TECHNOLOGY
New Open-Source Project 'pi pod' Brings Sandboxed Workstations to the pi Coding Agent
A developer known as Evan has launched pi pod, an open-source tool that wraps the pi coding agent in isolated sandboxes with native clients and session sharing, with a paid hosted version still in the works.
Image: pi pod · Uploaded by IntraGoals — usage rights confirmed
A new open-source project called pi pod aims to give users of the pi coding agent a more complete "agentic engineering" environment while preserving the minimalist philosophy that has made pi popular among developers, according to a post on Hacker News and the project's website, pipod.dev.
The project was shared under the title "Show HN: Pi pod – Run your pi coding agent in sandboxes on your own server" and is maintained by a developer who identifies himself only as Evan. The code is available now on GitHub at github.com/pi-pod/pipod, and a self-hosted edition is already usable by anyone willing to run it themselves.
In a blog post accompanying the launch, Evan describes pi as "the epitome of simple, elegant software," praising its maintainers for craftsmanship and its openness to customization. He says pi's minimalism frees users from being locked into any single AI company's tools or data practices, but acknowledges that this same minimalism leaves gaps in what he considers a standard agentic engineering environment.
Evan defines that minimal environment as encompassing four elements: agent sandboxing, native clients, role-based access control for session sharing, and automation across browser and native app surfaces. pi pod is built to consolidate these capabilities around the existing pi harness, with the stated goal of feeling no different from the pi setup users have already customized to their liking, while running sessions in an isolated sandbox with minimal additional tooling.
The self-hosted version is pitched as straightforward to deploy, offering what Evan calls "true ownership and privacy" for individual users and a way for businesses to keep their entire agentic environment within their own data centers.
A hosted version, described as a "hosted workstation for your pi session," is in development but not yet available. There are no active accounts, trials, or subscriptions at this time. According to the project's billing page, the planned version 1 pricing includes a seven-day Standard trial requiring a credit card, with 10 active hours included before converting to a $20-per-month subscription unless canceled, alongside a Pro tier priced at $50 per month. These terms remain intentions rather than live offerings and should be confirmed on pipod.dev before being treated as final.
Evan is inviting feedback from the pi community through the GitHub repository or by email, framing the project as a collaborative, ongoing effort rather than a finished product. Readers interested in the self-hosted edition can review the code directly on GitHub, while those interested in the hosted workstation will need to watch pipod.dev for further updates.