Pi — this one is (y)ours

An unofficial, personal VS Code chat UI for the Pi coding agent.

Disclaimer. I have no affiliation with pi.dev. I genuinely appreciate their work — this extension simply builds a GUI on top of Pi’s public RPC protocol. I made it for myself and I’m sharing it for anyone who wants to use it. It is provided as-is, with no warranty, and “Pi” belongs to its respective owners.

The Pi coding agent, natively in VS Code — the same power as the pi terminal, in a clean chat UI with editor-tab conversations and a session launcher.

What it is

Pi RPC embeds the Pi coding agent inside VS Code. It runs the real pi process in the background (pi --mode rpc) and gives you a native GUI on top of it:

A sidebar launcher with a big New Chat button and your saved chats (search, rename, delete).
Chats open as editor tabs in the center — one tab per session, reopenable and reload-safe.
Everything the Pi TUI can do, surfaced through the UI: models, thinking levels, slash commands, attachments/context, compaction, retry, usage, and diagnostics.

It talks to Pi over Pi’s documented RPC protocol, so your existing Pi setup, models, sessions, skills, prompts, and extensions all work unchanged.

Prerequisites

You need Pi installed and authenticated before using this extension:

Install the Pi CLI (Node.js 18+):

npm install -g @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent

Verify it’s on your PATH:

pi --version

Authenticate Pi once (either is fine):
- Subscription / OAuth: run pi in a terminal and use /login, or
- API key: export your provider key, e.g. export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=…
Open a folder in VS Code (Pi runs per workspace folder).

If pi isn’t on your PATH, set Settings → Pi RPC → Pi Executable Path to the full path.

How it works

VS Code
├─ Sidebar (Pi)            New Chat · search · your saved chats (open / rename / delete)
└─ Editor tab "Pi Chat"    transcript · composer · attachments · model · More menu
        │
        ▼
pi --mode rpc              one background Pi process per workspace folder

Pi warm-starts when the extension activates, so your first chat is ready fast.
While Pi connects, the chat shows a Connecting… state and the composer is disabled.
Sessions are named Session N by default and can be renamed; the real session id stays internal. Closing a tab never deletes the session.

Getting started

Install the Pi CLI and log in (see Prerequisites).
Install this extension (VSIX or Marketplace) and open a project folder.
Click the Pi icon in the Activity Bar → New Chat.
Type your message and press Cmd+Enter (macOS) or Ctrl+Enter to send.

Features (TUI parity, in a GUI)

Area	What you get
Chats	Editor-tab conversations, streaming replies, one tab per session, reopen/resume
Sessions	Sidebar launcher, search, rename, delete, warm-start
Models	Choose model, cycle, set thinking level
Slash commands	`/` lists Pi commands (skills, prompts, extension commands) and inserts them
Context	Attach the active file, a picked file, the current selection, diagnostics, or images
Reliability	Auto-compaction, auto-retry, abort/stop, connection health
Advanced	An opt-in Advanced mode exposes the full RPC surface via the Command Palette

Keyboard

Shortcut	Action
`Cmd+Enter` / `Ctrl+Enter`	Send the current message

The More ▾ menu in a chat groups actions with color tags for quick scanning:

🔵 Session — Rename chat, Export as HTML
🟠 Model — Choose model, Thinking level
🟣 Context — Compact conversation, Usage & cost
🟢 / 🔴 System — Advanced mode, Restart Pi, Connection health, Help

Troubleshooting

Stuck on “Connecting…” → run More → Connection health, or Restart Pi. Make sure pi --version works in a terminal and that you’ve logged in.
“Pi is still connecting…” when using / → wait a moment; slash commands need a live session.
Wrong/old Pi → set the Pi Executable Path setting to the exact binary.

Privacy & security

Runs entirely locally against your own pi process — this extension adds no telemetry.
Respects VS Code Workspace Trust: in a restricted workspace, chat is read-only and mutating actions stay disabled until you trust the folder.
Diagnostics exports are redacted and never include transcript text, drafts, or secrets.

Notes

One Pi process per workspace folder; multi-root workspaces are isolated.
The Activity Bar icon and gallery logo are an original Pi × VS Code fusion mark.

Credits & affiliation

This is an independent, unofficial project. I am not affiliated with pi.dev and claim no endorsement by them. All credit for the Pi coding agent goes to its authors at pi.dev; this extension only talks to Pi over its documented RPC protocol. Built for personal use and shared freely for anyone who finds it useful.

License

MIT

Pi – this one is (y)ours

Narender Singh