pi4py

pi4py packages a Python launcher for the @jamwil/pi-coding-agent npm CLI.

@jamwil/pi-coding-agent is a slow fork of @mariozechner/pi-coding-agent.

The primary use for this is to expose a self-contained pi executable that can be used from python using rpc mode.

What it installs

• a pi console script
• nodejs-wheel-binaries as the bundled Node.js runtime
• a build hook that installs the pinned @jamwil/pi-coding-agent npm package and packages the resulting npm runtime into the Python wheel

Usage

Install the wheel and invoke the console script with pi from the command line or from Python with subprocess.Popen:

import subprocess

process = subprocess.Popen(["pi", "--help"])
process.wait()

The pi entry point launches the bundled @jamwil/pi-coding-agent CLI with the bundled Node.js executable. The npm dependencies, including @jamwil/pi-coding-agent itself, are installed during wheel build / pip install from sdist, not on first launch.

It also routes npm, npx, node, and corepack lookups to bundled shims and isolates npm global installs under PI_CODING_AGENT_DIR/npm-global by default.

Useful environment variables:

• PI4PY_NPM_PREFIX: override the npm global prefix used by launched pi subprocesses
• PI4PY_SKIP_NPM_BUILD: skip the npm build hook for metadata/debug builds only; the resulting package will not run unless a runtime is already present

Updating the pinned pi version

Sync dependencies, then update the pinned npm version:

uv sync
uv run python tools/update_pi_version.py --version 0.66.1-jamwil.0

Building

uv build

Building downloads the pinned @jamwil/pi-coding-agent npm package plus its production npm dependencies into src/pi4py/_vendor/npm_runtime, prunes the runtime, and includes it in the wheel.

Testing the bundled wheel

uv run pi may run the local editable/source checkout rather than the wheel artifact. To test the actual bundled runtime:

uv run --no-editable pi --help