feat(pi): optional multi-provider web search for the coding agent

[BillLeoutsakosvl346]

Summary

Adds an optional internet search capability to the Pi Coding Agent block: a Search Provider dropdown (None, Exa, Serper, Parallel, Firecrawl), off by default, available in all three modes — Create PR, Review Code, and Local Dev.

• Keys follow the block's existing pattern. The selected provider's key comes from the block field, falling back to Workspace Settings → BYOK, exactly like the model selector. A Sim-hosted key is never spent on search in any mode, so a missing key fails the run with a setup message rather than quietly billing Sim. Switching providers clears the key field, so the previous provider's key cannot be sent to the new one.
• One tool, two execution paths. Local Dev and Review Code register a host-side web_search tool that reuses the existing exa_search / serper_search / parallel_search / firecrawl_search tools. Create PR has no host in the agent loop, so it gets a generated Pi extension written into the sandbox that makes its own bounded fetch calls. Both paths derive their requests from the same normalizer in search/normalize.ts, and search/parity.test.ts asserts the two produce byte-identical URLs, headers, and bodies per provider — the sandbox copy cannot import Sim's code, so that test is what keeps it from drifting.
• Results are normalized and treated as untrusted. Every provider collapses to title, URL, snippet, and optional publication date, capped per field and per envelope, with a prompt guideline telling the model the content is untrusted data rather than instructions.
• Bounded. 20 searches per run (Pi's agent loop has no turn ceiling of its own), a 10s per-call timeout, and failures classified as unauthorized / rate limited / timed out / unreachable instead of echoing provider text, which can carry injected instructions.

Two drive-by fixes it needed: serper_search was dropping the date field on organic results, and Sim's redaction patterns did not match keys named *ApiKey or passphrase.

Test plan

• search/{normalize,tool,extension-source,parity}.test.ts — 62 tests covering argument clamping, per-provider normalization and fallback chains, envelope byte caps, key-source precedence, failure classification, the per-run budget, and host/sandbox request parity
• pi-handler, keys, local-backend, cloud-backend, cloud-review-backend, blocks/blocks/pi, redaction, tools/serper — 826 tests pass, including backward compatibility for Pi blocks saved before the fields existed
• tsc --noEmit, biome check, repo lint and format clean on the rebased base
• Manual: run each mode against a real key for one provider, and confirm a missing key fails with the setup message

Reviewer notes

Two things worth a second opinion, both deliberate:

1. Create PR delivers the search key to the sandbox as an env var, which the agent can read — it holds bash. This matches how the model provider key already reaches that mode, and is the reason search refuses a Sim-hosted key everywhere: only a key the user supplied themselves can get there.
2. Review Code gains an outbound network channel in a mode that otherwise has none, so a malicious PR could in principle exfiltrate repository text through search queries. Bounded at roughly 10 KB per run by the call and query-length caps, and documented in pi.mdx as a reason not to enable search when reviewing untrusted forks of private repos.

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated (UTC)
docs	Ready	Preview, Comment	Jul 25, 2026 1:58am

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

Adds optional, BYOK-only web search to every Pi Coding Agent mode.

• Introduces provider selection, credential resolution, permission preflight, and secret redaction for Exa, Serper, Parallel AI, and Firecrawl.
• Registers a normalized host-side search tool for Local Dev and Review Code and generates an equivalent sandbox extension for Create PR.
• Bounds search calls, request duration, query/result sizes, and normalizes provider failures and result envelopes.
• Documents the new network boundary and adds provider parity, backend, block configuration, redaction, and normalization tests.
• Preserves Serper organic-result publication dates and expands sensitive-key detection.

Confidence Score: 5/5

The PR appears safe to merge, with no concrete blocking or independently actionable non-blocking defects identified.

The provider mappings, credential boundaries, permission checks, execution-mode integrations, bounded request behavior, normalization paths, and secret-redaction boundaries are internally consistent and covered by focused parity and backend tests.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
apps/sim/executor/handlers/pi/pi-handler.ts	Resolves optional search configuration, enforces tool permissions before credential access, and dispatches mode-specific tool implementations.
apps/sim/executor/handlers/pi/search/normalize.ts	Defines bounded provider-neutral arguments, request mappings, result normalization, and serialized output limits.
apps/sim/executor/handlers/pi/search/tool.ts	Implements the host-side search adapter using existing registered tools, explicit user credentials, failure classification, and a per-run call budget.
apps/sim/executor/handlers/pi/search/extension-source.ts	Generates the Create PR sandbox extension with equivalent provider requests, normalization, timeout, response-size, and call-count controls.
apps/sim/executor/handlers/pi/cloud-backend.ts	Installs and activates the sandbox search extension when configured while extending credential redaction across surfaced outputs and errors.
apps/sim/executor/handlers/pi/cloud-review-backend.ts	Registers host-side web search for Review Code and adjusts its sealed capability prompt and tool allowlist.
apps/sim/executor/handlers/pi/keys.ts	Adds strict provider parsing and resolves search credentials exclusively from block input or workspace BYOK.
apps/sim/lib/core/security/redaction.ts	Extends sensitive-field recognition to prefixed API-key names and passphrases.
apps/sim/tools/serper/search.ts	Preserves the optional date supplied on Serper organic search results.

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
  Block[Pi block inputs] --> Handler[Pi handler]
  Handler --> Permission[Search permission preflight]
  Permission --> Keys[Block key or workspace BYOK]
  Keys --> Mode{Execution mode}
  Mode -->|Local Dev| Host[Host-side web_search tool]
  Mode -->|Review Code| Host
  Mode -->|Create PR| Sandbox[Generated sandbox extension]
  Host --> Tools[Existing provider ToolConfig]
  Sandbox --> APIs[Provider API]
  Tools --> Normalize[Normalized bounded results]
  APIs --> Normalize
  Normalize --> Agent[Pi agent]

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