Pi Agent: Installation & Authentication

Last updated: 2026-08-31

Sharp tools make good work. This lesson gets your Pi Agent development environment up and running in 5 minutes.

1. Requirements

Verify Python version:

python --version
# Python 3.11.8

2. Installing Pi Agent

(1) pip Install (Recommended)

pip install pi-agent

(2) Install from Source

git clone https://github.com/pi-agent/pi-agent.git
cd pi-agent
pip install -e .

(3) Verify Installation

pi-agent --version
# Pi Agent v0.8.0

(4) Optional Dependencies

pip install pi-agent[all]          # Install all optional deps
pip install pi-agent[deepseek]     # DeepSeek support
pip install pi-agent[local]        # Local model support (llama.cpp)
pip install pi-agent[tools]        # Extended tool set

3. Authentication & Model Configuration

Pi Agent supports multiple LLM providers. You need to configure API keys before use.

(1) Environment Variables (Recommended)

# DeepSeek
export PI_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="sk-xxxxxxxx"

# OpenAI
export PI_OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-xxxxxxxx"

# Anthropic
export PI_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-xxxxxxxx"

Windows PowerShell:

$env:PI_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY = "sk-xxxxxxxx"

(2) Configuration File

Create ~/.pi-agent/config.yaml:

providers:
  deepseek:
    api_key: "sk-xxxxxxxx"
    base_url: "https://api.deepseek.com"
    model: "deepseek-chat"

  openai:
    api_key: "sk-xxxxxxxx"
    model: "gpt-4o"

  anthropic:
    api_key: "sk-ant-xxxxxxxx"
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"

default_provider: deepseek

(3) In-Code Configuration

from pi_agent import Agent

agent = Agent(
    name="my_agent",
    provider="deepseek",
    api_key="sk-xxxxxxxx",
    model="deepseek-chat"
)

4. Model Providers Overview

Example 1: Multi-Provider Switching (Difficulty: ⭐)

from pi_agent import Agent

deepseek_agent = Agent(provider="deepseek", model="deepseek-chat")
openai_agent = Agent(provider="openai", model="gpt-4o")

result_d = deepseek_agent.chat("Explain quantum computing in one sentence")
result_o = openai_agent.chat("Explain quantum computing in one sentence")

print(f"DeepSeek: {result_d}")
print(f"OpenAI: {result_o}")

5. First Launch Test

After installation and configuration, run a quick test:

pi-agent chat "Hello, Pi Agent!"

Expected output:

Pi Agent v0.8.0
Provider: deepseek (deepseek-chat)
Hello! I'm Pi Agent, how can I help you?

Alice completed her setup in 3 minutes following these steps. Bob says: "Pi Agent's installation is simpler than most Python tools — install, configure a key, and you're good."

FAQ

Summary

• Python 3.9+ required; pip install pi-agent gets you started
• Three auth methods: environment variables (recommended), config file, in-code config
• Supports multiple LLM providers; DeepSeek offers best value; local models are free
• First launch: use pi-agent chat to verify your setup

Exercises

1. Basic (Difficulty: ⭐): Install Pi Agent and verify with pi-agent --version.
2. Intermediate (Difficulty: ⭐⭐): Configure at least two LLM providers, create Agent instances for each, and verify connectivity.
3. Advanced (Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐): Write a script that auto-detects available API keys and lists currently available providers.

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