Get in Touch

Course Outline

Introduction to Pi

  • Overview of Pi and its philosophy centered on minimalism and control
  • Comparison with other tools such as Claude Code, Codex CLI, and Cursor
  • The four native tools: read, write, edit, and bash
  • Scenarios where Pi is the preferred choice over heavier agents

Installation and Setup

  • Installing Pi using npm and other package managers
  • Configuring API keys for over 15 supported providers
  • Setting up working directories and context files
  • Running Pi in local environments and within Docker containers

Core Terminal Workflows

  • Generating code through simple text prompts
  • Reading and editing files with high precision
  • Executing bash commands securely within the agent
  • Managing session state and performing context resets

Building Custom Skills

  • Understanding the TypeScript skill API
  • Developing custom operations for reading, writing, and editing
  • Integrating with bash execution for specialized workflows
  • Isolating testing and debugging of skills

Prompt Templates and Themes

  • Customizing system prompts for various languages and frameworks
  • Creating reusable prompt templates to ensure team consistency
  • Packaging themes as shareable modules

Extending Pi with npm Packages

  • Bundling skills as pi packages
  • Publishing to npm and Git repositories
  • Installing packages contributed by the community
  • Managing dependency versions and ensuring compatibility

Provider Flexibility

  • Switching between backends like Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and others
  • Optimizing for cost, speed, and quality based on task requirements
  • Running local models entirely offline for sensitive code

Practical Use Cases

  • Automated testing and test generation workflows
  • Refactoring legacy code using custom skill chains
  • Documentation generation and maintenance
  • CI integration with minimal overhead from the agent

Security and Control

  • Understanding the constraints of the 300-word system prompt
  • Requiring manual approval for all write operations
  • Sandboxing bash execution for untrusted environments
  • Maintaining audit logs for all agent actions

Summary and Next Steps

  • Recap of key principles: minimalism, control, and extensibility
  • Access to community resources and contribution guidelines
  • Overview of advanced topics for experienced Pi users

Requirements

  • Experience with terminal-based development and bash scripting
  • Fundamental knowledge of TypeScript or JavaScript
  • Familiarity with npm package management

Target Audience

  • Developers looking for a lightweight, hackable coding agent
  • Senior engineers who require full control over agent internals
  • Teams transitioning to terminal-first development practices
 14 Hours

Number of participants


Price per participant

Upcoming Courses

Related Categories