nathanbeddoe.com / ghostty-pi-tab
[READ-ONLY] Mirror of https://github.com/NathanBeddoeWebDev/ghostty-pi-tab. Launch independent Pi sessions in new tabs in the invoking Ghostty window
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README.md

Ghostty Pi Tab #

An Agent Skill that dispatches an independent Pi coding-agent session into a new tab in the same Ghostty window as the invoking Pi session.

The dispatched Pi receives the requested working directory and task, chooses a concise task-specific tab title, and leaves its shell open when Pi exits.

Requirements #

  • macOS
  • Ghostty 1.3 or newer with AppleScript enabled (macos-applescript = true, the default)
  • Pi available as pi on PATH
  • Bash
  • Invocation from a Pi session running inside Ghostty

The first launch may trigger a macOS Automation permission prompt. The calling application must be allowed to control Ghostty under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation.

Installation #

Clone the repository into a directory Pi scans for skills:

git clone <repository-url> ~/.agents/skills/ghostty-pi-tab

Alternatively, place this directory under another supported skill location and ensure SKILL.md remains at its root.

Usage #

Ask Pi to open a new Ghostty tab and give the new Pi a task, for example:

Open a new Pi tab and have it investigate issue #42 in this repository.

The skill requires explicit launch intent and will use the current working directory unless another directory is requested.

Security and privacy #

Review this repository before installing it. Agent skills can instruct Pi to execute scripts, and the dispatched Pi has the same operating-system permissions as the current user.

This skill:

  • Controls Ghostty through macOS AppleScript automation.
  • Starts an independent Pi session with the current user's permissions and configured tools.
  • Does not perform network requests itself. Pi and the selected model provider may perform their normal network operations.
  • Stores the dispatch prompt in a mode-600 temporary file rather than putting prompt text in shell history or process arguments.
  • Deletes that temporary prompt file when the dispatched Pi exits. An abrupt machine or process termination can leave the private file in the system temporary directory.
  • Does not hide the prompt from Pi: it remains in Pi's session storage and is sent to the configured model provider.
  • Briefly changes and restores the invoking terminal title to identify its exact Ghostty window. This is a compatibility workaround because Ghostty 1.3 does not expose terminal TTYs through AppleScript.

Do not include secrets in dispatched prompts unless they are appropriate for Pi's session storage and model provider.

Implementation notes #

  • scripts/spawn-pi-tab.sh finds the invoking Pi process's controlling TTY, identifies its Ghostty window, and creates the tab in that window only.
  • scripts/run-pi-prompt.sh validates the private prompt file, starts Pi using an @file argument, and removes the file on exit.
  • scripts/rename-current-tab.sh identifies the calling tab independently of GUI focus and applies a persistent Ghostty tab-title override.

Tab titles must be non-empty, at most 80 characters, and contain no control characters.

License #

MIT. See LICENSE.