Pi Coding Agent for VS Code

Chat with the pi coding agent — bring your own API key, choose your model, use pi's full tool suite.

Features

• Sidebar chat — Pi lives in its own sidebar panel. Ask questions, give instructions, review results.
• Full tool suite — Pi reads, writes, edits files, runs shell commands, and searches your codebase.
• Streaming — Responses stream in real-time with thinking blocks and tool execution indicators.
• Model switching — Pick from available models via the header dropdown or command palette.
• Bring your own key — Works with Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, AWS Bedrock, and more.
• Your config — Pi uses your existing ~/.pi/ config, extensions, skills, and project settings.

IDE Integration

• Active file context — Pi automatically sees the file and selection in your editor. Say "fix this" and it knows what you mean.
• Auto-open edited files — When Pi writes or edits a file, it opens in your editor automatically.
• Diff preview — Optionally review Pi's edits in a side-by-side diff before accepting or reverting. (off by default)
• Diagnostics awareness — After Pi edits files, new type errors or lint issues are automatically detected and fed back so Pi can self-correct.

Install

Prerequisites

Install pi globally (the coding agent this extension wraps):

npm install -g @mariozechner/pi-coding-agent

Then configure at least one provider — run pi in a terminal and type /login.

Extension

Download the latest .vsix from GitHub Releases, then:

code --install-extension vspi-<version>.vsix

Or in VS Code: Extensions → ⋯ menu → Install from VSIX…

First Run

1. Click the π icon in the activity bar (left sidebar)
2. Start chatting — Pi operates on your open workspace

Or use the built-in walkthrough: Ctrl+Shift+P → "Get Started with Pi Coding Agent"

How It Works

The extension spawns pi --mode rpc as a local subprocess. Your messages go through JSONL over stdin/stdout — pi's streaming events are rendered in the sidebar. Pi runs with your existing config, API keys, extensions, and skills. Nothing is sent through a third-party proxy.

VS Code sidebar ←→ webview postMessage ←→ extension host ←→ pi subprocess (JSONL)
                                                                  ↓
                                                          your API keys + config

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
vspi.piPath	"pi"	Path to the pi executable
vspi.provider	""	LLM provider (anthropic, openai, google, etc.)
vspi.model	""	Default model ID
vspi.thinkingLevel	"medium"	Reasoning depth: off, minimal, low, medium, high, xhigh
vspi.showThinking	true	Show thinking/reasoning output
vspi.showToolOutput	true	Show tool execution results inline
vspi.includeActiveFile	true	Send active editor file + selection as context
vspi.openFilesOnEdit	true	Auto-open files after Pi writes/edits them
vspi.showDiffPreview	false	Show side-by-side diff with accept/revert actions
vspi.diagnosticsAwareness	true	Detect new errors after edits and feed back to Pi
vspi.diagnosticsSeverity	"errors"	Feed back errors only, or errors + warnings

Commands

Command	Description
Pi: New Session	Start a fresh conversation
Pi: Select Model	Pick from available models
Pi: Abort Current Request	Cancel the active request
Pi: Focus Chat	Open/focus the Pi sidebar
Pi: Accept Diff	Accept Pi's proposed changes (diff preview mode)
Pi: Reject / Revert Diff	Revert to original content (diff preview mode)

Troubleshooting

Pi not found? Make sure pi is installed globally (npm install -g @mariozechner/pi-coding-agent) and available on your PATH. You can also set vspi.piPath to the full path.

No models available? Run pi in a terminal and type /login to configure an API key for at least one provider.

Extension crashes or behaves unexpectedly? Check the "Pi Agent" output channel: View → Output → Pi Agent

Architecture

See docs/CODEMAP.md for a full architectural map of the codebase.

Development

git clone https://github.com/LightningBerk/vspi.git
cd vspi
npm install
npm run compile    # Build extension + webview
npm run watch      # Rebuild on change (both targets)
npm run lint       # Type-check (tsc --noEmit)
npm test           # Run tests (vitest, 107 tests)
npm run package    # Build .vsix for local install
# Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host

The build has two esbuild targets: the extension (Node/CJS) and the webview (browser/IIFE, bundles marked + DOMPurify for secure markdown rendering).

Releasing

Releases are automated via GitHub Actions. To publish a new version:

npm version patch   # or minor / major — bumps package.json, commits, tags
git push origin main --tags

CI builds the .vsix and creates a GitHub Release with the artifact attached.

Security

• CSP — Webview uses nonce-based script-src; no unsafe-inline or unsafe-eval
• Markdown — Rendered via marked + DOMPurify (blocks XSS, restricts URI schemes to https: and mailto:)
• Input validation — Tool call IDs validated, prompt length capped at 500 KB
• Process spawn — Uses execFile (not exec) for the pi path; no shell injection
• Dependencies — npm audit reports 0 vulnerabilities

License

MIT