rpi (pi-rust) — Rust-native coding-agent runtime

rpi is a Rust-native, library-first coding-agent runtime and terminal CLI. It is a multi-crate Rust implementation of the earendil-works/pi SDK layer for building composable LLM agents with providers, tools, sessions, and plugins.

Repository: bigfish1913/pi-rust · Website: https://rpi.laofu.online/

The project is useful both as a Rust Agent SDK and as a ready-to-run terminal coding agent. Core crates can be embedded independently; the rpi CLI provides the fastest way to try the complete loop.

Naming. The published crates use the rpi- prefix (the upstream pi-* names are owned on crates.io by a parallel port). The on-disk directories stay crates/pi-* for history; the package.name in each Cargo.toml is rpi-*, so extern crate / use paths are rpi_ai, rpi_agent, etc.

Crates (published as rpi-*)

Crate (crates.io)	On-disk dir	What it is
rpi-telemetry	pi-telemetry/	Telemetry span/event contracts (noop default).
rpi-ai	pi-ai/	Unified multi-provider LLM types + streaming (Anthropic + faux).
rpi-agent	pi-agent/	Agent runtime + loop, AgentTool trait, events, hooks, queues.
rpi-tools	pi-tools/	Pi-compatible coding tools (read/write/edit/bash) + ExecutionEnv.
rpi-harness	pi-harness/	AgentHarness: session tree, JSONL persistence, compaction, run loop.
rpi-cli	pi-cli/	Terminal coding-agent CLI (rpi binary) on top of the library crates.
rpi-plugin-sdk	rpi-plugin-sdk/	Stable C ABI for Rust-native plugins and extension discovery.
rpi-extensions	rpi-extensions/	Dynamic plugin loader and AgentTool adapter.
rpi-tui	pi-tui/	Terminal UI primitives used by the interactive CLI.

Dependency direction: rpi-telemetry → rpi-ai → rpi-agent → rpi-tools → rpi-harness → rpi-cli.

Rust registry links

Package	crates.io	docs.rs
rpi-cli	crates.io	docs.rs
rpi-agent	crates.io	docs.rs
rpi-plugin-sdk	crates.io	docs.rs
rpi-extensions	crates.io	docs.rs

The registry pages are the canonical entry points for installing the CLI or embedding the SDK. The repository may contain unreleased changes; check the published version shown on crates.io before depending on a new API.

Extension package repository

Ready-to-install Rust-native extensions are maintained in the companion pi-rust/rpi-package repository. Browse its packages/ directory for package source, usage documentation, and release metadata, or use the online package catalog.

Relationship to the TypeScript source

The TypeScript reference is checked out under .reference/pi/ (read-only). Every Rust module names the TS file it mirrors in its module-level doc comment. The crate family is a Rust-native reimplementation, not a thin wrapper — it ports the SDK surface (pi-ai, pi-agent-core, the harness tools, the session layer) and the CLI, keeping the layering and behavior faithful while using idiomatic Rust (async/await, Arc, serde, tokio).

How you build an agent

use rpi_agent::{Agent, AgentTool, AgentEvent};
use rpi_ai::{providers::faux::faux_provider, Model};

let model = faux_provider().model("echo");
let mut agent = Agent::builder(model)
    .system_prompt("You are a helpful assistant.")
    .tool(MyTool)
    .build();

let mut events = agent.subscribe();
tokio::spawn(async move {
    while let Some(ev) = events.recv().await {
        match ev { /* AgentEvent::MessageUpdate { .. }, etc. */ }
    }
});

agent.prompt("Hello!").await.unwrap();

See docs/architecture.md for the full design.

Build a plugin

Plugins are Rust cdylib libraries loaded through the stable ABI exposed by rpi-plugin-sdk. The repository includes a complete echo tool example that also exercises event and resource discovery:

cargo build -p plugin-stub

Then point the CLI at the directory containing the generated library (the extension is named plugin_stub.dll, libplugin_stub.so, or libplugin_stub.dylib depending on the platform):

rpi --extensions-dir target/debug -p 'echo "hi"'

The plugin depends on rpi-plugin-sdk only; the host-side loader lives in rpi-extensions. See examples/plugin-stub and the rpi-plugin-sdk API docs for the ABI contract.

