Pi coding agent in VS Code — sidebar chat, diffs, checkpoints, plan mode, and Pi CLI sync.

Repository: github.com/FChatin/vs-pi-agent

Requirements

Pi CLI must be installed (npm install -g pi-agent or brew install pi-agent)
VS Code or VSCodium

The extension communicates with Pi via pi --mode rpc. It does not bundle the SDK — everything runs through the CLI. No Pi CLI = extension won't work.

Features

Chat & agents — send messages, receive streaming responses, view thinking steps
Diff & undo — see unified diffs for every file change; undo or redo changes per turn
Checkpoints — roll back to any previous turn; redo after rollback
Plan mode — Pi drafts a plan in a VS Code document; apply complete sections with one click
Attachments — drag files or paste images directly into chat
Slash commands — /login, /logout, /model, /new, /settings, /reload, /compact, /resume, /session
MCP config import — bring MCP server configs from Cursor, Zed, or VS Code
Settings panel — configure auth, thinking level, workspace scope, sync mode
Status bar — connection status at a glance
Session catalog — list, resume, or switch between sessions
Checkpoint + Todo merge — Pi-managed plan todos merged into VS Code with task markers

Configuration

Setting	Default	Description
`pi-agent.authProvider`	`pi-cli`	Authentication provider (`pi-cli`)
`pi-agent.syncWithPiCli`	`true`	Use `~/.pi/agent` for config, sessions, skills
`pi-agent.cliPath`	auto	Force a specific `pi` binary path
`pi-agent.thinkingLevel`	`off`	Thinking level (`off`, `fast`, `deep`)
`pi-agent.workspaceScope`	`current`	Session scope (`current` or `all`)
`pi-agent.tools`	built-in	Enabled tool groups
`pi-agent.modelProvider`	auto	Preferred model provider
`pi-agent.modelId`	auto	Preferred model
`pi-agent.maxTokens`	auto	Max tokens per response
`pi-agent.autoApproveTools`	`ask`	Tool auto-approval (`ask`, `all`, `none`)
`pi-agent.promptTemplates`	`[]`	Custom prompt prefixes
`pi-agent.mcpConfigImportPaths`	`[]`	Paths to import MCP configs from

Architecture

VS Code extension
    │
    └─── starts ──────────>  pi --mode rpc  (Pi CLI subprocess)
                               │
                               ├──  /login  →  Pi CLI handles auth
                               ├──  /model  →  Pi CLI manages providers
                               ├──  thinking →  streaming events over JSON-RPC
                               └──  tools  →  executed by Pi CLI

Extension writes to ~/.pi/agent/settings.json (same as CLI). Sessions, skills, and packages live under ~/.pi/agent.

Keyboard shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Open sidebar	`Ctrl+Shift+P` → "Pi: Open Chat"
New session	`Ctrl+Shift+P` → "Pi: New Session"
Resume session	`Ctrl+Shift+P` → "Pi: Resume Session"
Apply plan section	`Ctrl+Shift+A`
Reject plan section	`Ctrl+Shift+R`