pi Desktop – A GUI for the pi coding‑agent

What it is – pi Desktop is a cross‑platform desktop application (Windows, macOS, Linux) that lets you interact with the pi coding‑agent – the same AI‑assistant you can run from the terminal via the pi CLI. It does not provide a new model; it simply runs the existing pi SDK in background workers and gives you a visual UI for the sessions, Git diffs, file browsing, and extensions you already use in the CLI.

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Core ideas

Feature	What you get
Shared session store	Both the CLI and the desktop read/write ~/.pi/agent (sessions, model logins, settings.json, extensions). Open a folder and you instantly see the same sessions you started in the terminal.
Timeline view	Each turn of the agent (thinking, tool calls, file reads/edits) appears as a step that folds into a concise summary. Edits show +N −M line changes and a Files changed card opens the diff.
Review panel	Pick a scope (single turn, whole session, or full Git tree) and see a Git‑style diff. You can stage/unstage hunks and send line comments back into the conversation.
Files panel	Browse the project side‑by‑side with the chat. Click a line to quote path:line into the composer, preview files, drag‑and‑drop into the chat.
Composer shortcuts	@ searches project files (respects .gitignore via fd), / lists pi commands and extension‑registered commands, Enter sends, Alt+Enter queues a follow‑up, Shift+Enter adds a newline.
Parallel sessions	Each session runs in its own Electron worker, so you can start a second turn while the first is still processing.
Panels	Tree (session as a tree), Run (model/think level and token split), Context (messages with token estimates).
Themes & appearance	Light/dark presets, custom CSS, five icon sets, density scaling, and import from pi-theme-v1 / codex-theme-v1 strings.
Extensions	All terminal‑installed pi extensions load unchanged. Their UI dialogs, tool cards, and /commands are mapped to native panels via declarative adapters (36 built‑in). You can add/override adapters with JSON files.
Voice input	Built‑in transcription using ChatGPT’s endpoint (no API key needed) or a custom codex‑asr service.
WSL runtime (Windows)	Workers can run inside a chosen WSL distro, keeping Git and file previews on the Linux side.

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Who might use it?

• Developers already using the pi CLI who want a richer UI for reviewing code changes, navigating session trees, and staging Git hunks without leaving the app.
• Teams that share the same ~/.pi/agent directory – the desktop and terminal stay in sync, so a colleague can pick up a session you started.
• People who prefer visual feedback (timeline, diffs, file previews) over pure terminal output.

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Getting started (from the README)

1. Download the installer for your OS from the Releases page (Windows .exe/portable, macOS .dmg/.zip, Linux .AppImage or .deb).
2. Open a folder – it becomes the agent’s working directory. Use the + button next to Conversations for a throw‑away chat.
3. Select a session – existing terminal sessions appear; click + to start a new one.
4. Send prompts – Enter to send, Shift+Enter for a new line. While the agent runs, Enter steers the turn, Alt+Enter queues a follow‑up.
5. Explore the UI – Review, Run, Context, Tree, and Files panels are on the right sidebar; drag to resize.

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Technical snapshot (for developers)

• Stack: Electron 43, React 18, TypeScript, Tailwind, Zustand, i18next, @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent.
• Architecture: Main process handles IPC and spawns a worker per session; each worker runs the pi SDK (locally or inside WSL). The renderer never talks directly to the SDK.
• Build: npm install → npm run dev (dev), npm run build (production bundle), npm run package (installers via electron‑builder).
• Tests: Unit, script, type‑checking, linting scripts provided.

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License & support

• License: MIT.
• Support: LinuxDo community, GitHub Issues, sponsorship QR code.

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Bottom line – pi Desktop is a fully‑featured GUI wrapper around the existing pi coding‑agent, giving you timeline visualisation, Git‑style review, file browsing, parallel sessions, and extension support while staying compatible with the CLI workflow.