Install a crates.io extension

rpi install installs Rust-native extensions directly from Cargo. The package must expose an rpi-plugin-sdk compatible cdylib target:

rpi install rpi-extension-example
rpi install rpi-extension-example --version 0.1.0
rpi install rpi-extension-example --force

The command resolves and builds the crate with Cargo in release mode, then copies its .dll, .so, or .dylib into ~/.rpi/agent/extensions (or the directory selected by RPI_CODING_AGENT_DIR). The extension is loaded on the next rpi start. For local development, use rpi install my-extension --path ../my-rpi-extension --force.

This is intentionally different from plain cargo install: cargo install only copies executable targets, while rpi loads dynamic-library extensions.

Develop an extension with watch mode

From a Rust extension crate ([lib] crate-type contains "cdylib"), start the development host with:

rpi dev

The command detects the Cargo package, performs an initial build, stages a versioned library under .rpi/extensions/.dev, and watches the crate sources. Successful source changes trigger a rebuild and the same live reload used by the TUI's /reload command. A failed build keeps the currently loaded plugin. For a workspace containing multiple extensions, select one explicitly:

rpi dev --package rpi-todo
rpi dev --release
rpi dev --no-watch

See docs/extension-authoring.md for complete Rust extension and Pi JS/TS package templates, safety rules, testing, and release checklists.

Load static Pi packages

Beta notice: JavaScript/TypeScript package loading through the Node host and skill-invocation rendering in the TUI are experimental compatibility features. They are suitable for local evaluation and feedback, but are not recommended for production workloads and may change before stabilization.

rpi can load Pi packages, including their static resources and executable JavaScript/TypeScript extensions. Install a package with:

rpi install-pi npm:@scope/my-package@1.0.0
rpi install-pi npm:my-alias@npm:@scope/my-package@^1
rpi install-pi git:github.com/user/my-package@v1
rpi install-pi ./my-pi-package

卸载已安装的扩展或 Pi package：

rpi uninstall rpi-extension-example
rpi uninstall-pi npm:@scope/my-package
# 等价写法：rpi uninstall pi npm:@scope/my-package

npm and Git installs use Pi-compatible managed stores: project packages live under .pi/npm and .pi/git, while --global uses the configured rpi agent directory's npm and git stores. Local directories are enabled in place and are never copied or deleted. Existing legacy .rpi/packages, .pi/packages, and native ~/.pi/agent installs remain discoverable. Package-manager argv is selected from project .rpi/settings.json, project .pi/settings.json, then global settings.json; the default is npm. rpi treats the setting as structured argv rather than a shell command string, applies hardened encoding to Windows .cmd shims, and uses the native Pi flags for npm, pnpm, or bun.

Package discovery and loading are disabled by default; start rpi with --enable-pi-packages to opt in. That startup performs a short one-shot Node.js discovery pass. In the interactive TUI, a long-lived Node.js host starts immediately before the first submitted prompt (or earlier when a package command or tool is used), so an idle TUI does not keep Node resident. registerTool, registerCommand, and resources_discover are supported. TypeScript uses Node's native type stripping when available, or a package-local jiti dependency. Pi peer/runtime packages are installed and aliased from nested node_modules when npm does not hoist them. Node.js is required, and extension code has the same filesystem/network permissions as the current user. Command handlers receive the core Pi context (mode, hasUI, capabilities, model, modelRegistry, ui.notify, editor text access, and session metadata). When the active Rust provider is available, modelRegistry.getProvider(id) supports Pi-compatible streamSimple()/complete() calls; stream events are delivered as an async-iterable snapshot and result() resolves to the final assistant message. ctx.ui.custom fullscreen components are bridged through a Node Component proxy with terminal input, resize, overlay, and lifecycle events; extensions still need to stay within the Pi component contract. The host also exposes the internal pi.runtimeRequest(action, args) bridge for capabilities that are enabled by rpi; extensions should check ctx.capabilities before using it.

For a package that is already present locally, enable it without downloading:

rpi package add ../my-pi-package
rpi package list
rpi package remove ../my-pi-package

The package may provide skills/, prompts/, themes/, SYSTEM.md, and APPEND_SYSTEM.md. An optional rpi (or legacy pi) object in package.json can override those resource paths; rpi wins when both are present. Package resources are loaded after project and global resources, so .rpi/.pi and ~/.rpi/agent always win collisions. --theme <name-or-path> selects a package theme in the interactive TUI when startup also includes --enable-pi-packages; an explicit JSON path does not require package discovery.

