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Get Started Free →dicklesworthstone/interactive-shell
Cheat sheet + workflow for launching interactive coding-agent CLIs (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex CLI, Cursor CLI, and pi itself) via the interactive_shell overlay or headless dispatch.
Passed 18 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 8 of 22 without it.
and 17 more in the full report
12 fixed9 passed either way4 still failing0 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
One of 12 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
Construct the tool call to dismiss all background sessions, terminating any running processes and clearing exited ones.
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| Sets dismissBackground to true. | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
Last verified: 2026-01-18
Pi has two ways to delegate work to other AI coding agents:
| Foreground Subagents | Dispatch Subagents | Background Subagents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tool | interactive_shell | interactive_shell (dispatch) | subagent |
| Visibility | User sees overlay | User sees overlay (or headless) | Hidden from user |
| Agent model | Polls for status | Notified on completion | Full output captured |
| Default agent | pi (others if user requests) | pi (others if user requests) | Pi only |
| User control | Can take over anytime | Can take over anytime | No intervention |
| Best for | Long tasks needing supervision | Fire-and-forget delegations | Parallel tasks, structured delegation |
Foreground subagents run in an overlay where the user watches (and can intervene). Use interactive_shell with mode: "hands-free" to monitor while receiving periodic updates, or mode: "dispatch" to be notified on completion without polling.
Dispatch subagents also use interactive_shell but with mode: "dispatch". The agent fires the session and moves on. When the session completes, the agent is woken up via triggerTurn with the output in context. Add background: true for headless execution (no overlay).
Background subagents run invisibly via the subagent tool. Pi-only, but captures full output and supports parallel execution.
Use interactive_shell (foreground) when:
Use subagent (background) when:
Default to pi for foreground subagents unless the user explicitly requests a different agent:
test cases passed, vs 8 / 22 without
More skills from the same source and nearby in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.