Pi is a minimal, MIT-licensed terminal coding agent that you shape with extensions, skills and packages. HagiCode is a workbench that runs Pi as its executor and adds sessions, proposals and commit tooling around it.
Pi is a minimal, extensible coding agent harness that runs in your terminal. It deliberately ships without sub-agents, plan mode or permission popups, and expects you to add what you need through extensions, skills and packages. HagiCode is a desktop and web workbench that launches agent CLIs such as Pi and supplies the workflow around them: parallel sessions, spec proposals, commits and history. It does not replace Pi.
If you like a small, hackable agent and prefer to build your own workflow on top of it, stay with Pi alone. Add HagiCode if you would rather have sessions, proposals and review handled by a ready-made workbench while Pi keeps doing the agent work.
| Aspect | Pi | HagiCode |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Minimal terminal agent harness, extended through extensions, skills, prompt templates and themes | AI programming workbench that runs agent CLIs, including Pi, as executors |
| Interface and platforms | Interactive terminal UI, print/JSON mode, RPC, TypeScript SDK; macOS, Linux, Windows installers | Desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux), Docker Compose container, Microsoft Store edition |
| Pricing and licensing | MIT-licensed and free; you pay only for the models you connect | Desktop and Container editions free; Store edition free base, optional one-time TurboEngine purchase |
| Model and provider access | 15+ providers by API key or OAuth login; custom providers via models.json or extensions | Hosts no models; uses Pi's own sign-in, or OmniRoute routing if you configure it |
| Parallel work | No built-in sub-agents; add them as an extension or package | Several sessions side by side, managed as named Agents |
| Spec and planning workflow | No plan mode by default; add one through extensions | OpenSpec proposals: propose, validate, apply, archive |
| Git and commit handling | You or an extension handle commits; sessions export to HTML or a gist | AI-written commit messages with repository locking; Git management in the UI |
| Asking you questions | Extensions can open dialogs over RPC | Shows Pi's questions in the conversation, then continues the same run |
| Setup effort | One install script or npm install, then /login | Install Pi first, then HagiCode, then pick Pi as the Agent CLI |
| Best for | Developers who want a small agent core they can bend to their own workflow | Running several Pi tasks across repos with specs, review and history in one place |
Pi's own description is "a minimal, extensible agent harness that you can make your own." Sub-agents, plan mode and permission popups are left out on purpose, so what you run is what you chose to add.
Extensions, skills, prompt templates and themes can be bundled as Pi packages and shared through npm or git.
A session is a tree kept in a single file. You can return to an earlier point with /tree and branch from there without losing the other branch.
Older messages are summarised automatically as the context limit approaches, and compaction can be customised through extensions. /export writes a session to HTML and /share posts it as a GitHub gist.
Use the interactive terminal UI, print/JSON mode for scripts and event streams, an RPC protocol over stdin/stdout, or the TypeScript SDK to embed Pi in your own app.
That makes Pi easy to wrap, which is exactly how tools such as HagiCode can run it.
Pi lists more than 15 providers, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Azure, Bedrock and Ollama. Sign in with /login using a subscription or an API key, and add custom providers through models.json.
Pi has no built-in permission system and runs with your user's permissions, so its docs suggest a container when you need stronger isolation.
HagiCode does not bundle or replace Pi. It finds the pi executable on your machine, checks its version, and starts it for each run, so your install, login and models.json stay as they are.
From its settings HagiCode can pass Pi's provider, thinking level, session directory, no-session mode and tool restrictions.
Pi leaves sub-agents to extensions. In HagiCode every Pi run is its own session, so one can refactor while another writes tests, and Agents management shows each one's status.
Pi ships without plan mode, so HagiCode's propose, validate, apply, archive flow gives each Pi task a written plan and a record. Free editions allow 3 concurrent proposals.
HagiCode writes the commit message from your diff and locks the repository while it commits. The embedded Code Server opens files Pi changed in a browser editor.
Monospecs lists your repositories in one file so Pi starts a proposal knowing the whole change surface. Vault keeps reference projects and notes that new proposals can use as context.
If you configure OmniRoute, Pi's model requests can be routed through it. Pi's tool calls use the same format as other agents. A TokenMonitor status-bar item shows today's tokens and cost; it is off by default.
When Pi asks a structured question, HagiCode shows it in the conversation, the session waits for a reply, and your answer continues the same run. If the run already ended, the answer goes in as a normal message in the same session.
HagiCode is an agentic coding workspace. Rich, convenient UI interactions make planning, agent execution, and project work approachable and easy to navigate, creating an engaging development experience.
Explore an engaging development experience through rich, convenient UI interactions.
HagiCode is an agentic coding workspace. OpenSpec workflows plan the change, multi-agent execution carries it out, and Hero Scenario makes the long run visible, so ideas become shipped software.
© 2026 HagiCode | Powered By hagilight-starlight@0.21.0 | Branch: main | Commit: 951128b | Built:
