A VS Code GUI adapter for your existing Pi setup.
FrostPi is designed for users who manage their own Pi configuration, extensions, models, and credentials, but want a graphical interface inside VS Code.
It runs your configured Pi through its native RPC mode. Pi remains responsible for execution, configuration, extensions, and session data; FrostPi provides the GUI and VS Code integration.
- Use your existing Pi setup. No bundled runtime or separate provider configuration.
- Keep Pi workflows available. Extension commands, model selection, thinking controls, resume, fork, and parallel sessions.
- Work naturally in VS Code. Reference selections, files, workspace paths, and images, and inspect changes in native editors.
- Keep the boundary simple. FrostPi manages the interface; Pi remains responsible for execution and session storage.
- vscode-pi-companion adds live VS Code context to Pi rather than providing a graphical client.
- Pi Agent for VS Code adds an IDE-managed GUI with checkpoints, rollback, and tool approval.
- Pendant provides an all-in-one proprietary client that can use a bundled runtime and includes features such as voice dictation.
- pi-vscode keeps Pi’s native terminal UI and adds VS Code context and package management around it.
FrostPi is for users who want a graphical VS Code client while continuing to manage Pi themselves.
Independent sessions |
Model controls |
Workspace-aware prompting |
Slash commands |
Compaction for long sessions |
Context and cost detail |
- VS Code 1.99 or newer.
- A trusted file-system workspace.
- Pi installed and configured in the same environment as the VS Code Extension Host.
- Pi available as
pionPATH, or configured throughfrostpi.pi.executable.
Remote SSH, WSL, and Dev Container workspaces run FrostPi and Pi in the remote workspace extension host. FrostPi does not bridge a local Pi process into a remote file system.
- Install FrostPi in VS Code.
- Open a trusted workspace.
- Open FrostPi from the Activity Bar. The view can be moved to the Secondary Sidebar.
- Start a new session, resume an existing Pi session, or paste a prompt into the composer.
- If Pi is not on
PATH, run FrostPi: Configure Pi Executable.
Paste PNG, JPEG, or WebP images directly into the composer. Use / for Pi extension commands, prompt templates, skills, and FrostPi-local actions. Use @Selection, @CurrentFile, or @path/to/file for workspace references; FrostPi inserts path and line text, while Pi decides whether to read the file.
Run multiple independent Pi sessions, switch providers and models, resume existing sessions, and select only the thinking levels exposed by the active model's Pi metadata. Session state remains visible while work continues in the background.
Configure inherited, VS Code, custom, or direct proxy modes for Pi subprocesses. Custom mode accepts host:port, http(s)://..., or socks5://...; credentials are stored in VS Code SecretStorage. FrostPi also provides context metrics, diagnostics export, strict LF-delimited JSONL transport, and schema-checked Webview messages.
FrostPi contains no telemetry or remote service of its own. Prompts and images are passed to the locally launched Pi process.
Pi edits the workspace directly, as it does in RPC mode. FrostPi does not provide pre-apply patch approval, checkpoint-based workspace rollback, or arbitrary custom TUI emulation. Multiple sessions may modify the same workspace concurrently.
See docs/privacy.md and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for details.
pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
pnpm check
pnpm package:vsix
pnpm verify:vsix
pnpm package:zipThe workspace contains:
packages/pi-rpc: Pi subprocess transport and typed RPC API.apps/vscode: extension host, stable Host-Webview contracts, and Svelte UI.docs: architecture, protocol, UI, testing, privacy, and release documentation.
Start with docs/index.md. Behavioral compatibility contracts live next to their modules as *.SPEC.md or SPEC.md.
AGPL-3.0-only. FrostPi is an independent client and is not an official Pi distribution.