FrostPi — Visual UI for Pi Coding Agent

FrostPi is a polished VS Code client for Pi's RPC mode. It runs one independent pi --mode rpc process per FrostPi session and keeps Pi's execution semantics intact: no file-tool proxy, no patch staging layer, and no hidden prompt-content injection.

Features

• Create, resume, switch, rename, and concurrently run independent Pi sessions.
• Compact turn-based conversation view with ordered reasoning, tool activity, and final responses.
• Tool and reasoning details default collapsed; manual disclosure state is not overridden by streaming updates.
• Pause-aware output following with unseen-update counts and a jump-to-latest control.
• Paste PNG, JPEG, or WebP images directly into prompts.
• Use dynamic /command completion and highlighting for Pi extension commands, prompt templates, skills, and FrostPi's local /resume action.
• Use @ mentions for @Selection, @CurrentFile, and workspace paths. FrostPi inserts path/line text only; Pi decides whether to read the file.
• Switch provider/model and select only thinking levels supported by the active model's Pi metadata.
• Review command output and tool details; open files and Git-base diffs in native VS Code editors.
• Answer Pi extension confirm, select, input, and editor requests.
• Inspect current context, cumulative token categories, tool/message counts, and estimated session cost.
• Configure inherited, VS Code, custom, or direct proxy modes for Pi subprocesses.

Requirements and setup

1. Install and configure Pi in the same local or remote environment where VS Code runs workspace extensions.
2. Open a trusted file-system workspace.
3. Open FrostPi from the Activity Bar. The view may be dragged to VS Code's Secondary Sidebar.
4. If pi is not on PATH, run FrostPi: Configure Pi Executable.

The executable may be the pi command, an absolute native executable, or Pi's compiled cli.js path. Remote SSH, WSL, and Dev Container workspaces run Pi in the remote Extension Host.

Important behavior

Pi edits the workspace immediately, as it does in RPC mode. FrostPi's Diff action compares the current file with its Git HEAD version; it is review, not pre-apply authorization.

Multiple sessions can modify the same workspace concurrently. FrostPi isolates their processes and UI state but does not serialize or reconcile conflicting changes.

Proxy configuration is resolved when a Pi process starts. Changing proxy settings does not update an already-running session. Restart the affected session to apply the new environment. Proxy environment variables are also inherited by commands launched by Pi.

Settings

• frostpi.pi.executable
• frostpi.pi.arguments
• frostpi.session.startOnOpen
• frostpi.composer.streamingBehavior
• frostpi.composer.fileMentions.maxFiles
• frostpi.composer.fileMentions.respectSearchExclude
• frostpi.attachments.maxImageBytes
• frostpi.network.proxy.mode
• frostpi.network.proxy.endpoint
• frostpi.network.proxy.noProxy
• frostpi.diagnostics.level

Use FrostPi: Configure Network Proxy or the session menu to choose User/Workspace scope and configure the active mode. Proxy usernames and passwords are stored in VS Code SecretStorage rather than in settings.json. Running sessions show restart required until explicitly restarted.

Privacy

FrostPi contains no telemetry or remote service of its own. Prompts and images are sent to the locally launched Pi process. See PRIVACY.md in the extension package for details.

License

AGPL-3.0-only. FrostPi is an independent client and is not an official Pi distribution.