PI-Desktop

The desktop workspace for AI coding agents.

Bring your own model. Open any local project. Let agents work — while you stay in control.

Local-first · Model-agnostic · Extensible · macOS / Windows / Linux

Download · Documentation · Screenshots · Build a Plugin · 简体中文

No PI-Desktop account. No mandatory relay. No editor lock-in.

_{Projects and sessions stay on your machine. Model requests go directly to the provider or endpoint you configure.}

[!IMPORTANT] PI-Desktop is in Early Preview. It is already usable for real coding workflows, while APIs, extension interfaces, and some desktop behaviors are still evolving.

Not another chat window

Most coding agents live inside a terminal, an editor extension, or a hosted service.

PI-Desktop gives the agent workflow a workspace of its own.

Projects, sessions, files, reviews, previews, models, permissions, extensions, and long-running work live together — without tying your workflow to a single editor, model vendor, or hosted runtime.

One workspace. Three ways to work.

Same agent. Different approval boundaries.

Agent — let it inspect the tree, patch files, run commands, test, and keep going.

Plan — review the approach before execution. The agent researches first, produces an immutable implementation plan, and waits for approval.

Goal — lock the objective and acceptance criteria. The agent decides how to get there.

Privileged tools still go through the permission layer in every mode.

See the work, not just the answer

Long-running conversations with transcript navigation	Switch providers, models, and reasoning levels per session
Extend the workspace through the plugin marketplace	Add a provider and connect a model

Explore all screenshots →

Built for work that lasts longer than one prompt

PI-Desktop is designed around persistent projects and long-running sessions rather than disposable chat threads.

• Manage multiple projects and sessions
• Pin, archive, branch, and search conversations
• Queue prompts while an agent is already running
• Reference files with @
• Use slash commands
• Review diffs and command output
• Keep streaming responses checkpointed so interrupted work can recover whenever possible

Delegate to Subagents

Large tasks do not have to live in one context window.

Delegate independent work to background Subagents for:

• codebase exploration
• multi-file implementation
• research and investigation
• test analysis
• adversarial review

Each Subagent runs in its own context and reports its result back to the parent agent.

Extend the workspace instead of rebuilding it

PI-Desktop has multiple extension layers, from lightweight reusable instructions to full desktop integrations.

Plugins

Plugins can extend PI-Desktop with:

Install plugins locally or through the marketplace using the .piplug package workflow.

Session Orchestrator

The official pi.session-orchestrator plugin lets an Agent coordinate durable worker sessions in parallel. Install pi.session-orchestrator from the Plugins marketplace, then use its SessionTask tool to spawn, send, supervise, inspect status, wait for bounded results, accept reports, cancel work, and list workers.

Workers inherit the parent project's provider, model, thinking level, and permission mode. They remain ordinary PI-Desktop sessions, so you can open and inspect their transcripts at any time. Work is parent-scoped and bounded to four active workers per parent and sixteen across the plugin.

Coordinate multiple durable worker sessions from one conversation

Open a worker session and inspect its progress independently

Build your first plugin →

[!NOTE] Plugin processes are permission-gated and isolated from the renderer, but plugins are still user-trusted code rather than a complete operating-system sandbox. Only install plugins you trust.

Skills

Give agents reusable instructions and workflows. Skills can be installed globally or activated for individual projects.

MCP

Connect external tools and services through Model Context Protocol servers without baking them into the desktop application.

PI-Desktop can also be controlled by an external MCP Agent. Start the app with PI_DESKTOP_MCP_CONTROL=1, then read the loopback endpoint and bearer token from mcp-control.json in the Electron user-data directory.

The control endpoint supports project, session, and Agent workflows plus a reviewed desktop operation catalog. It is disabled by default, binds to loopback only, and grants the calling local Agent the same authority as the desktop for those operations. confirm: true is not a user prompt.

pi extensions

Extensions written for the pi CLI can run inside PI-Desktop's agent unchanged.

A plugin can list them under contributes.agentExtensions, or Plugins → Import pi extension can wrap an existing extension file or directory in a plugin. If the directory declares production or optional npm dependencies, a system npm on PATH performs a bounded registry-only install before first load (--ignore-scripts, so no third-party install script ever runs); release builds do not include standalone Node/npm.

They can register tools, slash commands, and hooks on every turn, tool call, and provider request. They run with the same access as the agent's own tools, gated by the agent.extension permission.

Bring the model you want

PI-Desktop does not hardcode your agent workflow to one model vendor.

Use:

• OpenAI and Anthropic
• OpenAI-compatible APIs
• hosted model gateways
• local gateways such as Ollama and LM Studio
• multiple models under the same provider
• provider OAuth accounts where supported

Per-model configuration can include context windows, output limits, reasoning controls, temperature, and other model-specific behavior.

