pi-subagents is a Pi extension that enables asynchronous delegation of work to focused child agents.
The tool addresses the need to leverage multiple perspectives on complex tasks by allowing Pi to spawn specialized child sessions that operate independently or in parallel. When you request a subagent, Pi starts a child session, assigns it a focused task, and retrieves the result. Child agents can run in the foreground as sessions within the parent process with streaming results, or in the background as detached sessions that continue working and can be checked later. The extension ships with built-in agents including scout for codebase reconnaissance, researcher for web and documentation research, evidence-auditor for validating research claims, worker for implementation tasks, reviewer for code review, oracle for second opinions, and delegate for general-purpose work. Installation requires no configuration, agent creation, or slash commands; Pi decides autonomously whether to delegate, which agent to use, and how to structure the work based on plain-language requests.
The tool suits projects where code review, parallel audits, implementation validation, or research verification would benefit from independent agent perspectives. It works well for saved workflows and background jobs that don't require immediate results. The extension integrates directly into Pi's existing workflow without forcing automatic background processes; delegation happens only when explicitly requested or included in project instructions. Foreground children stream results inline in the conversation, while background children allow asynchronous work that can be monitored later. The project includes council-based workflows and documented profile examples for building custom agent configurations.
Development shows active iteration on core functionality with attention to both foreground and background execution modes. The project maintains clear documentation of prerequisites for research-oriented agents, including web-access requirements. Standalone background execution receives dedicated documentation covering supported boundaries and validation gates. The extension demonstrates thoughtful API design by eliminating configuration friction and allowing Pi to make delegation decisions autonomously rather than requiring explicit user commands.
