Pi coding agent - Microsandbox

Pi is a terminal coding agent distributed as a Node.js package. This example pins the tested package version and gives it writable access to a project mounted from your host.

Run Pi

<Tooltip tip="Writable host-directory mounts are local-only. On microsandbox cloud, use the isolated-copy alternative and omit replace-on-create."><span className="msb-badge-local">Local-only <Icon icon="circle-info" size={11} /></span></Tooltip>

<CodeGroup> ```sh macOS & Linux msb run -t --name pi-demo --replace \ --cpus 2 --memory 2G --root-disk 4G \ --mount-dir ./my-project:/workspace:rw \ --workdir /workspace \ node:24-bookworm-slim -- sh -lc ' apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends ca-certificates git && npm install -g @mariozechner/[email protected] && exec pi ' ```

powershell

msb run -t --name pi-demo --replace `
  --cpus 2 --memory 2G --root-disk 4G `
  --mount-dir ./my-project:/workspace:rw `
  --workdir /workspace `
  node:24-bookworm-slim -- sh -lc '
    apt-get update &&
    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends ca-certificates git &&
    npm install -g @mariozechner/[email protected] &&
    exec pi
  '

</CodeGroup>

The tested install downloads 188 packages and takes about a minute on a warm Node image cache. Configure a provider from the TUI when prompted.

<Tip> For an isolated workspace, or when using microsandbox cloud, replace `--mount-dir ./my-project:/workspace:rw` with `--copy-dir ./my-project:/workspace`. </Tip> </Step> <Step title="Start another session">

After leaving Pi, return to the same sandbox and workspace with:

msb exec -t pi-demo -- pi

</Step> <Step title="Verify the installation">

Exit Pi and run:

msb exec pi-demo -- pi --version

The pinned example prints 0.73.1.

</Step> <Step title="Review or export changes">

With the default writable mount, changes are already in the host checkout. Review them inside the sandbox:

msb exec pi-demo -- sh -lc 'cd /workspace && git status --short && git diff --stat && git diff'

If you chose the isolated --copy-dir alternative, create a patch inside the sandbox:

msb exec pi-demo -- sh -lc 'cd /workspace && git add -N . && git diff --binary > /tmp/pi.patch'

Copy the patch to the host:

msb cp pi-demo:/tmp/pi.patch ./pi.patch

Check that it applies cleanly before applying it:

git apply --check ./pi.patch

</Step> <Step title="Clean up">

msb rm -f pi-demo

Changes made through the default workspace mount remain in the host checkout.

</Step> </Steps>

Reference

Pi repository