pi-coding-agent

display_name	Pi Coding Agent
description	Installs and upgrades the Pi CLI for a Coder user at workspace start.
icon	/icon/code.svg
tags	pi coding-agent coder

Pi Coding Agent

This module installs the Pi coding agent for a Coder user at workspace start. It does not launch a long-running Pi process. The agent can run pi in a Coder terminal or through T3 Code after the startup script completes.

Template change

Add this block to the Coder template beside its existing module blocks:

module "pi_coding_agent" {
  source = "./modules/pi-coding-agent"

  agent_id   = coder_agent.main.id
  pi_version = "1.0.0"
}

Copy modules/pi-coding-agent into the template repository if the template does not already have this relative path. Use the actual Coder agent resource name if it is not coder_agent.main.

Change pi_version to the desired published version and apply the template change. On the next workspace start, the module compares pi --version with the requested version, installs only if they differ, and verifies the result. The same input can be used to roll back. An exact pin gives repeatable starts, but upgrades require a template change. Set pi_version = "latest" or omit it to check npm for a newer release on every start; that follows new releases automatically, but the resulting version can vary between starts.

Requirements and behavior

The Linux workspace image needs Node.js 22.19 or newer, curl, tar, and a POSIX shell. Node 24 is supported. Installation and upgrades need outbound HTTPS access to the npm registry. The latest setting also queries the registry on every start. If Node is present but npm is missing from PATH, the script downloads the npm CLI into the user's persistent $HOME/.local/share/pi-coding-agent directory. It then uses the official npm installation command with --ignore-scripts and a user-local prefix. It does not need root or an image rebuild.

The module prepends $HOME/.local/bin to the Coder agent PATH, so both Coder terminals and the T3 server's agent environment can find pi. Pi's authentication, settings, and sessions stay in its normal $HOME/.pi/agent directory on persistent home storage. Authenticate interactively using Pi's /login command or provide a provider API key through the workspace's normal runtime environment. This module has no credential inputs.

If installation fails, the Coder startup script prints the failing command's error and an explicit Pi installation message. The script blocks login until pi --version reports the requested version.

Inputs

Name	Description	Type	Default	Required
agent_id	Coder agent ID that installs Pi.	string	n/a	yes
pi_version	Exact Pi version, or latest for automatic updates at workspace start.	string	latest	no

Outputs

Name	Description
pi_path	Path used for module-managed installations; an already matching Pi elsewhere on PATH is reused.