Dashboard Plugin Scaffold Agent Skill

Dashboard Plugin Scaffold

Two modes, one skill. Mode new scaffolds packages/<id>-plugin/ inside the dashboard monorepo. Mode augment retrofits an existing pi-extension at the current working directory with a pi-dashboard-plugin manifest field and a src/dashboard/ React subtree.

Step 1 — Up-front ask_user batch

Use the ask_user tool, method batch, with these questions in order:

| # | Method | Title | Notes |

|---|---|---|---|

| 1 | select | "Mode" | options: ["new — scaffold a fresh packages/<id>-plugin/ in this dashboard monorepo", "augment — retrofit an existing pi-extension at cwd with dashboard plugin contributions"] |

| 2 | input | "Plugin id (kebab-case)" | (mode new only) — validated ^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$, must not collide with existing packages/<id>-plugin/ |

| 3 | input | "Display name" | (mode new only) — free text, e.g. "Acme Plugin" |

| 4 | input | "Priority (default 100; lower = earlier)" | (mode new only) — integer string |

| 5 | multiselect | "Slot claims" | (mode new only) — options: see references/slot-taxonomy.md for the 10 React slots |

| 6 | confirm | "Scaffold a server entry (REST routes + WS handlers)?" | (mode new only) — default true |

| 7 | confirm | "Scaffold a bridge entry (pi extension that loads in every pi session)?" | (mode new only) — default false, high blast radius |

| 8 | confirm | "Scaffold a configSchema.json?" | (mode new only) — default true |

Skip questions 2-8 entirely if mode is augment. The augment-mode questions come after the analysis, in step 4b.

Step 2 — Branch on mode

If the user picked new, jump to Step 3a — New mode.

If the user picked augment, jump to Step 3b — Augment mode preflight.

Step 3a — New mode

3a.1 Validate inputs

# Confirm the dashboard monorepo root by walking up for openspec/ + packages/
ROOT=$(pwd)
while [ "$ROOT" != "/" ] && [ ! -d "$ROOT/openspec" ]; do ROOT=$(dirname "$ROOT"); done
[ -d "$ROOT/openspec" ] || { echo "Not inside the dashboard monorepo (no openspec/ dir found)" >&2; exit 1; }
[ -d "$ROOT/packages" ] || { echo "Monorepo missing packages/ dir" >&2; exit 1; }

# Validate id
echo "<id>" | grep -qE '^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$' || { echo "id must be kebab-case" >&2; exit 1; }

# Refuse collision
[ ! -d "$ROOT/packages/<id>-plugin" ] || { echo "packages/<id>-plugin already exists" >&2; exit 1; }

Substitute <id> with the user-provided id throughout.

3a.2 Run the renderer

The renderer lives in this skill's parent package as a bin script:

# Locate the bin script (works whether the skill is installed globally or per-workspace)
SKILL_PKG=$(node -e "console.log(require.resolve('@blackbelt-technology/pi-dashboard-plugin-skill/package.json'))" | xargs dirname)
RENDERER="$SKILL_PKG/src/bin/scaffold.ts"

# Pass answers as JSON via stdin
cat <<JSON | node --import "$(node -e "import('@blackbelt-technology/pi-dashboard-shared/jiti-register.ts')")" "$RENDERER"
{
  "mode": "new",
  "id": "<id>",
  "displayName": "<displayName>",
  "priority": <priority>,
  "slots": [<slotsJsonArray>],
  "server": <true|false>,
  "bridge": <true|false>,
  "configSchema": <true|false>,
  "outDir": "$ROOT/packages/<id>-plugin"
}
JSON

The renderer writes:

packages/<id>-plugin/
├─ package.json                    (with pi-dashboard-plugin manifest)
├─ tsconfig.json
├─ vitest.config.ts
├─ README.md
├─ configSchema.json               (only if user opted in)
├─ src/
│  ├─ client.tsx                   (one section per claimed slot)
│  ├─ server/index.ts              (only if user opted in)
│  └─ bridge/index.ts              (only if user opted in)
└─ test/
   └─ index.test.ts

3a.3 Register the workspace

"$SKILL_PKG/src/scripts/register-workspace.sh" "<id>-plugin"

This is idempotent — re-running on an already-registered workspace is a no-op.

3a.4 Print next-steps

Next steps:
  1. cd $ROOT && npm install
  2. npm run build                 # build the client + plugin
  3. curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/restart   # restart dashboard server
  4. npm run reload                # reload all connected pi sessions
  5. Open the dashboard, navigate to your slot, see the scaffold render.

Done with mode new.

