Pi Agent for VS Code

A VS Code auxiliary-sidebar client for pi, built on pi's RPC protocol. It keeps the agent process in the extension host and renders the conversation in a theme-aware Webview.

Source: https://github.com/dairycode/pi-agent-sidebar

Preview

Features

• Streaming conversation — renders pi's text, reasoning, and tool execution live in the auxiliary sidebar, fully themed to the VS Code color scheme
• Session management — persistent session history with search, switching, new sessions, delete, and rename; the last session in the workspace is restored automatically after a VS Code reload
• Model and thinking level — switch among configured models and supported thinking levels from themed pickers in the composer
• Conversation control — queue follow-up prompts while pi is working, or abort the active run; transient provider errors (overload, rate limit, 5xx, interrupted streams) are retried automatically
• Composer references — use Explorer's Pi Agent: Add Files or Folders to Input action, or hold Shift and drag files or folders from VS Code Explorer anywhere over the Pi sidebar, to insert clickable inline @path references; folder references pass only the directory path so pi can inspect it on demand
• Selection references — select code and press Cmd+Esc / Ctrl+Esc to insert an inline @path#line reference at the caret; Cmd/Ctrl-click or F12 jumps back to either kind of source reference
• Attachments — use the composer's + button to attach files or images as chips; pasted PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP images use the same attachment flow
• Editor integration — a right-click Pi Agent submenu explains the selection, adds it to the composer without a preset instruction, refactors it, generates tests, explains reported problems, or explains the whole file, plus a Fix with Pi quick fix for the diagnostic under the cursor
• Slash commands — type / in the composer to browse pi's extension commands, prompt templates, and skills, grouped by source with live filtering
• File mentions — type @ to browse one workspace level at a time; pick a folder to enter it, then select a file with the arrow keys and Enter to insert the same inline @path reference Explorer and drag-and-drop produce
• Tool timeline — tool calls run inline with file-edit diffs rendered as added, removed, and context lines; path/file.ts:42 references in responses open the file at that line
• Commands — rename the current session, export a session to HTML, start a new session, restart the runtime, and inspect logs from the command palette
• Status bar — shows the runtime phase and the active model
• Native dialogs — pi extension prompts and trusted-domain confirmation are surfaced with native VS Code UI
• Security — gated on Workspace Trust, reads strict JSONL, sanitizes Markdown before rendering, and ships a restrictive CSP

Editor Selection Shortcut

Select code in the editor, then press Cmd+Esc on macOS or Ctrl+Esc on Windows and Linux. Pi Agent opens, focuses the composer, and inserts an accent-colored inline reference such as @src/file.ts#10-14 at the caret while retaining the exact selected text as code context. Delete the reference text to detach it. To reopen the source, Cmd/Ctrl-click the marker or place the caret inside it and press F12. With no editor selection, the shortcut only focuses the composer.

Other AI extensions may use the same shortcut. Reassign Pi Agent: Focus Input with Selection in VS Code's Keyboard Shortcuts editor when needed.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.129 or newer
• pi 0.81.0 or newer installed and authenticated
• A trusted workspace folder

Install pi if needed:

npm install -g --ignore-scripts @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent
pi
/login

If VS Code cannot find pi, set piAgentSidebar.binaryPath to an absolute path such as /opt/homebrew/bin/pi.

On Windows, npm installs pi as a .cmd shim that cannot be launched directly. When binaryPath is left at its default, the extension first tries pi and then automatically falls back to running node.exe with the globally installed pi entry script as its first argument (equivalent to setting the binary path to node.exe and passing that script in additionalArguments). The entry script comes from the installed package's own bin field. Set binaryPath to something other than pi to override this fallback.

piAgentSidebar.sessionDirectory accepts an absolute path or a path relative to the active workspace folder; the same resolved directory is used for pi's session storage and the sidebar's history, rename, and deletion.

Security Model

Pi's default coding tools can read, edit, and execute files with the extension host user's permissions. This extension does not sandbox pi. It remains disabled in untrusted workspaces, runs the configured binary without a shell, and only passes --approve for project-local pi resources after VS Code has established workspace trust.

Session files are managed by pi under ~/.pi/agent/sessions. They can contain source code, tool output, and other sensitive conversation data.