pi

Pi

Run Pi coding agent with agentkernel for isolated code execution.

Quick Start

Pi is an open-source coding agent with its own extension system. The agentkernel extension overrides Pi's built-in bash tool so every shell command runs in a microVM sandbox instead of on your machine.

# 1. Start agentkernel API server (pick one)
brew services start thrashr888/agentkernel/agentkernel   # runs in background, survives reboots
agentkernel serve                 # or run manually in a terminal

# 2. Install the extension (pick one)
pi install npm:pi-agentkernel     # via Pi's package manager (recommended)
agentkernel plugin install pi     # or via agentkernel CLI

# 3. Launch Pi — the extension loads automatically
pi

Extension Integration

Unlike MCP-based agents, Pi uses a native extension that replaces the built-in bash tool. When the extension loads:

1. A persistent sandbox is created for the session
2. Every bash call the LLM makes runs inside that sandbox via POST /sandboxes/{name}/exec
3. State persists between calls — installed packages and files carry over
4. The sandbox is removed when the session ends

If agentkernel is not running, the extension falls back to local execution.

The extension also provides:

Tool	Description
bash	Built-in tool override — routes all shell commands through the sandbox
sandbox_run	One-shot command in a fresh sandbox (clean environment each time)

Command	Description
/sandbox	Show current sandbox status

Install

Via Pi's package manager (recommended):

pi install npm:pi-agentkernel

Or via agentkernel CLI:

agentkernel plugin install pi

The first method installs globally. The second creates .pi/extensions/agentkernel/ in your project.

Setup

1. Install agentkernel

brew tap thrashr888/tap && brew install agentkernel
# Or: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thrashr888/agentkernel/main/install.sh | sh