Pi Intercom
Extension
Local Unix-socket messaging between running Pi sessions for multi-session coordination, blocking ask/reply calls, and wakeups.
By Nico Bailon · npm:pi-intercom · View source
What it does
When multiple Pi sessions are open on the same machine—across terminal tabs or background PTYs—Pi Intercom connects them over a zero-config Unix domain socket broker. Each session gets a human-readable name (or custom /intercom-id) and registers presence automatically.
Sessions can discover active peers, send targeted messages or broadcasts, block on a synchronous ask until the target session replies, and pass file attachments. Incoming messages wake idle sessions or steer active ones at the next safe turn boundary.
When to reach for it
Invocation: The agent calls intercom with send, ask, reply, or list, or you type @session-name message in chat.
- Coordinating parallel Pi sessions
- Let a coordinator session assign tasks to worker sessions and receive structured completion replies.
- Cross-repo questions
- Ask a Pi session running in another repository how an API or schema works without switching terminals.
What it adds
- intercom tool with send, broadcast, ask, reply, list, and whoami actions.
- @target shorthand in user prompts and /intercom-id to name coordinator or worker sessions.
Commands: /intercom, /intercom-id
How it fits
- Pi Interactive Shell — Spawns the background worker or watchdog sessions that communicate back over Pi Intercom.
- Orchestration Watchdog — Delivers periodic WATCHDOG TICK wakeups to the master session over Pi Intercom.
- Orchestration Watchdog Stop — Verifies that a stopped watchdog session has cleanly unregistered from the Intercom roster.
Good to know
- The first session to start automatically spawns the background socket broker; if it exits, the next message transparently restarts it.
Source and setup
- Loaded via
npm:pi-intercom- Attribution
- By Nico Bailon