# Show HN: Sidequest is a better /btw for Pi

> Source: <https://github.com/peterp/pi-sidequest>
> Published: 2026-06-29 09:06:36+00:00

Sidequest gives [Pi](https://pi.dev) a side channel: ask context-aware questions without pulling the main conversation off track.

Think of it as a better `/btw`

: grounded in the active Pi session, threaded, persistent, and tool-capable.

From npm:

```
pi install npm:pi-sidequest
```

From GitHub:

```
pi install git:github.com/peterp/pi-sidequest
```

For local development:

```
pi -e /absolute/path/to/pi-sidequest
```

Or link `src/`

as an auto-discovered extension directory:

```
ln -s /absolute/path/to/pi-sidequest/src ~/.pi/agent/extensions/sidequest
```

Open Sidequest inside Pi:

```
/sidequest
```

Default quake console keys:

```
§
~
```

Sidequest has two focus areas:

- selection: choose root or a thread
- prompt: type and ask the next question

Press `Tab`

to move between them. The inactive area shows `[tab]`

in its border.

Use an env var:

```
PI_SIDEQUEST_QUAKE_KEY='`'
```

or a config file:

```
// ~/.pi/agent/sidequest.json
{
  "quakeKey": "`"
}
```

Multiple keys are supported:

```
PI_SIDEQUEST_QUAKE_KEYS='§,~,alt+s'
{
  "quakeKeys": ["§", "~", "alt+s"]
}
```

Sidequest runs its own isolated, tool-capable Pi worker. By default it enables:

```
read, grep, find, ls, sidequest_web_search, sidequest_web_fetch
```

Override the allowlist:

```
PI_SIDEQUEST_TOOLS='read,grep,find,ls,sidequest_web_search,sidequest_web_fetch'
```

`sidequest_web_search`

uses Brave Search when `BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY`

is set. Otherwise it falls back to DuckDuckGo HTML search. `sidequest_web_fetch`

fetches public HTTP(S) pages and extracts readable text.

From this directory:

```
npm pack --dry-run
npm publish
```