills/ask-user/SKILL.md (ask-user-decision-gate) for stricter decision-gate behavior in high-stakes or ambiguous boundaries.

You can still add your own agent instruction if you want to further reinforce when and how the tool should be used.

Use type: "preview" only when every option includes preview text for a dedicated preview pane. Descriptions alone are not enough.

Optional extra agent instruction

If you need clarification, prefer `ask_user` over guessing.

Ask 1-3 concise questions.
Use short tab labels.
Prefer 2-4 options per question.
Include descriptions for each option.
Use `type: "single"` unless multiple options can genuinely apply.
Use `type: "multi"` only when the user may need to select several answers.
Always include a non-empty `value` for every option.
Use `type: "preview"` only when every option includes non-empty `preview` text for the preview panel.
After answers are returned, continue the task using those answers explicitly.

Tool input

ask_user accepts:

{
  title?: string,
  questions: [
    {
      id: string,
      label?: string,
      prompt: string,
      type?: "single" | "multi" | "preview",
      required?: boolean,
      options: [
        {
          value: string,
          label: string,
          description?: string,
          preview?: string
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Example tool call payload

{
  "title": "Implementation preferences",
  "questions": [
    {
      "id": "style",
      "label": "Style",
      "prompt": "How should I frame the next prompt?",
      "type": "single",
      "options": [
        {
          "value": "minimal",
          "label": "Minimal",
          "description": "A short, direct question with few options."
        },
        {
          "value": "balanced",
          "label": "Balanced",
          "description": "A standard prompt with a bit more context."
        },
        {
          "value": "rich",
          "label": "Rich",
          "description": "A more descriptive prompt with extra detail."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "frameworks",
      "label": "Frontend",
      "prompt": "Which frontend frameworks have you used?",
      "type": "multi",
      "options": [
        { "value": "react", "label": "React", "description": "Most popular UI library" },
        { "value": "vue", "label": "Vue", "description": "Progressive framework for building UIs" },
        { "value": "svelte", "label": "Svelte", "description": "Compiler-based approach" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Returned result

The returned result now also includes:

{
  error?: {
    kind: "invalid_input"
    issues: Array<{ path: string; message: string }>
  }
  mode: "submit" | "elaborate"
  continuation?: {
    strategy: "refine_only" | "resume"
    affectedQuestionIds: string[]
    preservedAnswers: Record<string, AskResultAnswer>
    questionStates: Record<string, {
      status: "answered" | "needs_clarification" | "unanswered"
    }>
  }
  elaboration?: {
    instruction: string
    nextAction: "clarify" | "clarify_then_reask"
    items: Array<
      | {
          target: { kind: "question" }
          question: {
            id: string
            label: string
            prompt: string
            type: "single" | "multi" | "preview"
            options: Array<{
              value: string
              label: string
              description?: string
              preview?: string
            }>
          }
          answered: boolean
          answer?: AskResultAnswer
          note: string
        }
      | {
          target: { kind: "option"; optionValue: string }
          question: {
            id: string
            label: string
            prompt: string
            type: "single" | "multi" | "preview"
            options: Array<{
              value: string
              label: string
              description?: string
              preview?: string
            }>
          }
          option: {
            value: string
            label: string
            description?: string
            preview?: string
          }
          selected: boolean
          answered: boolean
          answer?: AskResultAnswer
          note: string
        }
    >
  }
}

The returned details.answers[questionId] object may include:

{
  values: string[]
  labels: string[]
  indices: number[]
  customText?: string
  note?: string
  optionNotes?: Record<string, string>
}

Behavior details:

• payloads are validated before the UI opens: question ids must be unique, option values must be unique within a question, and required text fields must not be blank
• preview questions require preview text for every option; descriptions alone are not enough, and invalid preview payloads suggest adding preview text or switching to type: "single"
• required defaults to false and remains advisory only
• question-level notes are submitted whenever authored
• option notes can be authored for any active option during the UI flow
• only notes for currently selected options are included in the submitted result
• deselecting an option keeps its note in UI state, so re-selecting it restores the note
• empty note text clears the note
• on single-select questions, saving a free-form answer replaces selected options for that question
• on multi-select questions, saving a free-form answer keeps other selected options intact
• on multi-select questions, submitted values and labels keep selected options first and append the free-form answer last when both exist
• invalid payloads return details.error.kind === "invalid_input" with structured issues and a transcript-friendly Invalid ask_user payload: message
• unanswered questions are omitted from details.answers
• in elaborate mode, details.answers contains only committed answers; note-only entries move into details.elaboration.items
• details.continuation.strategy === "refine_only" means the next ask should refine the current flow instead of restarting it
• details.continuation.preservedAnswers contains prior answers that should be carried forward without re-asking
• details.continuation.affectedQuestionIds lists the only questions that should be revisited
• details.continuation.questionStates marks each question as answered, needs_clarification, or unanswered
• submit review tab now offers Submit, Elaborate, and Cancel
• while Submit or Cancel is highlighted on the review tab, notes are previewed only for questions with selected answers
• while Elaborate is highlighted on the review tab, the preview expands to show all question notes and all option notes, including notes on unselected options
• choosing Elaborate finishes immediately and returns mode: "elaborate"
• details.elaboration.items includes all question notes and all option notes, even for unselected options
• every elaboration item carries the full normalized question and option list for that question, so the agent can resolve referential notes like above without relying on chat memory alone
• details.elaboration.instruction explicitly tells the agent to answer the clarification directly first, then re-ask only the affected questions if needed
• after clarification, agents should prefer another structured follow-up over plain-text multiple choice if a decision is still unresolved
• once prior answers narrow the branch, agents should bundle the next 2-3 related unresolved decisions into one follow-up ask when possible instead of asking a long chain of one-question follow-ups
• elaborate summary/result text now emits direct note-specific lines such as User asked to elaborate on question "Which option would you like to select?" option "Option A" with note "why this one?"
• free-form answer editors support pi-style @ file path autocomplete for quickly mentioning project files
• keyboard interactions for navigation, editing, review actions, and cancellation are listed in Key bindings below

---

Key bindings

Key	Context	Effect
Tab Shift+Tab	Main flow	Switch tabs
← →	Main flow	Switch tabs
↑ ↓	Main flow	Move cursor
1..9	Options list	Select or toggle matching option
Space	Single- or multi-select option	Toggle selection
Enter	Single-select option	Confirm and continue
Enter	Multi-select option	Continue
n	Active option	Edit option note
Shift+N	Current question	Edit question note
1 2 3	Review tab	Trigger Submit / Elaborate / Cancel
↑ ↓	Review tab	Change highlighted review action
Enter	Review tab	Confirm highlighted review action
Enter	Free-form answer editor	Save and submit current input
Enter	Note editor	Save current note
Esc	Free-form or note editor	Save draft and close editor
Ctrl+C	Anywhere	Dismiss entire ask flow immediately
↑ ↓	Empty editor	Move options without closing editor
Tab Shift+Tab / ← →	Empty editor	Switch tabs without closing editor
Arrow keys / Tab	Non-empty editor	Stay in editor for cursor movement

---

If pi runs without UI, ask_user returns a Needs user input message plus normalized pending questions in details.questions so a caller can re-ask them manually.

Local development

Run locally in pi

pi -e ./src/index.ts

Install dependencies

pnpm install

Development commands

pnpm format
pnpm lint
pnpm check
pnpm typecheck
pnpm test

Commit workflow

This repo uses lefthook, Commitizen, conventional commitlint, and semantic-release.

Recommended flow:

pnpm commit

Project layout

• src/ — TypeScript extension implementation
• tests/ — behavior-focused tests
• docs/ — small docs set for contract and architecture
• docs/media/ — repository-only README media assets

Documentation

Docs stay intentionally small:

• docs/README.md — index
• docs/contract.md — external behavior
• docs/architecture.md — module boundaries and invariants