pi-mono/packages/coding-agent/docs/sdk.md

pi can help you use the SDK. Ask it to build an integration for your use case.

SDK

The SDK provides programmatic access to pi's agent capabilities. Use it to embed pi in other applications, build custom interfaces, or integrate with automated workflows.

Example use cases:

• Build a custom UI (web, desktop, mobile)
• Integrate agent capabilities into existing applications
• Create automated pipelines with agent reasoning
• Build custom tools that spawn sub-agents
• Test agent behavior programmatically

See examples/sdk/ for working examples from minimal to full control.

Quick Start

import { AuthStorage, createAgentSession, ModelRegistry, SessionManager } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

// Set up credential storage and model registry
const authStorage = AuthStorage.create();
const modelRegistry = ModelRegistry.create(authStorage);

const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  sessionManager: SessionManager.inMemory(),
  authStorage,
  modelRegistry,
});

session.subscribe((event) => {
  if (event.type === "message_update" && event.assistantMessageEvent.type === "text_delta") {
    process.stdout.write(event.assistantMessageEvent.delta);
  }
});

await session.prompt("What files are in the current directory?");

Installation

npm install @mariozechner/pi-coding-agent

The SDK is included in the main package. No separate installation needed.

Core Concepts

createAgentSession()

The main factory function for a single AgentSession.

createAgentSession() uses a ResourceLoader to supply extensions, skills, prompt templates, themes, and context files. If you do not provide one, it uses DefaultResourceLoader with standard discovery.

import { createAgentSession } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

// Minimal: defaults with DefaultResourceLoader
const { session } = await createAgentSession();

// Custom: override specific options
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  model: myModel,
  tools: [readTool, bashTool],
  sessionManager: SessionManager.inMemory(),
});

AgentSession

The session manages agent lifecycle, message history, model state, compaction, and event streaming.

interface AgentSession {
  // Send a prompt and wait for completion
  prompt(text: string, options?: PromptOptions): Promise<void>;

  // Queue messages during streaming
  steer(text: string): Promise<void>;
  followUp(text: string): Promise<void>;

  // Subscribe to events (returns unsubscribe function)
  subscribe(listener: (event: AgentSessionEvent) => void): () => void;

  // Session info
  sessionFile: string | undefined;
  sessionId: string;

  // Model control
  setModel(model: Model): Promise<void>;
  setThinkingLevel(level: ThinkingLevel): void;
  cycleModel(): Promise<ModelCycleResult | undefined>;
  cycleThinkingLevel(): ThinkingLevel | undefined;

  // State access
  agent: Agent;
  model: Model | undefined;
  thinkingLevel: ThinkingLevel;
  messages: AgentMessage[];
  isStreaming: boolean;

  // In-place tree navigation within the current session file
  navigateTree(targetId: string, options?: { summarize?: boolean; customInstructions?: string; replaceInstructions?: boolean; label?: string }): Promise<{ editorText?: string; cancelled: boolean }>;

  // Compaction
  compact(customInstructions?: string): Promise<CompactionResult>;
  abortCompaction(): void;

  // Abort current operation
  abort(): Promise<void>;

  // Cleanup
  dispose(): void;
}

Session replacement APIs such as new-session, resume, fork, and import live on AgentSessionRuntime, not on AgentSession.

createAgentSessionRuntime() and AgentSessionRuntime

Use the runtime API when you need to replace the active session and rebuild cwd-bound runtime state. This is the same layer used by the built-in interactive, print, and RPC modes.

createAgentSessionRuntime() takes a runtime factory plus the initial cwd/session target. The factory closes over process-global fixed inputs, recreates cwd-bound services for the effective cwd, resolves session options against those services, and returns a full runtime result.

import {
  type CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory,
  createAgentSessionFromServices,
  createAgentSessionRuntime,
  createAgentSessionServices,
  getAgentDir,
  SessionManager,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const createRuntime: CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory = async ({ cwd, sessionManager, sessionStartEvent }) => {
  const services = await createAgentSessionServices({ cwd });
  return {
    ...(await createAgentSessionFromServices({
      services,
      sessionManager,
      sessionStartEvent,
    })),
    services,
    diagnostics: services.diagnostics,
  };
};

const runtime = await createAgentSessionRuntime(createRuntime, {
  cwd: process.cwd(),
  agentDir: getAgentDir(),
  sessionManager: SessionManager.create(process.cwd()),
});

