How to Use i-have-ADHD with the Pi Agent: Complete Setup Guide

Invoke the i-have-ADHD skill in Pi by running /skill:i-have-adhd after installing it via npx skills add ayghri/i-have-adhd -a pi and enabling "enableSkillCommands": true in your Pi settings.

The i-have-adhd repository by Aymane Ghrib provides an Agent Skill that restructures AI responses for readers with ADHD. If you use the Pi agent, you can install and activate this skill to get concise, actionable outputs with clear next steps and concrete time estimates.

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What the i-have-adHD Skill Does

The skill lives in skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md and defines a set of formatting rules designed to reduce cognitive load. When active, Pi will:

• Lead every response with the next action
• Number multi-step tasks
• Provide concrete time estimates
• Use short paragraphs and clear structure

The skill's front-matter sets disable-model-invocation: true, which means Pi will not auto-activate it—you must trigger it manually with a slash command.

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Installing the i-have-ADHD Skill for Pi

Step 1: Add the Skill via CLI

Use the Pi-provided skills CLI to clone and register the skill:

npx skills add ayghri/i-have-adhd -a pi -y

The -a pi flag targets the Pi agent specifically. The -y flag skips confirmation prompts.

Step 2: Enable Slash-Command Support

Edit your Pi configuration file to allow skill commands:

// ~/.pi/settings.json
{
  "enableSkillCommands": true
}

This one-time setting is required because Pi disables slash commands by default for security.

Step 3: Restart Pi

Start a fresh Pi session so the new skill appears in the command registry.

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Activating and Deactivating i-have-ADHD Mode

Activate in Any Chat Session

Type the exact slash command:

/skill:i-have-adhd

Once activated, the skill's rules apply to every response in that session until you disable it.

Deactivate When Done

Use either phrase to return to normal output:

stop adhd mode

or

normal mode

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How Pi Loads the Skill Internally

According to the ayghri/i-have-adhd source code, Pi implements the Agent Skills specification natively. When you run the install command, Pi:

1. Clones the repository to your local skills directory
2. Detects skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md as a valid skill definition
3. Parses the front-matter (title, description, invocation settings)
4. Registers /skill:i-have-adhd as an available slash command

Unlike some agents that require JSON conversion, Pi reads SKILL.md directly—no build step needed.

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Key Files and Their Purpose

File	Location	What It Contains
SKILL.md	skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md	Core skill definition with ADHD formatting rules and disable-model-invocation: true
INSTALL.md	Repository root	Pi-specific installation steps, CLI examples, and troubleshooting
README.md	Repository root	Overview of supported agents and general usage patterns

The skill contains no executable code—only declarative rules in Markdown that Pi's response formatter applies at inference time.

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

Slash command not recognized?

• Verify "enableSkillCommands": true is set in ~/.pi/settings.json
• Confirm the skill installed with npx skills list

Skill activates but format doesn't change?

• Check that you typed /skill:i-have-adhd exactly (case-sensitive)
• Some Pi versions require a new session after installing skills

Want permanent activation?

Pi currently requires manual activation per session due to the disable-model-invocation: true setting in SKILL.md. This is intentional design—you control when ADHD-friendly formatting applies.

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Summary

• Install with npx skills add ayghri/i-have-adhd -a pi
• Enable commands in ~/.pi/settings.json with "enableSkillCommands": true
• Activate per-session with /skill:i-have-adhd
• Deactivate with stop adhd mode or normal mode
• The skill definition lives in skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md and requires no conversion for Pi

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does i-have-adHD work with Pi out of the box?

Yes. Pi implements the Agent Skills specification natively and reads SKILL.md directly without conversion. Install via the CLI and enable slash commands to use it.

Can I make i-have-adHD mode permanent in Pi?

No. The skill's front-matter explicitly sets disable-model-invocation: true, requiring manual activation with /skill:i-have-adhd each session. This design gives you explicit control over when ADHD formatting applies.

What happens if I forget the slash command?

Type help or /help in Pi to list available skills. The i-have-ADHD skill appears as /skill:i-have-adhd if properly installed.

Does this skill modify Pi's model or just the output formatting?

Output formatting only. The SKILL.md file contains declarative rules that Pi's response renderer applies—no model retraining or fine-tuning occurs.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}