# Pi is a minimal coding agent you shape yourself

Published 2026-10-14 — ai, tooling

[Pi](https://pi.dev/) is an open-source, MIT-licensed agent harness from Earendil. It does the same basic job as Claude Code, but the core is deliberately small. Sub-agents, plan mode, permission popups and built-in to-dos aren't included. You add the ones you want through TypeScript extensions, skills, prompt templates or packages installed from npm or git.

That trade is why it's worth a look next to straight Claude Code:

- **Not tied to one vendor.** It talks to 15+ providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Ollama and more), and you can switch models mid-session.
- **Sessions are trees.** `/tree` branches from any earlier point in a conversation, so you can try a different approach without losing the first one.
- **It runs in more places.** Besides the TUI, there's a print/JSON mode for scripts, RPC over stdin/stdout, and an SDK for embedding.
- **It reads `AGENTS.md`.** Existing project instructions carry over.

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

The catch is the same as the pitch: Claude Code gives you the batteries, and Pi gives you a blank harness and expects you to build what you need.

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Canonical HTML: https://www.dainemawer.com/til/pi-coding-agent
Markdown index: https://www.dainemawer.com/index.md · Agent guide: https://www.dainemawer.com/agents.md · [llms.txt](https://www.dainemawer.com/llms.txt)
Attribution: Daine Mawer — https://www.dainemawer.com/about