AgentSessionRuntime owns replacement of the active runtime across:

• newSession()
• switchSession()
• fork()
• clone flows via fork(entryId, { position: "at" })
• importFromJsonl()

Important behavior:

• runtime.session changes after those operations
• event subscriptions are attached to a specific AgentSession, so re-subscribe after replacement
• if you use extensions, call runtime.session.bindExtensions(...) again for the new session
• creation returns diagnostics on runtime.diagnostics
• if runtime creation or replacement fails, the method throws and the caller decides how to handle it

let session = runtime.session;
let unsubscribe = session.subscribe(() => {});

await runtime.newSession();

unsubscribe();
session = runtime.session;
unsubscribe = session.subscribe(() => {});

Prompting and Message Queueing

PromptOptions controls prompt expansion, queueing behavior while streaming, and prompt preflight notifications:

interface PromptOptions {
  expandPromptTemplates?: boolean;
  images?: ImageContent[];
  streamingBehavior?: "steer" | "followUp";
  source?: InputSource;
  preflightResult?: (success: boolean) => void;
}

preflightResult is called once per prompt() invocation:

• true when the prompt was accepted, queued, or handled immediately
• false when prompt preflight rejected before acceptance

It fires before prompt() resolves. prompt() still resolves only after the full accepted run finishes, including retries. Failures after acceptance are reported through the normal event and message stream, not through preflightResult(false).

The prompt() method handles prompt templates, extension commands, and message sending:

// Basic prompt (when not streaming)
await session.prompt("What files are here?");

// With images
await session.prompt("What's in this image?", {
  images: [{ type: "image", source: { type: "base64", mediaType: "image/png", data: "..." } }]
});

// During streaming: must specify how to queue the message
await session.prompt("Stop and do this instead", { streamingBehavior: "steer" });
await session.prompt("After you're done, also check X", { streamingBehavior: "followUp" });

Behavior:

• Extension commands (e.g., /mycommand): Execute immediately, even during streaming. They manage their own LLM interaction via pi.sendMessage().
• File-based prompt templates (from .md files): Expanded to their content before sending or queueing.
• During streaming without streamingBehavior: Throws an error. Use steer() or followUp() directly, or specify the option.
• preflightResult(true): Means the prompt was accepted, queued, or handled immediately.
• preflightResult(false): Means preflight rejected before acceptance.

For explicit queueing during streaming:

// Queue a steering message for delivery after the current assistant turn finishes its tool calls
await session.steer("New instruction");

// Wait for agent to finish (delivered only when agent stops)
await session.followUp("After you're done, also do this");

Both steer() and followUp() expand file-based prompt templates but error on extension commands (extension commands cannot be queued).

Agent and AgentState

The Agent class (from @mariozechner/pi-agent-core) handles the core LLM interaction. Access it via session.agent.

// Access current state
const state = session.agent.state;

// state.messages: AgentMessage[] - conversation history
// state.model: Model - current model
// state.thinkingLevel: ThinkingLevel - current thinking level
// state.systemPrompt: string - system prompt
// state.tools: AgentTool[] - available tools
// state.streamingMessage?: AgentMessage - current partial assistant message
// state.errorMessage?: string - latest assistant error

// Replace messages (useful for branching or restoration)
session.agent.state.messages = messages; // copies the top-level array

// Replace tools
session.agent.state.tools = tools; // copies the top-level array

// Wait for agent to finish processing
await session.agent.waitForIdle();

Events

Subscribe to events to receive streaming output and lifecycle notifications.

session.subscribe((event) => {
  switch (event.type) {
    // Streaming text from assistant
    case "message_update":
      if (event.assistantMessageEvent.type === "text_delta") {
        process.stdout.write(event.assistantMessageEvent.delta);
      }
      if (event.assistantMessageEvent.type === "thinking_delta") {
        // Thinking output (if thinking enabled)
      }
      break;
    
    // Tool execution
    case "tool_execution_start":
      console.log(`Tool: ${event.toolName}`);
      break;
    case "tool_execution_update":
      // Streaming tool output
      break;
    case "tool_execution_end":
      console.log(`Result: ${event.isError ? "error" : "success"}`);
      break;
    