Status (v1)

• Providers: Anthropic Messages and OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions, plus a faux provider for tests. Third-party endpoints are configured through ~/.rpi/agent/models.json; Anthropic endpoint overrides also support ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL/ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN.

• Auth (in priority order): --api-key → ~/.rpi/auth.json (set via rpi auth login) → ~/.rpi/agent/models.json apiKey → provider environment variables (OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY). rpi auth login/check/logout manage the stored credential.

• Tools: the CLI defaults to Pi's read, write, edit, and bash tools. The former rpi-only grep, find, ls, docs, and powershell implementations remain library code but are not loaded by default.

• Extensions: Rust cdylib plugins can be installed with rpi install and are discovered from project .rpi/extensions, legacy .pi/extensions, global ~/.rpi/agent/extensions, and --extensions-dir.

• Project resources: rpi-owned skills, prompts, system instructions, and extensions use .rpi/ first; the original Pi .pi/ layout remains a compatibility fallback. When both contain the same skill or prompt name, .rpi/ wins. Project .rpi/settings.json can add skillDirs, promptDirs, extensionDirs, and packages (with .pi/settings.json as fallback).

• Pi packages: package specs in ~/.rpi/agent/settings.json (packages array) are loaded only when startup includes --enable-pi-packages. Skills, prompt templates, themes, system prompt fragments, and JavaScript/TypeScript extensions are supported through the Node host; without the flag, configured Pi packages are not discovered or executed. Rust cdylib extensions remain available for native integrations unless --no-extensions is supplied.

• Sessions: JSONL v4 durable backend + in-memory ephemeral; compaction + a split-turn two-LLM-call invariant.

Configuration

rpi persists credentials under ~/.rpi/ (override the dir with the RPI_CODING_AGENT_DIR env var):

~/.rpi/
└── agent/
    ├── auth.json     # set with `rpi auth login` (0o600 on Unix)
    └── models.json   # optional: custom providers/models

auth.json holds the stored API key for anthropic (written by rpi auth login, removed by rpi auth logout); auth check reports whether any auth source is ready without touching the network.

models.json is a hand-edited file for custom Anthropic or OpenAI-compatible gateways:

{
  "providers": {
    "gateway": {
      "api": "anthropic-messages",
      "baseUrl": "https://gateway.example.com",
      "apiKey": "sk-gateway-secret",
      "authHeader": true,             // wrap apiKey as Authorization: Bearer
      "headers": { "x-portkey-key": "…" }, // optional extra headers
      "models": [
        { "id": "custom-claude", "name": "Custom Claude" }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Then rpi --model gateway/custom-claude -p "hi" routes to the gateway (the gateway/ prefix is CLI namespacing). For an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, set "api": "openai-completions"; its apiKey is sent as a Bearer token and the provider streams /v1/chat/completions.

Default model (no --model). A bare rpi -p "hi" picks the default the way native pi does — the first authenticated model in the catalog when the built-in default isn't authenticated. So a models.json-only Anthropic or OpenAI gateway setup "just works": the gateway model is the only authenticated one, so rpi -p "hi" routes through it — no --model needed. With a standard ANTHROPIC_API_KEY/auth.json/--api-key setup, the native Pi default claude-opus-4-8 is selected when available. See docs/m6-cli-open-questions.md §4–5 for the full auth precedence, the default-selection rule, the ~/.rpi-flat-vs-nested divergence, and what's deferred (OAuth, $ENV credential expansion, multi-provider registry).

Releasing

The workspace Taskfile.yml is the canonical release entry point. Run cargo login once first so ~/.cargo/credentials.toml contains a publish-scoped token; crates.io records are permanent.

task dry-run RELEASE_VERSION=0.1.13
task publish RELEASE_VERSION=0.1.13

Both commands require a clean worktree and one consistent version across all nine release crates. task publish runs the locked workspace test and check suites, publishes in dependency order, waits for each crate to reach the crates.io index, and safely resumes by skipping exact versions already present.

Star history

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

This is a Rust port of earendil-works/pi (© Mario Zechner, MIT). The rpi-* crates are a Rust-native reimplementation of the original MIT-licensed TypeScript SDK; the upstream source is checked out under .reference/pi/ (read-only, gitignored).