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Course Outline

Introduction to Pi

  • Understanding what Pi is and its philosophy of minimalism and control.
  • Comparing Pi with Claude Code, Codex CLI, and Cursor.
  • Exploring the four built-in tools: read, write, edit, and bash.
  • When to choose Pi over heavier agents.

Installation and Setup

  • Installing Pi via npm and other package managers.
  • Configuring API keys for over 15 supported providers.
  • Setting up the working directory and context files.
  • Running Pi in local and Docker environments.

Core Terminal Workflows

  • Generating code from simple prompts.
  • Reading and editing files with precision.
  • Executing bash commands safely within the agent.
  • Managing session state and context resets.

Building Custom Skills

  • Understanding the TypeScript skill API.
  • Writing custom read, write, and edit operations.
  • Hooking into bash execution for specialised workflows.
  • Testing and debugging skills in isolation.

Prompt Templates and Themes

  • Adapting system prompts for different languages and frameworks.
  • Creating reusable prompt templates for team consistency.
  • Packaging themes as shareable modules.

Extending Pi with npm Packages

  • Bundling skills as pi packages.
  • Publishing to npm and Git.
  • Installing community-contributed packages.
  • Managing dependency versions and compatibility.

Provider Flexibility

  • Switching between Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and other backends.
  • Optimising for cost, speed, and quality per task.
  • Running entirely local models for sensitive code.

Practical Use Cases

  • Automated testing and test generation workflows.
  • Refactoring legacy code with custom skill chains.
  • Documentation generation and maintenance.
  • CI integration with minimal agent overhead.

Security and Control

  • Understanding the 300-word system prompt boundary.
  • Manual approval for write operations.
  • Sandboxing bash execution for untrusted environments.
  • Audit logging of all agent actions.

Summary and Next Steps

  • Recap of minimalism, control, and extensibility principles.
  • Community resources and contribution guidelines.
  • Advanced topics for experienced Pi users.

Requirements

  • Experience with terminal-based development and bash.
  • Fundamental knowledge of TypeScript or JavaScript.
  • Familiarity with npm package management.

Audience

  • Developers seeking a lightweight, hackable coding agent.
  • Senior engineers who require full control over agent internals.
  • Teams embracing terminal-first development practices.
 14 Hours

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