Pi Agent
Use this skill when the user wants to operate Pi or build on top of Pi. Pi is a minimal terminal coding harness extended through TypeScript extensions, skills, prompt templates, themes, packages, custom models/providers, SDK integrations, RPC mode, JSON event streams, and TUI components.
First Decision
Pick the reference before answering or coding:
| User intent |
Read |
| Install, authenticate, first run |
references/quickstart.md |
| Day-to-day CLI usage, commands, modes, flags |
references/usage.md |
| Provider auth, API keys, cloud provider setup |
references/providers.md |
| Custom model entries, local models, proxies |
references/models.md |
| Extension development, custom tools, events, commands |
references/extensions.md |
| Custom provider implementation, OAuth, custom streaming |
references/custom-provider.md |
| Embed Pi in Node/TypeScript |
references/sdk.md |
| Integrate from another process/language |
references/rpc.md |
| Consume JSONL event output |
references/json.md |
| Build terminal UI components |
references/tui.md |
| Package extensions/skills/prompts/themes |
references/packages.md |
| Delegate to subagents, chains, parallel runs, orchestration |
references/pi-subagents.md |
| Connect MCP servers, MCP tool discovery/config |
references/pi-mcp-adapter.md |
| Interactive interview forms, structured user input |
references/pi-interview.md |
| Web search, URL/PDF/repo fetching, video understanding |
references/pi-web-access.md |
| Author Pi skills |
references/skills.md |
| Prompt templates or themes |
references/prompt-templates.md, references/themes.md |
| Sessions, branching, compaction, parsing JSONL |
references/sessions.md, references/compaction.md, references/session-format.md |
| Security, sandboxing, trust |
references/security.md, references/containerization.md |
| Keyboard or terminal issues |
references/keybindings.md, references/terminal-setup.md, references/tmux.md, references/windows.md, references/termux.md, references/shell-aliases.md |
| Working on Pi itself |
references/development.md |
Build-On-Pi Defaults
Prefer the SDK for Node/TypeScript apps that need type safety, direct state access, in-process custom tools/extensions, or custom resource loading. Use createAgentSession() for a single stable session; use createAgentSessionRuntime() when the app must replace sessions through new/resume/fork/clone/import flows.
Prefer RPC mode when the client is not Node.js, needs process isolation, or wants a language-agnostic JSONL protocol. Start with pi --mode rpc --no-session for stateless subprocess integration, then add session flags when persistence matters.
Prefer JSON mode for one-shot command-line pipelines that only need streamed events, not bidirectional control: pi --mode json "prompt".
Use extensions for Pi-native behavior: custom tools, command handlers, event hooks, provider registration, custom compaction, path protection, project trust policy, UI prompts, widgets, and TUI components.
Use packages when sharing or installing reusable extensions, skills, prompt templates, or themes across machines or projects.
Safety Defaults
Pi is local and not sandboxed by default. Treat extensions, packages, skills, shell commands, and project-local .pi resources as code with the permissions of the Pi process. For untrusted repos or unattended automation, isolate with Docker, OpenShell, Gondolin, a VM, or a remote sandbox.
Do not store secrets in project files. Prefer env vars, ~/.pi/agent/auth.json, OAuth via /login, or command-backed secret lookups in models.json/provider config.
Common Commands
npm install -g --ignore-scripts @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent
pi
pi -p "Summarize this codebase"
pi --mode json "List files"
pi --mode rpc --no-session
pi --provider anthropic --model claude-sonnet-4-5
pi --tools read,grep,find,ls -p "Review this repository"
Source Coverage
These references summarize the Pi documentation at https://pi.dev/docs/latest and each docs page found under it as of this skill version, plus the package pages for pi-subagents, pi-mcp-adapter, pi-interview, and pi-web-access at https://pi.dev/packages/. When exact API behavior matters, prefer the cited reference page and inspect installed TypeScript definitions under node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent/dist/ and node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-ai/dist/.