The model is a replaceable part of the workflow — not the workflow itself.

Local-first, precisely

PI-Desktop is local-first, not “nothing ever touches the network.”

There is no required PI-Desktop account and no mandatory PI-hosted relay between your machine and your model provider.

If you use a remote model provider, the context required for that model request is sent to that provider according to its own privacy policy.

From install to first patch

1. Download PI-Desktop Get the latest build from GitHub Releases.

2. Connect a model Open Settings → Model configuration, choose a provider or compatible API, and add your credentials.

3. Open a project Add any local repository or project directory from the sidebar.

4. Choose Agent, Plan, or Goal Start immediately, approve an implementation plan first, or define the outcome and let the agent choose the path.

5. Review the result Inspect edits in the Review panel, check command output, preview the application, and continue without leaving PI-Desktop.

Download

Download the latest release →

Packaged builds can check GitHub Releases for updates and surface new versions inside the application.

Windows NSIS and Linux AppImage can download and install updates in-app. macOS, Linux deb/rpm, and the Windows portable executable open the releases page.

ldd --version

electron PI-Desktop-<version>-linux-x64.asar

xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/PI-Desktop.app

Code signing

Windows releases of PI-Desktop are digitally signed with free code signing provided by SignPath.io, using a certificate from the SignPath Foundation.

Bring your existing sessions

Already using another coding agent?

PI-Desktop can import local sessions from:

• Claude Code
• Codex
• OpenCode
• Pi

Open Settings → Import to bring existing work into the desktop workspace.

Architecture

PI-Desktop separates the user interface, privileged host capabilities, and the agent loop.

flowchart TB
    UI["React Renderer<br/>Chat · Projects · Reviews · Settings"]
    Electron["Electron Main<br/>Desktop orchestration"]
    Rust["Rust Host Core<br/>Permissions · Filesystem · SQLite · Secrets"]
    Agent["pi Agent Sidecar<br/>Agent loop · Models · Streaming"]
    Provider["Model Provider<br/>Cloud or Local"]

    UI --> Electron
    Electron --> Rust
    Electron --> Agent
    Agent <--> Rust
    Agent --> Provider

The renderer has no Node integration.

The Rust Host Core owns privileged workspace operations, permissions, persistence, and secrets. The pi Agent Sidecar owns model interaction and the agent loop. Electron coordinates the desktop lifecycle while keeping those responsibilities separated.

Read the architecture specification →

Built on pi

PI-Desktop builds on the excellent work of the pi-mono ecosystem.

The agent runtime uses pi-ai and pi-agent-core.

Pi provides the agent engine. PI-Desktop turns it into a persistent desktop workspace.

The desktop application also uses technologies including Electron, React, TypeScript, Rust, SQLite, Vite, Tailwind CSS, Shiki, Mermaid, KaTeX, TypeBox, and i18next.

Project status

PI-Desktop is an early preview under active development.

The current 0.15.x line includes the desktop shell, streaming agent runtime, Agent / Plan / Goal workflows, permission-aware workspace tools, projects and sessions, session imports, local MCP control, MCP / Skills / Subagents, background delegation, multi-provider model configuration, plugins and marketplace support, context checkpoints, notifications, release notes, and cross-platform packaging.

Current priorities include:

• macOS tagged-release qualification
• installer upgrade and rollback qualification
• continued runtime and session-recovery hardening
• stronger plugin sandboxing and publisher verification
• broader UI-driven end-to-end coverage

Follow development through the project board and milestones.

Development

git clone https://github.com/vastsa/PI-Desktop.git
cd PI-Desktop

pnpm install

cargo build -p host-core
pnpm build:js

pnpm dev

pnpm typecheck
pnpm lint
pnpm test

Documentation

pnpm docs:dev
pnpm docs:check

Useful references:

• Documentation
• Specification index
• Architecture
• Product scope
• Plugin development
• E2E test plan
• Release runbook
• Repository agent guide

Contributing

Issues, bug reports, feature proposals, documentation improvements, plugins, Skills, MCP integrations, and pull requests are welcome.

For larger changes, opening an issue first makes it easier to align the implementation with the existing architecture and product contracts.

When working in the repository, start with AGENTS.md and the specification index.

Report an issue · View open issues · Build a plugin

Model acknowledgements

Not by a lone genius, but by a token-powered construction crew.

This project was created with the models below.

Community

• Linux.Do — Share, discuss, and follow development with the community.

Star History

License

PI-Desktop is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0.

See LICENSE for details.

Build with the model you want. Keep the workflow yours.

Download PI-Desktop

_{macOS · Windows · Linux}