pi-goals/docs/human_journal.md

Human supervision journal

Quoted User message records are exact submitted prompts. /annotate records contain quoted prior conversation and unquoted feedback.

2026-09-09T04:52:58.876Z · User message

.85.1 tand reloaded/

2026-09-09T05:09:45.012Z · User message

done

2026-09-09T05:19:50.723Z · User message

sandbox ok. do directly of course who saisd to use subagents

2026-09-09T06:29:50.857Z · User message

h pls

2026-09-09T06:29:56.097Z · User message

git push

2026-09-09T08:09:04.112Z · User message

wait we are on main? I thought we were on a branch

2026-09-09T08:09:48.251Z · User message

oh I thought we would check and work on that on this machine, please do that. also push your branch

2026-09-09T08:10:07.196Z · User message

Everything up-to-date ➜ pi-goals git:(main*)which gh aws:bedrock region:ap-southeast-2 /snap/bin/gh

work on zsh

2026-09-09T08:11:27.688Z · User message

right but I thought pi would just load that branch not worktree

2026-09-09T08:11:46.878Z · User message

I see, ok well it's pushed right

2026-09-09T08:12:06.877Z · User message

I know but I want us to eat our own dogfood, using our branch

2026-09-09T08:12:17.897Z · User message

I know what a worktree is, I'm saying I don't want that

2026-09-09T08:39:12.360Z · User message

""ain open. -->

Warning: Recovery failed; no new work authorized: Error: No recoverable pair. Reconnect never creates a supervisor; inspect the recorded pane or select Ready for a new pairing.

Warning: Recovery failed; no new work authorized: Error: No recoverable pair. Reconnect never creates a supervisor; inspect the recorded pane or select Ready for a new pairing.

No user-stopped plan to resume. Use /goals status; a draft needs Ready.

Warning: Approve a plan with Ready before enabling auto-continue.

pi-goals: starting the supervisor session ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │ │ │ │ gpt-6-astra Github Copilot minimal ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── apc_plus in apc_plus on  main [✘!?↑] starting supervisor |"" doesn't work

2026-09-09T08:39:21.031Z · User message

it says starting supervisor, but that failed

2026-09-09T08:48:05.596Z · User message

│ submit plan again no q

Error: Could not initialize the supervisor: Error: Error: Herdr: {"error":{"code":"agent_not_found","message":"agent target w1:p11 not found"},"id":"cli:agent:focus"} . Session location/liveness is unknown. Locate the existing supervisor first; only after confirming it is no longer running, reopen pi --session "/home/ubuntu/.pi/agent/sessions/--home-ubuntu-projects-apc_plus--/2026-09-09T08-33-18-863Z_01a0854c-d00f-7b67-90f4-2c31e008e8f5.jsonl".. Use /goals supervisor to inspect startup, or /goals steward off and retry Ready.

pi-goals: Error: Error: Herdr: {"error":{"code":"agent_not_found","message":"agent target w1:p11 not found"},"id":"cli:agent:focus"} . Session location/liveness is unknown. Locate the existing supervisor first; only after confirming it is no longer running, reopen pi --session "/home/ubuntu/.pi/agent/sessions/--home-ubuntu-projects-apc_plus--/2026-09-09T08-33-18-863Z_01a0854c-d00f-7b67-90f4-2c31e008e8f5.json

2026-09-09T08:48:08.047Z · User message

gaaah

2026-09-09T08:48:28.388Z · User message

it get stuck in supervisor startup failed or planning and there's no gracefull way

2026-09-09T08:49:08.767Z · User message

maybe we should just use the other agents one

shoudl be able to start new supervisor at any time? or resume one? should be able to recover from planning mode should be able to fall back on just worker with registered plan and task wigewt at least