1---2name: pi-agent3description: Install, configure, and extend Pi, a terminal coding harness, with support for custom providers, models, extensions, skills, packages, themes, SDK integration, RPC mode, JSON event streams, and ecosystem packages for subagent delegation, MCP servers, interactive forms, and web access.4license: MIT5---67# Pi Agent89Use this skill when the user wants to operate Pi or build on top of Pi. Pi is a minimal terminal coding harness extended through TypeScript extensions, skills, prompt templates, themes, packages, custom models/providers, SDK integrations, RPC mode, JSON event streams, and TUI components.1011## First Decision1213Pick the reference before answering or coding:1415| User intent | Read |16|---|---|17| Install, authenticate, first run | `references/quickstart.md` |18| Day-to-day CLI usage, commands, modes, flags | `references/usage.md` |19| Provider auth, API keys, cloud provider setup | `references/providers.md` |20| Custom model entries, local models, proxies | `references/models.md` |21| Extension development, custom tools, events, commands | `references/extensions.md` |22| Custom provider implementation, OAuth, custom streaming | `references/custom-provider.md` |23| Embed Pi in Node/TypeScript | `references/sdk.md` |24| Integrate from another process/language | `references/rpc.md` |25| Consume JSONL event output | `references/json.md` |26| Build terminal UI components | `references/tui.md` |27| Package extensions/skills/prompts/themes | `references/packages.md` |28| Delegate to subagents, chains, parallel runs, orchestration | `references/pi-subagents.md` |29| Connect MCP servers, MCP tool discovery/config | `references/pi-mcp-adapter.md` |30| Interactive interview forms, structured user input | `references/pi-interview.md` |31| Web search, URL/PDF/repo fetching, video understanding | `references/pi-web-access.md` |32| Author Pi skills | `references/skills.md` |33| Prompt templates or themes | `references/prompt-templates.md`, `references/themes.md` |34| Sessions, branching, compaction, parsing JSONL | `references/sessions.md`, `references/compaction.md`, `references/session-format.md` |35| Security, sandboxing, trust | `references/security.md`, `references/containerization.md` |36| Keyboard or terminal issues | `references/keybindings.md`, `references/terminal-setup.md`, `references/tmux.md`, `references/windows.md`, `references/termux.md`, `references/shell-aliases.md` |37| Working on Pi itself | `references/development.md` |3839## Build-On-Pi Defaults4041Prefer the SDK for Node/TypeScript apps that need type safety, direct state access, in-process custom tools/extensions, or custom resource loading. Use `createAgentSession()` for a single stable session; use `createAgentSessionRuntime()` when the app must replace sessions through new/resume/fork/clone/import flows.4243Prefer RPC mode when the client is not Node.js, needs process isolation, or wants a language-agnostic JSONL protocol. Start with `pi --mode rpc --no-session` for stateless subprocess integration, then add session flags when persistence matters.4445Prefer JSON mode for one-shot command-line pipelines that only need streamed events, not bidirectional control: `pi --mode json "prompt"`.4647Use extensions for Pi-native behavior: custom tools, command handlers, event hooks, provider registration, custom compaction, path protection, project trust policy, UI prompts, widgets, and TUI components.4849Use packages when sharing or installing reusable extensions, skills, prompt templates, or themes across machines or projects.5051## Safety Defaults5253Pi is local and not sandboxed by default. Treat extensions, packages, skills, shell commands, and project-local `.pi` resources as code with the permissions of the Pi process. For untrusted repos or unattended automation, isolate with Docker, OpenShell, Gondolin, a VM, or a remote sandbox.5455Do not store secrets in project files. Prefer env vars, `~/.pi/agent/auth.json`, OAuth via `/login`, or command-backed secret lookups in `models.json`/provider config.5657## Common Commands5859```bash60npm install -g --ignore-scripts @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent61pi62pi -p "Summarize this codebase"63pi --mode json "List files"64pi --mode rpc --no-session65pi --provider anthropic --model claude-sonnet-4-566pi --tools read,grep,find,ls -p "Review this repository"67```6869## Source Coverage7071These references summarize the Pi documentation at `https://pi.dev/docs/latest` and each docs page found under it as of this skill version, plus the package pages for `pi-subagents`, `pi-mcp-adapter`, `pi-interview`, and `pi-web-access` at `https://pi.dev/packages/`. When exact API behavior matters, prefer the cited reference page and inspect installed TypeScript definitions under `node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent/dist/` and `node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-ai/dist/`.
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