Pi Pod runs Pi coding-agent sessions in remote pods on a server you operate. Its control plane starts pods through a privileged sandbox service on the same host, while the host kernel provides the documented isolation boundary. That means pods are isolated from one another by the project’s sandbox design, but they are not separate-kernel virtual machines: the host, its kernel, and the people who administer the control plane remain part of the trust model.
What runs where in Pi Pod?
Pi Pod is an open-source system for running Pi sessions in isolated sandboxes. The project’s repository describes a client layer, a control plane, an identity system, and a native sandbox service. The project says its hosted service is not yet available; self-hosting is the available deployment path described in its materials.
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From client to pod
- Clients: The CLI and phone apps send requests to the server.
- Control plane: The server provides the REST API and session gateway, manages pod lifecycles, and runs lifecycle workers.
- Identity: Zitadel provides identity through OpenID Connect (OIDC). The repository says the server does not store passwords.
- Sandbox host: The server starts pods through the native sandbox service running on the same host.
- Agent process: Pi runs inside each pod behind a small shim. Clients control sessions through the server’s gateway.
This is a self-hosted control plane and execution environment, not just a client-side wrapper around a coding agent. The operator runs the host and deployment components as well as choosing how the service is exposed and maintained.
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What does “sandboxed” mean here?
Pi Pod’s self-host guide describes multiple isolated sandboxes running inside one privileged container. The service uses the host cgroup namespace, mounts /sys/fs/cgroup read-write, and creates network namespaces. The documented isolation boundary is the host kernel. These details come from the project’s own documentation; they do not establish that the system has passed an independent security assessment.
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Why the boundary matters
A sandbox can limit the reach of a mistake or hostile command, but it does not make the agent harmless by definition. Pi’s official security documentation explains that generated commands, extensions, installers, language servers, and child processes run with the permissions of the account that started Pi unless an operating-system or virtualization boundary limits them. Pi’s project trust controls govern which project resources load; they are not an execution sandbox.
Pi’s security documentation puts the goal this way: “Safety comes from limiting the files, credentials, processes, and network services Pi can access and affect if a generated action is wrong or hostile.” That is a useful way to think about the boundary: what matters is what a process can reach and change, not simply whether it is called an agent or runs in a pod.
Whole-process isolation versus tool-only isolation
Pi’s isolation guidance distinguishes putting all of Pi inside an environment from keeping Pi on the host and sending only selected tools into it. In the tool-only pattern, the host Pi process and extensions that do not delegate remain outside that tool boundary. Pi Pod’s architecture instead describes Pi running within each pod. The approaches therefore do not protect the same set of processes.
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Pi’s general guidance also notes that writable mounts, environment variables, network access, and exposed Pi configuration can reconnect an isolated environment to host data or credentials. This is context for reviewing any Pi deployment, not a substitute for Pi Pod’s implementation details. For its self-host setup, the project recommends using a dedicated machine before allowing untrusted users to run code.
How much host capacity should you plan for?
The figures below are Pi Pod’s documented 2026 planning guidance, not independent benchmarks. The guide recommends 8 GB of RAM as a baseline for a self-hosted installation and describes a standard pod as 2 vCPU with 4 GiB of memory.
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| Planning item | Pi Pod project guidance |
|---|---|
| Self-host baseline | 8 GB RAM |
| Standard pod | 2 vCPU and 4 GiB memory |
| Host planning example | 8 GB RAM for one standard pod at a time; 16 GB RAM for three standard pods |
| Default per-pod ceilings | 8 vCPU, 24 GiB memory, and 20 GiB disk |
Reservation is different from a ceiling
The guide says CPU is capped, while each live pod’s full memory allocation is reserved for admission planning. A live pod continues to hold its memory share until it stops, including during the documented idle-stop behavior. The example of three standard pods on a 16 GB host is therefore a project planning example, not a promise that every workload will perform well at that density.
Operators can lower or adjust the default per-pod ceilings. A Docker memory limit on the sandbox service does not, by itself, bound nested sandbox cgroups as configured. For capacity planning, the guide points operators to fleet reserve and fleet ceiling settings rather than treating the container limit as a complete control for pod memory use.
