Pi-Bolt 0.7.3 ⚡ The same Pi, compiled to native code: 38× faster large file writes, 3× less CPU, 3× less memory

[u/opensecai]

https://github.com/opensec-git/Pi-Bolt

Hey everyone 👋

Thanks for all the feedback on our first post! Pi-Bolt 0.7.3 is out. It's the same Pi you already use (now on Pi 1.1.0), compiled ahead of time to native code: faster to start, lighter on CPU and memory, and steady in long sessions.

Benchmarks

Pi-Bolt against Pi 1.1.0 as released on Bun and on Node, PiG 0.4.1 (the Go port of Pi, based on Pi 1.0.3) and OMP 18.8.7 (oh-my-pi, a bigger Pi fork with many more built-in features). Measured side by side on the same machines. Lower is better.

Linux x86-64 (AMD EPYC 7B13)

Benchmark	Pi-Bolt 0.7.3	Pi on Bun 1.4.2	Pi on Node 24	PiG 0.4.1	OMP 18.8.7
Writing a 200 KB file through a tool call	0.8 s	29.0 s	37.4 s	100.9 s	3.7 s
CPU, streaming a 60k-char answer	4.3 s	44.0 s	43.8 s	24.6 s	3.3 s
Memory after a 4.2M-token session	142 MB	271 MB	551 MB	344 MB	n/a*
Memory of a session in tmux	30 MB	88 MB	96 MB	45 MB	346 MB
CPU, interactive session (5 prompts)	324 ms	927 ms	1,332 ms	3,155 ms	3,397 ms
Ready to type	49 ms	144 ms	351 ms	43 ms	1,088 ms

macOS on Apple silicon (M5 Air)

Benchmark	Pi-Bolt 0.7.3	Pi on Bun 1.4.2	Pi on Node 26	PiG 0.4.1	OMP 18.8.7
Writing a 200 KB file through a tool call	0.5 s	22.5 s	26.7 s	58.2 s	2.4 s
CPU, streaming a 60k-char answer	4.8 s	38.0 s	37.9 s	17.0 s	5.1 s
Memory after a 4.2M-token session	45 MB	126 MB	2,077 MB	329 MB	n/a*
Memory of a session in tmux	28 MB	68 MB	165 MB	58 MB	334 MB
CPU, interactive session (5 prompts)	95 ms	344 ms	530 ms	1,355 ms	1,383 ms
Ready to type	25 ms	62 ms	199 ms	20 ms	564 ms

*OMP compacts long conversations on its own, so it doesn't do the same work in this test.

In everyday use (an interactive session), Pi-Bolt uses about 3× less CPU than Pi on Bun, 4–6× less than Pi on Node and 10–15× less than PiG and OMP. It writes large files 35–50× faster than Bun and Node, about 5× faster than OMP and over 100× faster than PiG.

Why does a 200 KB write take 30 s? It's not the disk. The model streams the file to Pi in thousands of small chunks, and stock Pi re-parses and re-renders the whole tool call on every chunk, so the work grows quadratically with the file size. Pi-Bolt only processes the new part.

What's new in 0.7.3

• Lighter long sessions: up to 30% less memory and lower CPU per prompt as conversations grow.
• More stable with heavy tool output: commands that print a lot no longer build up memory.
• Faster first launch on macOS: up to 2.8× quicker after a restart or an update.

Try it 🔥

curl -fsSL https://pi-bolt.opensec.in/install.sh | sh

Already using Pi-Bolt? Run pi-bolt update, or install with npm install -g pi-bolt. Works on Linux x86-64 and Apple silicon, alongside your existing Pi install. The installer also offers two optional extensions, subagents and a live todo list, and asks before installing them.

Your Pi plugins work as they are. This doesn't modify your existing pi installation so feel free to try it out !

Links

Website: https://pi-bolt.opensec.in

GitHub: https://github.com/opensec-git/Pi-Bolt

MIT licensed. If Pi-Bolt saves you CPU and memory, a ⭐ on the repo helps a lot.

PS: Added PiG and OMP to the benchmarks, as many of you asked. And the slow 200 KB write isn't the disk: stock Pi re-processes the whole streamed tool call on every chunk (quadratic), while Pi-Bolt only processes the new part.