The latest articles on DEV Community by vastsa (@vastsa). https://dev.to/vastsa https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F1122088%2Fc85611c1-9e28-4f22-bb79-0f07adbdb7b3.png https://dev.to/vastsa en vastsa Sun, 20 Sep 2026 10:49:20 +0000 https://dev.to/vastsa/pi-desktop-a-local-first-workspace-for-ai-coding-agents-1f3p https://dev.to/vastsa/pi-desktop-a-local-first-workspace-for-ai-coding-agents-1f3p <p>I wanted a place where an AI coding session could keep its context instead of starting from a blank terminal every time.</p> <p>That is the idea behind <a href="https://github.com/vastsa/PI-Desktop" rel="noopener noreferrer">PI-Desktop</a>: a local-first desktop workspace for AI coding agents. It brings persistent projects, sessions, model switching, permissions, and multi-agent workflows into one app that runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux.</p> <p>The current release is <code>v0.15.1</code>. The repository has roughly 4.6k GitHub stars and 390 forks.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F2drbf1t03pnr0xrqc0xo.webp" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F2drbf1t03pnr0xrqc0xo.webp" alt="PI-Desktop home" width="800" height="533"></a></p> <h2> What I use it for </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Persistent projects and sessions</strong> — project context and conversation history stay available across restarts.</li> <li> <strong>Model freedom</strong> — switch providers and models without rebuilding the whole workflow around one vendor.</li> <li> <strong>Plan and Goal modes</strong> — move from a vague request to an editable plan, then execute it with visible progress.</li> <li> <strong>Permission controls and diff review</strong> — keep destructive actions behind approval and review file changes before accepting them.</li> <li> <strong>Plugins and MCP</strong> — extend the workspace with tools and integrations instead of putting every workflow into the core app.</li> <li> <strong>Multi-agent workflows</strong> — delegate independent work to subagents and keep the main session focused.</li> </ul> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fe0qfp06lhq91onpktee1.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fe0qfp06lhq91onpktee1.png" alt="Chat workspace" width="800" height="521"></a></p> <h2> Why a desktop workspace? </h2> <p>Terminal coding agents are powerful, but long-running work quickly turns into a collection of terminals, scrollback, copied prompts, and half-remembered decisions. A desktop workspace gives those sessions a home.</p> <p>PI-Desktop is built with Electron, a Rust host core, and the pi agent harness. The goal is not to hide the agent behind a simplified chat box. It is to make the surrounding work easier to inspect: what the agent changed, which tools it used, what still needs approval, and where another agent can help.</p> <p>The local-first approach also matters to me. Your projects and sessions should remain usable without handing the whole workflow to a hosted dashboard.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fwxugo9t3a29xjba0e3vr.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fwxugo9t3a29xjba0e3vr.png" alt="Session orchestrator" width="799" height="572"></a></p> <h2> Links </h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://github.com/vastsa/PI-Desktop" rel="noopener noreferrer">GitHub repository</a></li> <li><a href="https://pi-docs.aiuo.net/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Documentation</a></li> <li><a href="https://github.com/vastsa/PI-Desktop/releases/latest" rel="noopener noreferrer">Latest release</a></li> </ul> <p>If you build with AI coding agents, I would especially like feedback on the session model, permissions, and multi-agent workflows.</p> ai opensource productivity devtools