How are secrets handled?
Pi Pod’s self-host guide says the API does not return stored secret values and that envelope encryption is intended to protect secrets against database theft. That protects data at rest in the database; it does not hide a secret from the control plane or from a pod authorized to receive it. Code running in that pod can read secret values inherited by it, so template and init-script editors should be trusted with the secrets their pods receive.
Pi credentials and revocation
The guide says a pod’s Pi auth file contains provider API keys and leased OAuth access tokens, but not OAuth refresh tokens. Removing a credential from Pi Pod does not necessarily revoke it with the upstream provider. If you think a credential may have been exposed, revoke it with that provider as well.
Protect the encryption keys
Keep Pi Pod’s secret-encryption keys separate from database backups and preserve historical key versions for as long as retained database dumps might need them. Without the relevant key material, a database restore may not be able to recover encrypted secrets; storing the keys alongside the same backups would also weaken the separation the encryption is meant to provide.
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What network exposure should an operator expect?
The self-host guide warns that the initial server port, 8080, listens on every interface. Do not expose that initial deployment to the public internet before completing the project’s public-deployment steps. The guide also warns that Docker-published ports may bypass host firewall rules such as ufw, so a firewall rule alone may not provide the protection an operator expects.
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The project’s public-deployment example uses separate HTTPS hostnames for the API server and Zitadel behind a reverse proxy, and binds the internal server port to loopback. Follow the current deployment guide for the actual configuration rather than assuming the initial listener is safe to publish.
Pi Pod says pods are kept off private, shared, and reserved IP addresses regardless of egress mode. If a workload needs to reach a private destination, the operator must configure that private egress explicitly. This is a documented restriction on destinations; it does not mean all outbound traffic is blocked or establish that pods use an outbound allowlist.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does self-hosting require?
The project’s documented installation targets a Linux host with cgroup v2, Docker and the Compose plugin, Git, and OpenSSL. Its CLI requires Node 22.19 or later. The host is also part of the security and capacity boundary: operators are responsible for administering it, configuring exposure and identity, and deciding who can use the service.
- Choose a host with capacity appropriate to the number of live pods and their configured limits.
- Complete the public-deployment configuration before making the server reachable from the internet.
- Decide which users, templates, and init scripts are trusted to receive or access pod secrets.
- Plan for the host’s patching, project upgrades, database backups, encryption keys, and workspace recovery.
How do upgrades, backups, and workspaces affect recovery?
The upgrade procedure rebuilds the server and sandbox from the checked-out project version. If the sandbox image changes, recreating it ends live sessions. Pod workspaces remain on the sandbox_state volume, allowing a user to attach again after the change, but a surviving workspace is not the same thing as a live session.
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Keep database and workspace recovery separate
The guide says database backups are written during Compose startup and that the newest seven are retained by default. The operator must copy backups off the host. Pod workspaces are not stored in Postgres: only archived workspaces reach object storage, and the default local archive driver does not survive loss of the host.
Recovery therefore has distinct parts: database dumps for control-plane data, the Zitadel master key and Pi Pod secret-encryption keys for protected data, and a separate plan for pod workspaces. Back up the keys offline and separately, and retain prior key versions for as long as database dumps that depend on them are kept.
Who should run Pi Pod, and what should they verify?
Pi Pod is aimed at operators who want to run Pi sessions remotely in pods on infrastructure they control. Its architecture offers a defined execution boundary and separates the client from the server-side pod lifecycle, but the documented boundary is still the host kernel and the service that configures it is privileged. The project’s 2026 self-host guide supplies sizing and deployment guidance; those figures are planning examples, not performance or security benchmarks.
Before allowing untrusted code or users into a deployment, verify the current project documentation and make an explicit decision about host isolation, network exposure, inherited credentials, and recovery. In particular, treat the pod boundary as one layer in the operator’s security design, not a replacement for a dedicated host or careful control over who can administer the service and edit the configuration that pods inherit.
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