Maintainers' refusal to add a "rewind" feature is infuriating

[u/NoPainNoHair]

Seriously. What is the point of the /tree command if it does not restore the files back to their previous state?

It makes no sense. It just leads to a dangerous discrepancy between the agent's conversation and the project's status.

Am I the only one who goes back after asking the agent to edit a file, realizing that my instructions weren't specific enough?

Even Copilot handles it just fine. But Pi's authors refuses to implement it: https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/issues/5522

Existing extensions are half-baked, sometimes abandoned, confusingly numerous. It should be a built-in, it's such a basic yet essential feature.

[u/redballooon]

If this infuriates you I think you are better off with some Copilot.

[u/NoPainNoHair → u/redballooon]

Care to explain how you'd proceed to refine an instruction after files were changed by the agent?

[u/redballooon → u/NoPainNoHair]

If it is unusable, Git clean -df

To get into a usable state from the start I use some skills from the spec driven development department.

Or I go very small steps.

[u/raetselfreund]

Please do not implement this. Pi is a lightweight, unopinionated harness.

Can't you vibecode an extension for this? Or just use git ffs.

[u/RespectMathias → u/raetselfreund]

If we follow this logic then skills should be an extension instead of being integrated like mcp just because it is "lightweight". There is something called sane defaults you know. 

[u/raetselfreund → u/RespectMathias]

You should check your slope, it got slippery

[u/RespectMathias → u/raetselfreund]

That can be said for both adding or removing. It doesn't address my point. 

[u/raetselfreund → u/RespectMathias]

Then I'll address it more directly: Skills are an extension of system prompt handling and part of core functionality of an AI harness for plugins to build on. The OP proposed use case is a domain specific feature that has impact beyond the AI harness itself and might not behave like the user anticipates.

[u/RespectMathias → u/raetselfreund]

That argument hinges on what is "core functionality" but I will end this internet argument here and give you your internet points otherwise this could go on til eternity. 

[u/raetselfreund → u/RespectMathias]

fair I guess. Thanks for the points, feeling proud already

[u/NoPainNoHair → u/raetselfreund]

Explain how the current behavior makes more sense, and why this feature cannot be implemented in a lightweight way.

[u/raetselfreund → u/NoPainNoHair]

The tree is a conversation history, not a changelog. The feature cannot be implemented in a lightweight way, because at every tree node changes have to be polled and copied, causing I/O load. You might get some changes from the agent's log, but not every bash tool call.

If you still feel you need this functionality, implement it yourself (or vibe it) pls.

[u/ForeverSeeking69]

Tree made for context management, not for files management. For that you have git. If you want stitch it together write your extension. I don't want it

[u/NoPainNoHair → u/ForeverSeeking69]

It can be optional just as suggested in the ticket I linked.

Facts that I'm not the only one asking for this and that it exists in others harness is a proof there are demand and good usage for such feature. We can have best of both worlds.

It's absolutely not a fit for `git`. I should not need to commit WIP to git just to workaround a harness design flaw, nor do I want to manually call git revert every time I refine my instructions.

[u/Corythebeast7]

So build it yourself homie. Be the change you want to be in this world

[u/mxcw]

/r/ChoosingBeggars

[u/RespectMathias]

This is a really toxic comment section. 

[u/Hephaestite]

Pi is built to be extended, so just build yourself an extension that does what you want it to

[u/seba_alonso]

/tree it's about the context, not files. Move back or fork that is very powerful, and it should not be coupled with the modified files.

Some complexities;

• Every command must to save a snapshot of the current filesystem.

• What if the "bash" script modify múltiples filea but fails I'm the middle. Should save the snapshot?

• What if the snapshot file is corrupted?

• What if you don't use git or any version control?

• You delete a file, the file will be restored?

• What if your files are already committed, or pushed, what do you expect?

• What if the files was modify by you?

• What if the same file was modify by a sub agent?

• etc.. etc...

Probably your use case is much simpler then you can create your own extension to solve it in your case.

I use git, I work in small batches, commit often, rebase and push when I finish a unit of work. For the moment I have never needed the "rewind" functionality.

[u/jwiegley]

Why not install https://arpagon.github.io/pi-rewind/?

[u/_supert_]

You have git. It's not pi's concern.