2026-09-09T08:49:38.344Z · User message

do pi-messenger or pi-intercome have a better way to fork and start

2026-09-09T11:46:36.666Z · User message

ah it's still failed graaah, ok just push your and change our branch to the other agents pls

it's because the steward compaction fails every time

2026-09-09T11:59:06.882Z · User message

Session compacted 11 times

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Package Updates Available Package updates are available. Run pi update --extensions Packages:

• pi-sandbox
• pi-zentui
• github.com/wassname/pi-annotated-journal ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Warning: pi-better-compaction: Request cancelled to protect encrypted compaction history. Restore the checkpoint's provider/model and original OAuth endpoint, and re-enable pi-better-compaction if disabled. If replay still fails, use /tree to recover a branch before the native compaction; do not continue from the placeholder summary with another model.

Error: Compaction cancelled

Error: Supervisor startup compaction failed: Compaction cancelled

2026-09-09T11:59:13.493Z · User message

ename. No new question or changed scope. No execution before Ready.

Error: Supervisor startup compaction failed: Compaction cancelled. Use /goals reconnect in the supervisor pane.

Warning: Goal supervisor could not start: Supervisor startup compaction failed: Compaction cancelled. Use /goals reconnect in the supervisor pane. Use /goals reconnect to retry, or /goals restart to replace the tracked pane.

Error: Supervisor startup compaction failed: Compaction cancelled. Use /goals reconnect in the supervisor pane.

pi-goals: drafting goals ────────────────────────────────────

2026-09-09T12:00:21.499Z · User message

at least I could do to solor but yeah compaction... via copilot? failing, can you investigate the sessions and find it in the jsonl, diagnose, fix.

ideally you should test this by resuming a pi session as a fork and testing this iwthout modifying

2026-09-09T12:00:39.356Z · User message

120 second! well why not make it 600!

2026-09-09T12:00:51.203Z · User message

maybe github copilot is slow? or fallback?

2026-09-09T12:01:13.650Z · User message

so it's just github copilot being slow or our ext not working yeah investigate

2026-09-09T12:13:32.988Z · User message

wait that thread is th one you were meant to leave along, I left it on solo so it would actually make progress. dont change anything more in that thread please

2026-09-09T12:13:47.143Z · User message

if it works fine. otherwise solo. I'll do ti

2026-09-09T12:14:07.101Z · User message

you must have done something as my herdr window showed it went to planning

2026-09-09T12:14:44.238Z · User message

yes it worked!

2026-09-09T13:14:14.033Z · User message

should we change our PR to better compaction to have a longer timeout, noting it's needed, ls do

2026-09-09T13:15:23.087Z · User message

ah it ended up crashing again later grr

2026-09-09T13:15:23.824Z · User message

read .pi/plan/01a06556-ef91-71a2-ae7c-9652f93d45db-v12.md:1-250

Warning: pi-better-compaction: Request cancelled to protect encrypted compaction history. Restore the checkpoint's provider/model and original OAuth endpoint, and re-enable pi-better-compaction if disabled. If replay still fails, use /tree to recover a branch before the native compaction; do not continue from the placeholder summary with another model. Extension "/home/ubuntu/.pi/agent/git/github.com/wassname/pi-better-compaction/index.ts" error: pi-better-compaction: Request cancelled to protect encrypted compaction history. Restore the checkpoint's provider/model and original OAuth endpoint, and re-enable pi-better-compaction if disabled. If replay still fails, use /tree to recover a branch before the native compaction; do not continue from the placeholder summary with another model. at abortNativeReplay (/home/ubuntu/.pi/agent/git/github.com/wassname/pi-better-compaction/src/extension-runtime.ts:723:9) at handleBeforeProviderRequest (/home/ubuntu/.pi/agent/git/github.com/wassname/pi-better-compaction/src/extension-runtime.ts:759:54) at async ExtensionRunner.emitBeforeProviderRequest (file:///home/ubuntu/.nvm/versions/node/v25.8.1/lib/node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent/dist/bundle/chunks/chunk-OMWWH BTG.js:1078:33833) at async file:///home/ubuntu/.nvm/versions/node/v25.8.1/lib/node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent/dist/bundle/chunks/openai-respo nses-BSOJMSEV.js:2:3444

Operation aborted

planning model: github-copilot/gpt-6-astra

2026-09-09T13:16:31.913Z · User message

can you test it properly by copying. copying. copying! the json session. copying, not modifying, not loading, not interfereing in anyway

2026-09-09T13:16:53.445Z · User message

so wha when I come back tommorow you have it working.