    // Message lifecycle
    case "message_start":
      // New message starting
      break;
    case "message_end":
      // Message complete
      break;
    
    // Agent lifecycle
    case "agent_start":
      // Agent started processing prompt
      break;
    case "agent_end":
      // Agent finished (event.messages contains new messages)
      break;
    
    // Turn lifecycle (one LLM response + tool calls)
    case "turn_start":
      break;
    case "turn_end":
      // event.message: assistant response
      // event.toolResults: tool results from this turn
      break;
    
    // Session events (queue, compaction, retry)
    case "queue_update":
      console.log(event.steering, event.followUp);
      break;
    case "compaction_start":
    case "compaction_end":
    case "auto_retry_start":
    case "auto_retry_end":
      break;
  }
});

Options Reference

Directories

const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  // Working directory for DefaultResourceLoader discovery
  cwd: process.cwd(), // default
  
  // Global config directory
  agentDir: "~/.pi/agent", // default (expands ~)
});

cwd is used by DefaultResourceLoader for:

• Project extensions (.pi/extensions/)
• Project skills:
  • .pi/skills/
  • .agents/skills/ in cwd and ancestor directories (up to git repo root, or filesystem root when not in a repo)
• Project prompts (.pi/prompts/)
• Context files (AGENTS.md walking up from cwd)
• Session directory naming

agentDir is used by DefaultResourceLoader for:

• Global extensions (extensions/)
• Global skills:
  • skills/ under agentDir (for example ~/.pi/agent/skills/)
  • ~/.agents/skills/
• Global prompts (prompts/)
• Global context file (AGENTS.md)
• Settings (settings.json)
• Custom models (models.json)
• Credentials (auth.json)
• Sessions (sessions/)

When you pass a custom ResourceLoader, cwd and agentDir no longer control resource discovery. They still influence session naming and tool path resolution.

Model

import { getModel } from "@mariozechner/pi-ai";
import { AuthStorage, ModelRegistry } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const authStorage = AuthStorage.create();
const modelRegistry = ModelRegistry.create(authStorage);

// Find specific built-in model (doesn't check if API key exists)
const opus = getModel("anthropic", "claude-opus-4-5");
if (!opus) throw new Error("Model not found");

// Find any model by provider/id, including custom models from models.json
// (doesn't check if API key exists)
const customModel = modelRegistry.find("my-provider", "my-model");

// Get only models that have valid API keys configured
const available = await modelRegistry.getAvailable();

const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  model: opus,
  thinkingLevel: "medium", // off, minimal, low, medium, high, xhigh
  
  // Models for cycling (Ctrl+P in interactive mode)
  scopedModels: [
    { model: opus, thinkingLevel: "high" },
    { model: haiku, thinkingLevel: "off" },
  ],
  
  authStorage,
  modelRegistry,
});

If no model is provided:

1. Tries to restore from session (if continuing)
2. Uses default from settings
3. Falls back to first available model

See examples/sdk/02-custom-model.ts

API Keys and OAuth

API key resolution priority (handled by AuthStorage):

1. Runtime overrides (via setRuntimeApiKey, not persisted)
2. Stored credentials in auth.json (API keys or OAuth tokens)
3. Environment variables (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, etc.)
4. Fallback resolver (for custom provider keys from models.json)

import { AuthStorage, ModelRegistry } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

// Default: uses ~/.pi/agent/auth.json and ~/.pi/agent/models.json
const authStorage = AuthStorage.create();
const modelRegistry = ModelRegistry.create(authStorage);

const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  sessionManager: SessionManager.inMemory(),
  authStorage,
  modelRegistry,
});

// Runtime API key override (not persisted to disk)
authStorage.setRuntimeApiKey("anthropic", "sk-my-temp-key");

// Custom auth storage location
const customAuth = AuthStorage.create("/my/app/auth.json");
const customRegistry = ModelRegistry.create(customAuth, "/my/app/models.json");

const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  sessionManager: SessionManager.inMemory(),
  authStorage: customAuth,
  modelRegistry: customRegistry,
});

// No custom models.json (built-in models only)
const simpleRegistry = ModelRegistry.inMemory(authStorage);

