Pi vs Rovo Dev CLI

Pi

Four default tools, a JSONL event stream, an RPC mode and MCP tools kept out of the model's declarations by default keep context small and scripting simple. Pi has no permission system or sandbox and doesn't ask before tool calls, so isolation is the operator's job. Version 1.0.0 is dated 1 October 2026.

Rovo Dev CLI

Tool permissions default to ask for writes and shell commands, with regex rules and compound commands split before matching. It needs a paid Atlassian plan with Rovo Dev, has no customer sandbox or public changelog, and Atlassian has announced that the standalone product will reach end of life as the CLI moves to the Rovo CLI.

Pi

1. Run Pi inside a container or VM for unattended work. It has no sandbox and doesn't ask before running shell commands
2. Use pi --mode json and wait for agent_settled. A failed response doesn't set a nonzero exit code in JSON mode
3. Split the JSONL stream on LF only. Node's readline also splits on U+2028 and U+2029, which are valid inside JSON strings
4. Pass --no-approve or --approve in scripts to make the project trust decision explicit
5. Set PI_TELEMETRY=0 and PI_SKIP_VERSION_CHECK=1, or PI_OFFLINE=1, to stop the default requests to pi.dev

Rovo Dev CLI

1. Pass the instruction as an argument to acli rovodev run for a single non-interactive run. No JSON output flag or exit codes are documented
2. Use acli rovodev serve <port> and stream /v3/stream_chat?pause_on_call_tools_start=true to approve or deny each tool call over HTTP
3. Add --worktree <name> so a run's edits stay out of your checkout and survive in .rovodev/worktrees/<name>
4. Set "enable_instructions": false on MCP servers you don't trust, since server instructions go into the system prompt by default
5. Check /usage before long runs. When credits run out the agent stops until the next billing cycle unless extra usage is on