2026-09-09T13:18:00.882Z · User message

right but I'd already asked you to fix it... pi better compaction doesn't like anything added to context, we either need to change pi-better-compaction (make branch in our fork and PR, then merge into our bain), or change both of our pi goals to not add to compacted context but just a follow up message. tbh follow up message is cleaner

2026-09-09T13:21:03.728Z · User message

I’ll change both pi-goals versions to use saved follow-up messages and stop altering the context message list. I’ll keep the replay guard intact. The work and tests will stay in copied packages using the copied JSONL; I won’t change either running thread or install anything until the fix is proven.

sounds good

2026-09-10T01:28:52.063Z · User message

I wonder if e should just make this use edxeth-subagents for a simpler workflow. main stream if supervisor

2026-09-10T01:30:00.126Z · User message

look up that package it lets me view the worker as proper pi agent

2026-09-10T01:30:06.181Z · User message

supports herdr

2026-09-10T01:31:55.757Z · User message

ok make work tree and propotype it pls

2026-09-10T01:39:24.411Z · User message

or there is the extension api for nicbailon/pi-subagents if easier but yeah I want to view

2026-09-10T01:41:21.169Z · User message

ah it looks like the et api doesn't supporyt me viewing the worker subagent in a full pi interface?

2026-09-10T03:21:48.802Z · User message

when done, commit and push your new worktree

2026-09-10T03:23:17.021Z · User message

also investigate other ways to get a smarter agent to supervise a worker according to a plan, overnight. saving tokens because the worker is dumber. enabling the supervisors judgement. keeping it simple and letting the user revie. how does codex, hermes, pi, opencode do it? deep research? other pi extensions? herdr extensions?

2026-09-11T03:13:18.319Z · User message

I'm trying this out and.. the worker goals widget is a bit distracting. should we remove it. only give the worker one. or let the worker have it's own task list?

right now small screen two herdr screen on rhs, can only see user input and widget not output

2026-09-11T03:13:54.769Z · User message

oh or should they be herdr panes idk

2026-09-11T03:14:34.489Z · User message

no no I was just thining worker looks like this

"" process: proc_f584 / pid 507824

⠋ Working

▸ Agent report-pca-worker (goals-worker) ▸ Restore interactive PCA without report regressions ▸ Resolve current response-shape acceptance ▸ Close repository cleanup and verification ○ Close units and preprocessing evidence ○ Deliver useful matched results and a review handoff ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │ │ │ │ gpt-6-astra Github Copilot medium ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── apc_plus in [goals-worker] Restore shar… on  main [!↑] [████████░░] 83.7%/400k | ↑651 ↓95k 󰆼 99.2%"""

2026-09-11T03:16:10.178Z · User message

ok rm widget if worker

also my supervisor keeps getting these user prompts written in the user input field, why?

""decisions yourself; ask the user only when their judgment or authorization is needed. Plan changed: /home/ubuntu/projects/apc_plus/.pi/plan/01a06556-ef91-71a2-ae7c-9652 f93d45db-main.md. Read the current working set and inspect changed requirements, completion claims and evidence. Manual checkbox edits are claims, not proof. Do not weaken the agreed goal or start a duplicate writer.

follow /home/ubuntu/projects/apc_plus/.pi/plan/01a06556-ef91-71a2-ae7c-9652 f93d45db-v15.md""

2026-09-11T03:17:59.037Z · User message

huh I must ofp pressed esc

2026-09-11T03:36:24.553Z · User message

hmm no it filled in th message 2 more times, no escape. weird

2026-09-11T03:39:19.844Z · User message

yeah I can move and edit it

2026-09-11T03:39:36.903Z · User message

is it just how pi scheduled prompts works?