See examples/sdk/09-api-keys-and-oauth.ts

System Prompt

Use a ResourceLoader to override the system prompt:

import { createAgentSession, DefaultResourceLoader } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const loader = new DefaultResourceLoader({
  systemPromptOverride: () => "You are a helpful assistant.",
});
await loader.reload();

const { session } = await createAgentSession({ resourceLoader: loader });

See examples/sdk/03-custom-prompt.ts

Tools

import {
  codingTools,   // read, bash, edit, write (default)
  readOnlyTools, // read, grep, find, ls
  readTool, bashTool, editTool, writeTool,
  grepTool, findTool, lsTool,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

// Use built-in tool set
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  tools: readOnlyTools,
});

// Pick specific tools
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  tools: [readTool, bashTool, grepTool],
});

Tools with Custom cwd

Important: The pre-built tool instances (readTool, bashTool, etc.) use process.cwd() for path resolution. When you specify a custom cwd AND provide explicit tools, you must use the tool factory functions to ensure paths resolve correctly:

import {
  createCodingTools,    // Creates [read, bash, edit, write] for specific cwd
  createReadOnlyTools,  // Creates [read, grep, find, ls] for specific cwd
  createReadTool,
  createBashTool,
  createEditTool,
  createWriteTool,
  createGrepTool,
  createFindTool,
  createLsTool,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const cwd = "/path/to/project";

// Use factory for tool sets
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  cwd,
  tools: createCodingTools(cwd),  // Tools resolve paths relative to cwd
});

// Or pick specific tools
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  cwd,
  tools: [createReadTool(cwd), createBashTool(cwd), createGrepTool(cwd)],
});

When you don't need factories:

• If you omit tools, pi automatically creates them with the correct cwd
• If you use process.cwd() as your cwd, the pre-built instances work fine

When you must use factories:

• When you specify both cwd (different from process.cwd()) AND tools

See examples/sdk/05-tools.ts

Custom Tools

import { Type } from "typebox";
import { createAgentSession, defineTool } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

// Inline custom tool
const myTool = defineTool({
  name: "my_tool",
  label: "My Tool",
  description: "Does something useful",
  parameters: Type.Object({
    input: Type.String({ description: "Input value" }),
  }),
  execute: async (_toolCallId, params) => ({
    content: [{ type: "text", text: `Result: ${params.input}` }],
    details: {},
  }),
});

// Pass custom tools directly
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  customTools: [myTool],
});

Use defineTool() for standalone definitions and arrays like customTools: [myTool]. Inline pi.registerTool({ ... }) already infers parameter types correctly.

Custom tools passed via customTools are combined with extension-registered tools. Extensions loaded by the ResourceLoader can also register tools via pi.registerTool().

See examples/sdk/05-tools.ts

Extensions

Extensions are loaded by the ResourceLoader. DefaultResourceLoader discovers extensions from ~/.pi/agent/extensions/, .pi/extensions/, and settings.json extension sources.

import { createAgentSession, DefaultResourceLoader } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const loader = new DefaultResourceLoader({
  additionalExtensionPaths: ["/path/to/my-extension.ts"],
  extensionFactories: [
    (pi) => {
      pi.on("agent_start", () => {
        console.log("[Inline Extension] Agent starting");
      });
    },
  ],
});
await loader.reload();

const { session } = await createAgentSession({ resourceLoader: loader });

Extensions can register tools, subscribe to events, add commands, and more. See extensions.md for the full API.

Event Bus: Extensions can communicate via pi.events. Pass a shared eventBus to DefaultResourceLoader if you need to emit or listen from outside:

import { createEventBus, DefaultResourceLoader } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const eventBus = createEventBus();
const loader = new DefaultResourceLoader({
  eventBus,
});
await loader.reload();

eventBus.on("my-extension:status", (data) => console.log(data));

See examples/sdk/06-extensions.ts and docs/extensions.md

Skills

import {
  createAgentSession,
  DefaultResourceLoader,
  type Skill,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const customSkill: Skill = {
  name: "my-skill",
  description: "Custom instructions",
  filePath: "/path/to/SKILL.md",
  baseDir: "/path/to",
  source: "custom",
};

const loader = new DefaultResourceLoader({
  skillsOverride: (current) => ({
    skills: [...current.skills, customSkill],
    diagnostics: current.diagnostics,
  }),
});
await loader.reload();

const { session } = await createAgentSession({ resourceLoader: loader });

