Properties2
20Opening Pi Island
Pi Island lives in your notch area. To interact with it:
- Hover over the notch for 1 second to auto-expand
- Click the notch to expand immediately
- Click outside the expanded panel to close
Sessions List
When expanded, Pi Island shows your sessions list with indicators:
- Green dot: Active session with live RPC connection
- Yellow dot: Recently modified externally (terminal Pi activity)
- Blue dot + animation: Pi is thinking (waiting for response)
- Cyan dot: Pi is executing tools
Session Management
You can manage your sessions directly from the list:
- New Session: Click the + button in the header to create a new session
- Opens a folder picker to select the working directory
- Automatically opens the chat view for the new session
- Search: Use the search bar to filter sessions by project name or path
- Delete: Click the trash icon on historical sessions to delete them
- Historical session files are permanently removed from disk
- Live sessions cannot be deleted (stop them first)
Chat View
Click any session to open the chat view with:
- Full markdown rendering
- Syntax-highlighted code blocks
- Collapsible thinking messages
- Model selector in header
- Token count and cost display (updates after each response)
- Slash commands for quick actions
Slash Commands
Type commands starting with / to control Pi. All commands are sent to and processed by the Pi agent:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/help | Show all available commands |
/model | Cycle or switch models |
/thinking | Control thinking/reasoning level |
/compact | Compact context to reduce token usage |
Extensions can add their own commands (e.g., /synthetic:quotas). Type /help to see all available commands in your session.
File References
Type @ to reference files in your prompts:
- Type
@to see files in the working directory - Navigate directories by selecting folders
- Select a file to insert its path
- Pi reads the file contents when you send the message
This is useful for including code, configs, or screenshots in your conversation. See File References for details.
External Display Support
Pi Island automatically handles external monitors:
- When your laptop lid is closed with an external monitor connected, the notch moves to the external display
- When you reopen the laptop lid, the notch returns to the built-in display
- Display configuration changes are detected automatically
AI Usage Monitor
Click the chart icon (📊) in the sessions header to access the AI usage monitor:
- View usage across all configured AI providers
- See progress bars with linear pace markers
- Monitor time remaining until quota resets
- Get notified when approaching limits
See AI Usage Monitor for detailed documentation.
Tips
Working with Terminal Pi
Pi Island automatically detects terminal Pi activity:
- Start a Pi session in your terminal
- Pi Island shows the session with activity indicators
- When Pi responds, the Pi logo bounces and the notch pulses
- Click to view the conversation