2026-09-11T04:38:29.847Z · User message

subagent names, some open in new windows instead of splitting panes. new pane I mena. so they might need project name (or last of PWD) in pane/window title

2026-09-11T05:13:06.366Z · User message

are the workers being compacted early? I see them compact at 30% but iirc it was the supervisor that we wanted to do this for if at all

2026-09-11T05:13:23.856Z · User message

Use · for the visible pane/wind pls do it

2026-09-11T05:34:21.836Z · User message

commit yours

2026-09-14T05:45:36.597Z · User message

/skill:recommending-pi-extensions

I wonder if there are ways to simplify.. like only use pi-subagent and not intercom. would that fit better? letter you close out subagents naturally? https://github.com/edxeth/pi-subagents

are there other subagent ones that open herdr panes?

why does our pi-goals have so many peer deps? why does it include pi-tui?

why does it have this in package.sjon?

like read the user prefs in agents.md whats the essents of this package?

2026-09-14T05:46:20.127Z · User message

You are a research subagent.

Given a question or topic, run focused web research and produce a concise, well-sourced brief that answers the question directly. For local-source tasks, use the supplied files instead of unnecessary web searches.

Working rules:

• Break the problem into 2-4 distinct research angles.
• Use copilot_search with a required query string. For several angles, also supply queries (at most 5); when present, that array is searched instead of query.
• Use domainFilter to prefer primary sources and recencyFilter when freshness matters.
• Read the returned answers and Sources first. Follow up with targeted queries for promising sources; verbatim: true requests quoted evidence, not a full-page fetch.
• Only copilot_search is configured for web access. Do not call web_search, fetch_content, or get_search_content, or pass their workflow option.
• Prefer primary sources, official docs, specs, benchmarks, and direct evidence over commentary.
• Drop stale, redundant, or SEO-heavy sources.
• If the first search pass leaves important gaps, search again with tighter follow-up queries.
• Distinguish search-supplied evidence from directly read source content. If full source content is necessary but unavailable, report the gap or ask the supervisor for an accessible copy. Do not weaken sandbox rules.

Evidence contract:

• Support every material factual finding with a source link (or local file path) and a short verbatim quote from content actually observed. Put only source text in blockquotes; never reconstruct quotes from summaries. If support is unavailable, report the gap rather than assert the finding.
• Label search-supplied quotes as such; they are not independently checked page text.
• Separate source observations, source claims, and your own inferences. A maintainer's claimed fix is not an independently verified result.
• Trace repeated reports to their original source; do not count shared evidence as independent corroboration.
• Give brief source context where it affects interpretation: author, date, source type, and how the author could know.
• State what remains unchecked and what evidence would change the answer. Use qualitative uncertainty by default; do not invent numerical confidence.
• For explicit claim-verification tasks, read /home/ubuntu/.agents/skills/varglite/SKILL.md and use its full format instead of the default brief below. Include surrounding source sentences only when observed; report missing context rather than invent it.

Search strategy:

• direct answer query
• authoritative source query
• practical experience or benchmark query
• recent developments query when the topic is time-sensitive

Output format:

Research: [topic]

Summary

2-3 sentence direct answer.

Findings

Numbered findings with source citations and short supporting verbatim blockquotes. Clearly label any inference drawn from the evidence.

Sources

• Kept: Source Title (url) — why it matters
• Dropped: Source Title — why it was excluded

Gaps

What could not be answered confidently, what remains unchecked, and what evidence would change the conclusion. Suggested next steps.

Supervisor coordination

If runtime bridge instructions identify a safe supervisor target and you are blocked or need a decision, use contact_supervisor with reason: "need_decision" and wait for the reply. Use reason: "progress_update" only for meaningful progress or unexpected discoveries that change the plan. Do not send routine completion handoffs; return the completed research brief normally.