See examples/sdk/04-skills.ts

Context Files

import { createAgentSession, DefaultResourceLoader } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const loader = new DefaultResourceLoader({
  agentsFilesOverride: (current) => ({
    agentsFiles: [
      ...current.agentsFiles,
      { path: "/virtual/AGENTS.md", content: "# Guidelines\n\n- Be concise" },
    ],
  }),
});
await loader.reload();

const { session } = await createAgentSession({ resourceLoader: loader });

See examples/sdk/07-context-files.ts

Slash Commands

import {
  createAgentSession,
  DefaultResourceLoader,
  type PromptTemplate,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const customCommand: PromptTemplate = {
  name: "deploy",
  description: "Deploy the application",
  source: "(custom)",
  content: "# Deploy\n\n1. Build\n2. Test\n3. Deploy",
};

const loader = new DefaultResourceLoader({
  promptsOverride: (current) => ({
    prompts: [...current.prompts, customCommand],
    diagnostics: current.diagnostics,
  }),
});
await loader.reload();

const { session } = await createAgentSession({ resourceLoader: loader });

See examples/sdk/08-prompt-templates.ts

Session Management

Sessions use a tree structure with id/parentId linking, enabling in-place branching.

import {
  type CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory,
  createAgentSession,
  createAgentSessionFromServices,
  createAgentSessionRuntime,
  createAgentSessionServices,
  getAgentDir,
  SessionManager,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

// In-memory (no persistence)
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  sessionManager: SessionManager.inMemory(),
});

// New persistent session
const { session: persisted } = await createAgentSession({
  sessionManager: SessionManager.create(process.cwd()),
});

// Continue most recent
const { session: continued, modelFallbackMessage } = await createAgentSession({
  sessionManager: SessionManager.continueRecent(process.cwd()),
});
if (modelFallbackMessage) {
  console.log("Note:", modelFallbackMessage);
}

// Open specific file
const { session: opened } = await createAgentSession({
  sessionManager: SessionManager.open("/path/to/session.jsonl"),
});

// List sessions
const currentProjectSessions = await SessionManager.list(process.cwd());
const allSessions = await SessionManager.listAll(process.cwd());

// Session replacement API for /new, /resume, /fork, /clone, and import flows.
const createRuntime: CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory = async ({ cwd, sessionManager, sessionStartEvent }) => {
  const services = await createAgentSessionServices({ cwd });
  return {
    ...(await createAgentSessionFromServices({
      services,
      sessionManager,
      sessionStartEvent,
    })),
    services,
    diagnostics: services.diagnostics,
  };
};

const runtime = await createAgentSessionRuntime(createRuntime, {
  cwd: process.cwd(),
  agentDir: getAgentDir(),
  sessionManager: SessionManager.create(process.cwd()),
});

// Replace the active session with a fresh one
await runtime.newSession();

// Replace the active session with another saved session
await runtime.switchSession("/path/to/session.jsonl");

// Replace the active session with a fork from a specific user entry
await runtime.fork("entry-id");

// Clone the active path through a specific entry
await runtime.fork("entry-id", { position: "at" });

SessionManager tree API:

const sm = SessionManager.open("/path/to/session.jsonl");

// Session listing
const currentProjectSessions = await SessionManager.list(process.cwd());
const allSessions = await SessionManager.listAll(process.cwd());

// Tree traversal
const entries = sm.getEntries();        // All entries (excludes header)
const tree = sm.getTree();              // Full tree structure
const path = sm.getPath();              // Path from root to current leaf
const leaf = sm.getLeafEntry();         // Current leaf entry
const entry = sm.getEntry(id);          // Get entry by ID
const children = sm.getChildren(id);    // Direct children of entry

// Labels
const label = sm.getLabel(id);          // Get label for entry
sm.appendLabelChange(id, "checkpoint"); // Set label

// Branching
sm.branch(entryId);                     // Move leaf to earlier entry
sm.branchWithSummary(id, "Summary...");  // Branch with context summary
sm.createBranchedSession(leafId);       // Extract path to new file

See examples/sdk/11-sessions.ts and docs/session.md

Settings Management

import { createAgentSession, SettingsManager, SessionManager } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

// Default: loads from files (global + project merged)
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  settingsManager: SettingsManager.create(),
});

