This free, open-source instrument beats Claude Code, Codex, and Antigravity at their very own recreation, and I’m not wanting again

I’ve all the time been a large nerd in terms of coding. In truth, nine-year-old me someway determined that sitting down and studying Python was a greater use of my free time than doing actually something a traditional nine-year-old would do. While different children had been busy taking part in video games, I used to be busy determining tips on how to write my very own (admittedly horrible) applications.

My fascination with coding by no means actually went away. If something, the rise of AI coding assistants has solely made it worse. Sure, these instruments do imply I now spend much less time truly writing code myself, and memorizing syntax is one thing I barely have to fret about anymore. However, they’ve additionally made coding a lot more exciting for me. I can concentrate on experimenting with all of the concepts leaping by way of my head, constructing issues I most likely would not have tried in any other case, and seeing simply how far I can push these instruments.

Instead of settling for one particular AI coding instrument, although, I’m an enormous fan of experimenting with all of the totally different choices on the market. Through all this experimenting, I stumbled upon a instrument that beats Claude Code, Codex, and Antigravity at their very own recreation.

Pi is the coding agent you most likely have not heard of

The underdog price rooting for

There’s a large situation with the massive names that dominate the coding agent market. As with each different class of AI instruments, the competitors to supply probably the most options has gotten somewhat out of hand. Every different replace appears to convey a handful of latest options, add extra layers of complexity, or introduce one thing else that almost all customers most likely will not even want.

Though having extra options definitely is not a foul factor, and plenty of would argue that getting extra worth out of an current subscription is all the time appreciated, I’d argue that it does imply these instruments have gotten more and more bloated. Unfortunately, this is not simply restricted to coding brokers from the massive AI firms, like Claude Code, Codex, and Antigravity.

Even free, open-source alternatives like OpenCode appear to be heading in the identical path. This brings me to Pi, which is an especially underrated coding agent that competes with the likes of the instruments I discussed above, however takes a totally totally different strategy to how a coding agent works. Developed by Mario Zechner, Pi is a free, open-source coding agent that places simplicity and minimalism first. It’s described as an “extensible agent harness that you may make your personal.”

You can take it for a spin by putting in it by way of npm, offered you have got Node.js put in in your laptop. All you have to do is open your terminal and run the next command:

npm set up -g –ignore-scripts @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent

Once it is put in, you may launch Pi by opening your terminal, navigating to the listing of your selection that you really want Pi to work with, and working the pi command.

The relaxation is as much as you

Similar to all of the others, it really works instantly out of your terminal and has all of the agentic capabilities you’d anticipate from a contemporary coding assistant. It can learn information, write and modify code, execute instructions, and work by way of complicated coding duties in your behalf.

What units it aside, although, is that it manages to do all this with simply 4 instruments enabled by default: learn, write, edit, and bash. As their names counsel, these instruments permit Pi to learn information, create new ones, modify current code, and run terminal instructions. That’s basically all it must operate as a coding agent.

Now, this doesn’t suggest Pi solely helps 4 instruments. It truly comes with a number of different built-in instruments, together with grep, discover, and ls, which you’ll allow everytime you want them. The distinction is that Pi does not pressure all these instruments on you from the get-go. This signifies that your context window is not unnecessarily cluttered with instrument definitions you may by no means even use, leaving extra room for the precise job at hand.

It does not resolve what you want

One of Pi’s largest promoting factors is its extension system, which helps you to add virtually any performance you are feeling is lacking. Extensions are written in TypeScript and may introduce customized instruments, instructions, keyboard shortcuts, and even modifications to Pi’s terminal interface. You may also use them to change how the agent behaves, work together with totally different mannequin suppliers, or automate particular elements of your workflow.

Essentially, with Pi, the onus is on you to construct the coding agent you need. Rather than the builders deciding which options you want and delivery them with each replace, Pi offers you the inspiration and allows you to take issues from there. The better part is that you do not even have to know TypeScript to get began with extensions.

Since Pi is a coding agent itself, you may merely describe the performance you need and ask it to construct an extension for you. Alternatively, you may set up extensions and packages that different builders have already created.

For instance, Claude Code ships with a built-in Plan Mode that allows you to discover a codebase and map out a job earlier than making any modifications. Pi does not allow an equal characteristic by default, however that does not imply you are caught with out one. You can merely ask Pi to construct a Plan Mode extension for you, full with a customized command, restrictions on modifying information, and even a progress tracker.

You can convey your personal AI mannequin

No vendor lock-in right here

With Claude Code, you are restricted to utilizing Anthropic’s personal fashions. With Codex, you are restricted to utilizing OpenAI’s personal fashions. With Antigravity, you are primarily restricted to Google’s personal fashions (although you become older fashions from different suppliers). Sure, there are methods to get round these restrictions, however these instruments are typically designed with their respective firms’ fashions in thoughts.

Pi, alternatively, does not tie you to any explicit AI supplier. You can select from fashions supplied by Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, DeepSeek, Mistral, Groq, xAI, Cerebras, and a number of other different suppliers. It additionally helps companies like OpenRouter, which supplies you entry to fashions from a number of suppliers by way of a single API. If you’d somewhat keep away from cloud-based fashions altogether, you may even join Pi to regionally hosted fashions utilizing instruments like Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp, or vLLM, permitting you to run fashions by yourself {hardware} with out counting on a third-party API.

Getting began is comparatively easy, too. You can authenticate with a supported supplier utilizing the /login command or configure an API key. Once you have linked your suppliers, you need to use the /mannequin command to modify between fashions with out having to depart Pi or begin over with a totally totally different coding agent.

This means you may select which mannequin makes probably the most sense for a specific job, whether or not that is a robust reasoning mannequin for a posh mission or a less expensive, quicker various for less complicated coding duties. You’re not locked into one firm’s ecosystem, and also you get to resolve how a lot you are prepared to spend!

Pi’s minimalist strategy comes with a catch

You’ll want to consider safety, too

Of course, giving customers this a lot freedom comes with just a few drawbacks. Unlike a few of its opponents, Pi does not include a built-in permission system that asks in your approval earlier than executing probably harmful instructions. By default, it operates with the permissions of the person account working it, that means a poorly interpreted immediate may probably modify or delete information you by no means supposed it to the touch.

Fortunately, Pi’s extension system involves the rescue right here, too. For instance, there is a community-made extension called pi-permission-system that allows you to configure guidelines for what Pi is and is not allowed to do. You can set instructions to execute routinely, require your approval, or block them solely. You may also limit entry to delicate information and directories, supplying you with extra management over what your coding agent can contact.

Still, it is price remembering that an extension-based permission system is not the identical factor as working Pi in a correctly remoted atmosphere. If you are working with delicate information or just do not need to danger an AI agent messing together with your system, working Pi inside a container or sandbox is the safer strategy!

All that to say, I’m not saying that Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, and even OpenCode are unhealthy instruments. Far from it. I’ve spent numerous hours experimenting with all of them, and there is a cause I hold going again to them. Having a feature-packed coding agent is not essentially a foul factor, particularly when these options genuinely make your life simpler.

But I do suppose there’s one thing refreshing about Pi’s strategy, and the truth that you may experiment with totally different fashions and construct the coding agent you need with out having to attend for the builders to introduce new options. You get to resolve precisely what your coding agent seems like, the way it behaves, and what it is able to!