Manual lifecycle: the operator must close this foreground pane when done. Stay in this pane and wait for the operator to interact with you. Do not exit on your own. The operator can interact with you at any time.

Objective

Read-only comparison for the user of subagent runtimes for pi-goals. User asks whether https://github.com/edxeth/pi-subagents could replace pi-subagents + pi-intercom, let workers finish naturally, and whether other subagent packages open Herdr panes.

Scope (external research only)

Read /home/ubuntu/.agents/skills/recommending-pi-extensions/SKILL.md fully and follow its gallery/GitHub/npm search, source checks and metrics procedure. Search at least three credible candidates, including edxeth/pi-subagents and the currently used fork if applicable; deduplicate related packages. Read Pi package/extension docs as needed. Installed Pi is 0.85.1, date 2026-09-14. Global pi list has pi-goals, pi-processes, pi-zentui, pi-tool-display, pi-context-prune, pi-fff; @tintinweb/pi-subagents is commented out. You may read local pi-goals/package.json to identify current dependency version/source but do NOT audit or change pi-goals implementation; parent owns that.

Key questions

• Source-verified Herdr pane support vs tmux/generic terminal vs hidden subprocess.
• Background completion/results vs interactive worker closure; steering a live child vs resuming after exit; can this replace Intercom? Distinguish defaults from per-call/configured capabilities.
• Known lifecycle/reload problems, source quality, compatibility with 0.85.1, security-sensitive behavior, declared peer deps.
• For current fork compare upstream edxeth; identify active divergence.

Constraints and output

Do not install, load, execute package code or change any existing files. Scratch/evidence only under /home/ubuntu/.pi/agent/git/github.com/wassname/pi-goals/.local/experiments/subagent-simplification/. Avoid user panes. Save concise source-linked notes and metrics there; return evidence paths and a short ranked comparison with humans*, stars, created/latest code dates, open/closed issues, scope, peer range and explicit feature limitations. Be clear if no other Herdr-specific option found. Do not call CompleteGoal. Finish your helper session through your normal completion lifecycle when done.

After writing your response, stay in this pane for operator interaction. Do not exit. The operator will close the pane when finished.

2026-09-14T05:51:43.375Z · User message

does agents.md say we want supervisor to

• we on ralph loop of goals
• keep perspective, be token efficient, be a more expensive model, keep context
• check in on subagents
  • every N minutes
• reviw subagent and steer towars goal
  • if the subagents stop (or says it's blocked or done) for any reason
  • if the subagent tris to change hte plan, including ticking things off
• while letting the human see the worker and supervisor as native pi panels = we make workers stay open for human to check their outputs and final review (usually put as final message or penultimate) is there a simpler way? are there extensions we can reuse?

if the agents.md does not reflect the above can you add / merge (minimal ,keep human voice)

2026-09-14T06:02:46.251Z · User message

""" oh it's a ugly pane with no colo aand not a proper interface damn

Yes—that’s the stock inspector dashboard, not a native Pi chat. I tested the wrong surface for what you wanted.

The linked API also has project.open, which opens a proper interactive Pi session in Herdr. It’s a separate session, though—not an attached view of that subagent.

Want me to close the dashboard and open that instead?

oh ok do the right surface, yes htat's what I want

subagent inspector.close Closed Herdr inspector pane w2:p5 for async run 22453814-0599-4730-92c6-2a47ad95c3d8. The subagent run was not stopped.

subagent project.open Opened Herdr project pane w2:p6 for /home/ubuntu/.pi/agent/git/github.com/wassname/pi-goals. The pane runs its own Pi session; subagents launched there belong to that proje…

Opened a proper interactive Pi session in Herdr pane w2:p6 and closed the dashboard.

It’s been asked to greet you without changing files or goals. I’ll leave it open for you to inspect and chat with.

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── it worked! ok""" tested our the nico it works