Step 3b — Augment mode preflight

3b.1 Verify cwd is a pi extension

[ -f package.json ] || { echo "No package.json at cwd" >&2; exit 1; }
PEER=$(jq -r '.peerDependencies["pi-coding-agent"] // .dependencies["pi-coding-agent"] // empty' package.json)
[ -n "$PEER" ] || { echo "package.json does not declare pi-coding-agent — not a pi extension" >&2; exit 1; }

3b.2 Run the grep prelude

SKILL_PKG=$(node -e "console.log(require.resolve('@blackbelt-technology/pi-dashboard-plugin-skill/package.json'))" | xargs dirname)
"$SKILL_PKG/src/scripts/grep-tui-surface.sh" > /tmp/tui-callsites.json
cat /tmp/tui-callsites.json

The output is a deterministic JSON list { "callsites": [...] }. Each entry has { file, line, callsite, category } where category is tui-prompt, tui-custom, tool-register, extension-ui, or banned (session-replacement calls).

3b.3 Drive the analysis (LLM step)

For each callsite (skip those with category: "banned" after surfacing the bridge invariant warning):

• Read ±20 lines around the callsite.
• Match against references/tui-to-dashboard-mapping.md (the canonical mapping table).
• Emit a port proposal:

   {
     file: string,
     line: number,
     callsite: string,
     mappedSlot: SlotId | null,             // null = already-dashboard-aware
     status: "needs-port" | "optional-port" | "already-dashboard-aware",
     componentSuggestion: string | null,
     notes: string,
   }

Collate into a markdown table. Show it to the user.

3b.4 Per-callsite confirmation (ask_user)

Filter to proposals with status of needs-port or optional-port. Use:

ask_user method=multiselect
  title="Which TUI callsites should port to the dashboard?"
  options=[<proposal[i].file:proposal[i].line — proposal[i].callsite → proposal[i].mappedSlot>, …]

Then confirm:

ask_user method=confirm
  title="Proceed with manifest injection and src/dashboard/ scaffold?"

3b.5 Run the renderer

cat <<JSON | node ... "$SKILL_PKG/src/bin/scaffold.ts"
{
  "mode": "augment",
  "outDir": ".",
  "confirmedProposals": [<proposal[i] for each user-checked option>],
  "addServer": <true if any proposal needs server hooks>
}
JSON

The renderer:

• Adds @blackbelt-technology/dashboard-plugin-runtime and @blackbelt-technology/pi-dashboard-shared as dependencies (preserves existing deps; sorted alphabetically).
• Injects the pi-dashboard-plugin manifest field into package.json (top-level, JSON-safe edit via jq).
• Adds ./client, ./server (if applicable), ./bridge (if applicable) entries to exports.
• Sets pi-dashboard-plugin.requiredApi to ^0.x (the v0.x lock).
• Creates src/dashboard/client.tsx with stubs for each confirmed claim.
• Creates src/dashboard/server.ts only if any proposal needed server hooks.

It does NOT modify any other source file.

3b.6 Print next-steps

Next steps:
  1. npm install
  2. npm run build                 # build your project
  3. Test in pi: pi  (the original TUI surface still works)
  4. Test in dashboard: until node_modules scan ships, link into the dashboard
     monorepo: cd <dashboard-repo> && npm link <your-package-path>
     OR clone your project into <dashboard-repo>/packages/ as a workspace.
  5. When ready: npm publish
     (a future dashboard release will discover your package via node_modules)

Done with mode augment.

Guardrails

• Never run npm publish, npm run build, or restart the dashboard server. The skill prints next-steps; the user runs them.
• Never edit existing source files in augment mode — only package.json (manifest injection) and new files under src/dashboard/.
• Refuse to run augment mode if pi-coding-agent is not declared as a dep or peerDep.
• Refuse to run new mode outside the dashboard monorepo (no openspec/ in any ancestor).
• Refuse to overwrite an existing packages/<id>-plugin/ in new mode.
• Bridge entry defaults to OFF. Only emit if the user explicitly opts in.
• Per-callsite confirmation is mandatory in augment mode — never inject a manifest claim derived from an un-confirmed callsite.

References

• references/slot-taxonomy.md — every supported slot id with prop contract
• references/manifest-schema.md — PluginManifest / PluginClaim canonical schema
• references/plugin-context-api.md — client SDK (usePluginConfig, useSessionState, …)
• references/server-context-api.md — ServerPluginContext
• references/tui-to-dashboard-mapping.md — canonical TUI → dashboard mapping
• references/build-integration.md — Vite plugin behavior, dev vs prod, tree-shaking