# Input mode

Controls what ordinary **Enter** does when the interactive Pi agent is already running:

- `steer` (default) queues the message before the agent's next model step.
- `interrupt` signals Pi's active abort controller immediately, retains the submitted text and images, then starts a fresh turn at Pi's safe `agent_settled` boundary. If another extension starts a run at that boundary first, the retained input steers that run instead. Multiple inputs received during cancellation are preserved in order in that replacement turn. When no model request is running, such as during compaction or while a run waits for a held background terminal, there is nothing to cancel and the input steers instead.
- `follow-up` queues the message until the active run finishes.

Use `/input-mode` for the picker or `/input-mode steer|interrupt|follow-up` for direct selection. The global choice is stored with restrictive permissions in `<agent-dir>/input-mode.json`; non-default modes appear in Pi's status area.

Pi does not expose an extension API for adding rows to its built-in `/settings` selector, so this extension owns a dedicated settings command rather than patching private TUI internals. The existing core **Steering mode** and **Follow-up mode** settings remain batching controls (`all` versus `one-at-a-time`).

Explicit Alt+Enter follow-ups, extension-originated messages, commands, idle input, compaction input, and RPC input retain Pi's native behavior. Interrupt cancellation is cooperative: Pi stops model streaming and abort-aware tools, but it cannot undo an external side effect that already completed or force a third-party operation that ignores its abort signal to stop.