Install the Pi Coding Agent in VS Code

1. Install the Pi CLI

PiLot Studio drives the pi coding agent, so it must be on your machine first:

# macOS & Linux
curl -fsSL https://pi.dev/install.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -c "irm https://pi.dev/install.ps1 | iex"

# or via npm
npm install -g --ignore-scripts @mariozechner/pi-coding-agent

Full instructions live at pi.dev. Already have Pi? PiLot Studio detects it — including versions installed via MISE or other managers — and can keep it updated for you.

2. Install PiLot Studio

Search for “PiLot Studio” in VS Code's extension panel, or install directly from Open VSX / the Marketplace. It is free and open source under Apache-2.0.

3. Add an API key (or go local)

Export a key for your provider, or configure it later in PiLot's settings panel:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-…
# or
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-…

Prefer local? Install Ollama and point Pi at it — no keys, no cloud. See providers & BYOK for the full matrix.

4. Open the GUI

Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+P (Cmd+Shift+Alt+P on macOS) and start chatting. That's the whole setup — you are running the Pi coding agent in VS Code.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+P	Open PiLot Studio
Ctrl+Shift+I	Focus chat input
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N	New session
Ctrl+Shift+;	Toggle voice dictation
Ctrl+Shift+A	Add file to chat

(macOS: use Cmd instead of Ctrl.)

Right-click commands

• Explain Code with PI
• Refactor Code with PI
• Analyze Project with PI
• Add File to Chat

Troubleshooting

• Pi not detected? Ensure pi is on your PATH, or set pi-agent.binaryPath in VS Code settings.
• API errors? Verify the key is valid and restart the extension after changing keys.
• Dictation unavailable? Enable pi-agent.voice.enabled and grant microphone access to VS Code.
• Still stuck? Open an issue on GitHub.