managing-pi-hole

name	managing-pi-hole
description	Use when working with Pi Hole — pi-hole DNS sinkhole management covering ad-blocking statistics, query logs, blocklist management, client activity, gravity database, and network-wide DNS filtering. Use when managing Pi-hole instances, analyzing blocked query patterns, managing whitelists and blacklists, monitoring client DNS activity, or troubleshooting DNS filtering.
connection_type	pi-hole
preload	false

Pi-hole DNS Skill

Manage Pi-hole DNS filtering, blocklists, query logs, client activity, and statistics.

Core Helper Functions

#!/bin/bash

PIHOLE_API="http://$PIHOLE_HOST/admin/api.php"

pihole_api() {
    local endpoint="$1"
    curl -s "$PIHOLE_API?$endpoint&auth=$PIHOLE_API_TOKEN"
}

# Pi-hole CLI wrapper (if SSH access available)
pihole_cmd() {
    ssh "$PIHOLE_HOST" "pihole $*" 2>/dev/null
}

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Pi-hole Summary ==="
pihole_api "summaryRaw" | jq '{
    domains_being_blocked, dns_queries_today,
    ads_blocked_today, ads_percentage_today,
    unique_domains, queries_forwarded,
    queries_cached, clients_ever_seen,
    unique_clients, status
}'

echo ""
echo "=== Top Blocked Domains ==="
pihole_api "topItems=15" | jq -r '
    .top_ads | to_entries[] | "\(.value)\t\(.key)"
' | sort -rn | column -t | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Top Permitted Domains ==="
pihole_api "topItems=10" | jq -r '
    .top_queries | to_entries[] | "\(.value)\t\(.key)"
' | sort -rn | column -t | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Top Clients ==="
pihole_api "getQuerySources=10" | jq -r '
    .top_sources | to_entries[] | "\(.value)\t\(.key)"
' | sort -rn | column -t | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Upstream DNS Servers ==="
pihole_api "getForwardDestinations" | jq -r '
    .forward_destinations | to_entries[] | "\(.key)\t\(.value)%"
' | column -t | head -10

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Query Types Distribution ==="
pihole_api "getQueryTypes" | jq -r '
    .querytypes | to_entries[] | "\(.key)\t\(.value)%"
' | column -t | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Queries Over Time (24h) ==="
pihole_api "overTimeData10mins" | jq -r '
    .domains_over_time | to_entries | sort_by(.key) | last(10) | .[] |
    "\(.key | tonumber | todate)\t\(.value) queries"
' | column -t 2>/dev/null | tail -10

echo ""
echo "=== Recent Blocked Queries ==="
pihole_api "getAllQueries=50" | jq -r '
    .data[] | select(.[2] | test("Pi-holed|Blocked")) |
    "\(.[0] | tonumber | todate)\t\(.[2])\t\(.[3])\t\(.[4])"
' | tail -15 | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Gravity Database Status ==="
pihole_api "getGravity" | jq '{
    file_exists: .file_exists, last_update: .absolute,
    domains_in_gravity: .domains_being_blocked
}' 2>/dev/null
pihole_cmd "-g -l" 2>/dev/null | tail -5

echo ""
echo "=== Blocklist Sources ==="
pihole_cmd "adlist" 2>/dev/null || \
    curl -s "http://$PIHOLE_HOST/admin/api.php?list=adlist&auth=$PIHOLE_API_TOKEN" | jq -r '
    .data[]? | "\(.enabled)\t\(.address[:60])\t\(.number // 0) domains"
' | column -t | head -15

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Target <=50 lines per output
• Use jq to parse Pi-hole API JSON responses
• Show percentages for blocked vs allowed traffic

Safety Rules

• Read-only by default: Use query/summary endpoints for inspection
• Never disable Pi-hole without confirmation -- disables network-wide ad blocking
• Whitelist changes take effect after gravity rebuild
• Blacklist additions block domains for all clients on the network

Output Format

Present results as a structured report:

Managing Pi Hole Report
═══════════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]

Resource       Status    Key Metric    Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name]         [ok/warn] [value]       [findings]

Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]

Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

• API token required: Most endpoints need the auth parameter with the web password hash
• Gravity updates: Adding blocklists requires pihole -g to rebuild the gravity database
• Client groups: Pi-hole v5+ supports per-client group management for different filter lists
• CNAME cloaking: Some trackers use CNAME cloaking to bypass Pi-hole; needs deep CNAME inspection
• DNS cache: Pi-hole caches responses; recently unblocked domains may still be cached as blocked