<!-- mobian-agent-page publisher="dailydev" canonical="https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-the-pi-agent-harness-in-1-minute-gujgiwzwe" -->

---
title: How To Use The Pi Agent Harness In 1 Minute | daily.dev
description: A quick introduction to Pi (pie.dev), a minimal agentic coding harness. Pi is installed via npm and is designed to be lightweight with no built-in bloat,...
canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-the-pi-agent-harness-in-1-minute-gujgiwzwe
twitter:card: summary_large_image
twitter:site: @dailydotdev
og:type: website
og:site_name: daily.dev
og:title: How To Use The Pi Agent Harness In 1 Minute | daily.dev
og:description: A quick introduction to Pi (pie.dev), a minimal agentic coding harness. Pi is installed via npm and is designed to be lightweight with no built-in bloat,...
og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-the-pi-agent-harness-in-1-minute-gujgiwzwe
og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/GUJGIWzWE.png
og:image:alt: How To Use The Pi Agent Harness In 1 Minute
og:image:width: 1200
og:image:height: 630
og:locale: en
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How To Use The Pi Agent Harness In 1 Minute

**[Web Dev Simplified](https://daily.dev/sources/wds)** · 1 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

A quick introduction to Pi (pie.dev), a minimal agentic coding harness. Pi is installed via npm and is designed to be lightweight with no built-in bloat, making it fast especially with local AI. It lacks features like MCP, sub-agents, and plan mode by default, but can be extended via TypeScript files or installable packages to add desired functionality.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh8M_iiIhUY>

## Questions this post answers

### How do I install the Pie agentic coding harness?

Pie is installed via an npm install command shown on pie.dev, after which typing 'pie' opens the harness for entering prompts. It is designed to be minimal, without built-in MCP, sub agents, permission pop-ups, or plan-mode to-dos, making it fast to use, particularly alongside local AI models.

_daily.dev surfaces practical walkthroughs like this for developers evaluating new agentic coding harnesses._

### How do I add sub agents or extra features to a minimal coding harness like Pie?

Pie can be extended by prompting it to build its own extensions using basic TypeScript files, since it lacks built-in sub agents or MCP support by design. Alternatively, additional packages can be installed to add specific behaviors, letting users add or remove functionality as needed rather than carrying built-in bloat.

_developers customizing minimal AI coding tools can find similar extension patterns through daily.dev._

## Similar posts on daily.dev

- [pi.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/pi-dev-m8ldx0c1j) · Hacker News · 14 upvotes · 0 comments
- [Alternative Coding Agents: Pi](https://daily.dev/posts/alternative-coding-agents-pi-isvyl3rz6) · Scott Logic · 15 upvotes · 0 comments

---

Tags: [#typescript](https://daily.dev/tags/typescript), [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding), [#local-ai](https://daily.dev/tags/local-ai)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-the-pi-agent-harness-in-1-minute-gujgiwzwe)

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]}
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"How To Use The Pi Agent Harness In 1 Minute","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-the-pi-agent-harness-in-1-minute-gujgiwzwe","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-the-pi-agent-harness-in-1-minute-gujgiwzwe"},"datePublished":"2026-07-09T16:18:58.410Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T06:11:21.960Z","description":"A quick introduction to Pi (pie.dev), a minimal agentic coding harness. Pi is installed via npm and is designed to be lightweight with no built-in bloat,...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Kh8M_iiIhUY/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Kh8M_iiIhUY/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Web Dev Simplified","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Web Dev Simplified","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--dXRQOCB9--/f_auto/v1718347713/logos/wds","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/wds"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-the-pi-agent-harness-in-1-minute-gujgiwzwe","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"typescript,ai-coding,local-ai","timeRequired":"PT1M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"How To Use The Pi Agent Harness In 1 Minute","description":"A quick introduction to Pi (pie.dev), a minimal agentic coding harness. Pi is installed via npm and is designed to be lightweight with no built-in bloat,...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Kh8M_iiIhUY/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-07-09T16:18:58.410Z","duration":"PT1M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/GUJGIWzWE","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kh8M_iiIhUY"}}
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Web Dev Simplified","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/wds"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How To Use The Pi Agent Harness In 1 Minute"}]}
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-use-the-pi-agent-harness-in-1-minute-gujgiwzwe#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I install the Pie agentic coding harness?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Pie is installed via an npm install command shown on pie.dev, after which typing 'pie' opens the harness for entering prompts. It is designed to be minimal, without built-in MCP, sub agents, permission pop-ups, or plan-mode to-dos, making it fast to use, particularly alongside local AI models. daily.dev surfaces practical walkthroughs like this for developers evaluating new agentic coding harnesses."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I add sub agents or extra features to a minimal coding harness like Pie?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Pie can be extended by prompting it to build its own extensions using basic TypeScript files, since it lacks built-in sub agents or MCP support by design. Alternatively, additional packages can be installed to add specific behaviors, letting users add or remove functionality as needed rather than carrying built-in bloat. developers customizing minimal AI coding tools can find similar extension patterns through daily.dev."}}]}
```

