Pi coding tasks

Let OpenSRE hand a coding task to the Pi agent, which edits the working tree and returns a diff.

Overview

The Pi coding tool lets OpenSRE submit a coding task to the Pi agent. Pi edits files in a workspace to implement the change and returns a summary plus the git diff. It does not commit, push, or open a pull request — it only edits the working tree so you can review the diff.

This is different from using Pi as your LLM provider (LLM_PROVIDER=pi, see LLM providers). There Pi is the reasoning engine; here Pi is the thing that actually changes code.

This is a mutating tool — it changes files on disk. It is disabled by default: it only becomes available to the agent when PI_CODING_ENABLED=1. Enable it only when you want OpenSRE to make code changes. It never commits, pushes, or opens a PR, so you always review the diff.

Prerequisites

• Pi CLI installed and authenticated (same binary/credentials as the Pi provider)
• Explicit opt-in via PI_CODING_ENABLED=1

Setup

There is no opensre integrations setup target for Pi coding. Enable it with environment variables.

Enable it

1. Install and authenticate the Pi CLI:
   npm i -g @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent
   # then authenticate: run `pi` and use /login, or export a provider key such as GEMINI_API_KEY
   
2. Turn the tool on:
   export PI_CODING_ENABLED=1
   export PI_CODING_MODEL=anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5   # optional
   
3. Confirm Pi is ready:
   uv run opensre doctor
   

Env var	What it does
PI_CODING_ENABLED	Opt-in switch. Set to 1 to make the tool available. Off by default.
PI_CODING_MODEL	Optional Pi model in provider/model form (for example anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5).
PI_CODING_WORKSPACE	Default repository path Pi edits. Defaults to the current directory.
PI_CODING_TIMEOUT_SECONDS	Per-task timeout (default 600, clamped 60–1800).
PI_BIN	Optional explicit path to the pi binary.

Credentials

Pi coding shares the pi binary and provider credentials with the LLM-provider Pi path. Authenticate once with /login inside pi, or export the provider API key your Pi model needs. OpenSRE does not store a separate Pi coding token.

Investigation tools

Tool	What it does
pi_coding_task	Run Pi headlessly on a coding task; return summary, changed files, and diff (investigation surface)

How it works

When the tool runs, it:

1. runs pi in headless mode inside the workspace with your task plus a fixed set of rules (follow AGENTS.md, do not commit or push, do not run destructive git commands, preserve unrelated changes, summarize what changed),
2. lets Pi edit the files,
3. returns success, a summary, the list of changed_files, and the diff (truncated if large).

You review the diff and decide whether to keep, commit, or revert the changes.

Example

Once enabled, the tool is available to the agent (investigation surface). Describe a scoped coding task, for example:

add input validation to parse_config() in config/loader.py

If the agent calls the tool, Pi edits PI_CODING_WORKSPACE, and you get back a summary and the diff to review. Nothing is committed. (The agent decides whether to call the tool; for a deterministic run, invoke pi_coding_task directly — see the tests.)

Verify

There is no dedicated integrations verify target. Confirm readiness with:

uv run opensre doctor

In-tool readiness also checks the Pi binary and auth via verify_pi_coding(). If PI_CODING_ENABLED is unset, or the Pi CLI is missing or unauthenticated, the tool stays unavailable and returns a clear message instead of running.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Tool never offered	Set PI_CODING_ENABLED=1
Pi missing / unauthenticated	Install @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent and complete /login or export a provider key
Wrong workspace	Set PI_CODING_WORKSPACE to the repo path
Timeouts	Raise PI_CODING_TIMEOUT_SECONDS (max 1800)

Security

• Disabled by default — enable deliberately.
• Edits the working tree only — never commits, pushes, or opens a PR.
• Review every diff before you keep changes.