// With overrides
const settingsManager = SettingsManager.create();
settingsManager.applyOverrides({
  compaction: { enabled: false },
  retry: { enabled: true, maxRetries: 5 },
});
const { session } = await createAgentSession({ settingsManager });

// In-memory (no file I/O, for testing)
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  settingsManager: SettingsManager.inMemory({ compaction: { enabled: false } }),
  sessionManager: SessionManager.inMemory(),
});

// Custom directories
const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  settingsManager: SettingsManager.create("/custom/cwd", "/custom/agent"),
});

Static factories:

• SettingsManager.create(cwd?, agentDir?) - Load from files
• SettingsManager.inMemory(settings?) - No file I/O

Project-specific settings:

Settings load from two locations and merge:

1. Global: ~/.pi/agent/settings.json
2. Project: <cwd>/.pi/settings.json

Project overrides global. Nested objects merge keys. Setters modify global settings by default.

Persistence and error handling semantics:

• Settings getters/setters are synchronous for in-memory state.
• Setters enqueue persistence writes asynchronously.
• Call await settingsManager.flush() when you need a durability boundary (for example, before process exit or before asserting file contents in tests).
• SettingsManager does not print settings I/O errors. Use settingsManager.drainErrors() and report them in your app layer.

See examples/sdk/10-settings.ts

ResourceLoader

Use DefaultResourceLoader to discover extensions, skills, prompts, themes, and context files.

import {
  DefaultResourceLoader,
  getAgentDir,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const loader = new DefaultResourceLoader({
  cwd,
  agentDir: getAgentDir(),
});
await loader.reload();

const extensions = loader.getExtensions();
const skills = loader.getSkills();
const prompts = loader.getPrompts();
const themes = loader.getThemes();
const contextFiles = loader.getAgentsFiles().agentsFiles;

Return Value

createAgentSession() returns:

interface CreateAgentSessionResult {
  // The session
  session: AgentSession;
  
  // Extensions result (for runner setup)
  extensionsResult: LoadExtensionsResult;
  
  // Warning if session model couldn't be restored
  modelFallbackMessage?: string;
}

interface LoadExtensionsResult {
  extensions: Extension[];
  errors: Array<{ path: string; error: string }>;
  runtime: ExtensionRuntime;
}

Complete Example

import { getModel } from "@mariozechner/pi-ai";
import { Type } from "typebox";
import {
  AuthStorage,
  bashTool,
  createAgentSession,
  DefaultResourceLoader,
  defineTool,
  ModelRegistry,
  readTool,
  SessionManager,
  SettingsManager,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

// Set up auth storage (custom location)
const authStorage = AuthStorage.create("/custom/agent/auth.json");

// Runtime API key override (not persisted)
if (process.env.MY_KEY) {
  authStorage.setRuntimeApiKey("anthropic", process.env.MY_KEY);
}

// Model registry (no custom models.json)
const modelRegistry = ModelRegistry.create(authStorage);

// Inline tool
const statusTool = defineTool({
  name: "status",
  label: "Status",
  description: "Get system status",
  parameters: Type.Object({}),
  execute: async () => ({
    content: [{ type: "text", text: `Uptime: ${process.uptime()}s` }],
    details: {},
  }),
});

const model = getModel("anthropic", "claude-opus-4-5");
if (!model) throw new Error("Model not found");

// In-memory settings with overrides
const settingsManager = SettingsManager.inMemory({
  compaction: { enabled: false },
  retry: { enabled: true, maxRetries: 2 },
});

const loader = new DefaultResourceLoader({
  cwd: process.cwd(),
  agentDir: "/custom/agent",
  settingsManager,
  systemPromptOverride: () => "You are a minimal assistant. Be concise.",
});
await loader.reload();

const { session } = await createAgentSession({
  cwd: process.cwd(),
  agentDir: "/custom/agent",

  model,
  thinkingLevel: "off",
  authStorage,
  modelRegistry,

  tools: [readTool, bashTool],
  customTools: [statusTool],
  resourceLoader: loader,

  sessionManager: SessionManager.inMemory(),
  settingsManager,
});

session.subscribe((event) => {
  if (event.type === "message_update" && event.assistantMessageEvent.type === "text_delta") {
    process.stdout.write(event.assistantMessageEvent.delta);
  }
});

await session.prompt("Get status and list files.");

Run Modes

The SDK exports run mode utilities for building custom interfaces on top of createAgentSession():

InteractiveMode

Full TUI interactive mode with editor, chat history, and all built-in commands:

import {
  type CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory,
  createAgentSessionFromServices,
  createAgentSessionRuntime,
  createAgentSessionServices,
  getAgentDir,
  InteractiveMode,
  SessionManager,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const createRuntime: CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory = async ({ cwd, sessionManager, sessionStartEvent }) => {
  const services = await createAgentSessionServices({ cwd });
  return {
    ...(await createAgentSessionFromServices({ services, sessionManager, sessionStartEvent })),
    services,
    diagnostics: services.diagnostics,
  };
};
const runtime = await createAgentSessionRuntime(createRuntime, {
  cwd: process.cwd(),
  agentDir: getAgentDir(),
  sessionManager: SessionManager.create(process.cwd()),
});

const mode = new InteractiveMode(runtime, {
  migratedProviders: [],
  modelFallbackMessage: undefined,
  initialMessage: "Hello",
  initialImages: [],
  initialMessages: [],
});

await mode.run();

runPrintMode

Single-shot mode: send prompts, output result, exit:

import {
  type CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory,
  createAgentSessionFromServices,
  createAgentSessionRuntime,
  createAgentSessionServices,
  getAgentDir,
  runPrintMode,
  SessionManager,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const createRuntime: CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory = async ({ cwd, sessionManager, sessionStartEvent }) => {
  const services = await createAgentSessionServices({ cwd });
  return {
    ...(await createAgentSessionFromServices({ services, sessionManager, sessionStartEvent })),
    services,
    diagnostics: services.diagnostics,
  };
};
const runtime = await createAgentSessionRuntime(createRuntime, {
  cwd: process.cwd(),
  agentDir: getAgentDir(),
  sessionManager: SessionManager.create(process.cwd()),
});

await runPrintMode(runtime, {
  mode: "text",
  initialMessage: "Hello",
  initialImages: [],
  messages: ["Follow up"],
});

runRpcMode

JSON-RPC mode for subprocess integration:

import {
  type CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory,
  createAgentSessionFromServices,
  createAgentSessionRuntime,
  createAgentSessionServices,
  getAgentDir,
  runRpcMode,
  SessionManager,
} from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";

const createRuntime: CreateAgentSessionRuntimeFactory = async ({ cwd, sessionManager, sessionStartEvent }) => {
  const services = await createAgentSessionServices({ cwd });
  return {
    ...(await createAgentSessionFromServices({ services, sessionManager, sessionStartEvent })),
    services,
    diagnostics: services.diagnostics,
  };
};
const runtime = await createAgentSessionRuntime(createRuntime, {
  cwd: process.cwd(),
  agentDir: getAgentDir(),
  sessionManager: SessionManager.create(process.cwd()),
});

await runRpcMode(runtime);

See RPC documentation for the JSON protocol.

RPC Mode Alternative

For subprocess-based integration without building with the SDK, use the CLI directly:

pi --mode rpc --no-session

See RPC documentation for the JSON protocol.

The SDK is preferred when:

• You want type safety
• You're in the same Node.js process
• You need direct access to agent state
• You want to customize tools/extensions programmatically

RPC mode is preferred when:

• You're integrating from another language
• You want process isolation
• You're building a language-agnostic client

Exports

The main entry point exports:

// Factory
createAgentSession
createAgentSessionRuntime
AgentSessionRuntime

// Auth and Models
AuthStorage
ModelRegistry

// Resource loading
DefaultResourceLoader
type ResourceLoader
createEventBus

// Helpers
defineTool

// Session management
SessionManager
SettingsManager

// Built-in tools (use process.cwd())
codingTools
readOnlyTools
readTool, bashTool, editTool, writeTool
grepTool, findTool, lsTool

// Tool factories (for custom cwd)
createCodingTools
createReadOnlyTools
createReadTool, createBashTool, createEditTool, createWriteTool
createGrepTool, createFindTool, createLsTool

// Types
type CreateAgentSessionOptions
type CreateAgentSessionResult
type ExtensionFactory
type ExtensionAPI
type ToolDefinition
type Skill
type PromptTemplate
type Tool

For extension types, see extensions.md for the full API.