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AI on Smart Pi One

The Smart Pi One and Smart Pad are 32-bit ARM (Allwinner H3 / armv7l) single-board computers. Most modern AI command-line tools ship only for 64-bit machines and refuse to install on this architecture. YUMI-LAB maintains dedicated installers that bring five of today's leading AI coding assistants to the board — running an interactive AI agent directly in the terminal, on hardware with as little as 1 GB of RAM.

1. Available AI Assistants

Claude Code CLI on Smart Pi One

Grok CLI on Smart Pi One

Kimi Code CLI on Smart Pi One

Kimi CLI on Smart Pi One

Vibe CLI on Smart Pi One

2. At a glance

Tool Runs on the board Sign-in Core throttle Repository
Claude Code CLI Native — Node.js, no emulation Claude Pro/Max account (OAuth, no API key) CLAUDE_CPUS claude-code-smartpi
Grok CLI Emulated — QEMU user-mode (aarch64) X (x.com) / grok.com account (device-auth, no API key) GROK_CPUS grok-cli-smartpi
Kimi Code CLI Native — npm / Node 22 (TypeScript) Kimi account (OAuth) or API key KIMI_CPUS (KIMI_CODE_CPUS) kimi-code-smartpi
Kimi CLI Native — Python via uv (lighter) Kimi Code plan (OAuth) or KIMI_API_KEY KIMI_CPUS + KIMI_BUILD_CPUS kimi-cli-smartpi
Vibe CLI Native — Python thin client Mistral browser sign-in (PKCE) or MISTRAL_API_KEY VIBE_CPUS + VIBE_BUILD_CPUS vibe-cli-smartpi

All five can sign in with your existing provider account — no API key, no separate developer billing. Kimi Code CLI, Kimi CLI and Vibe CLI additionally accept a direct API key if you prefer. (Kimi CLI and Kimi Code CLI are two separate Moonshot tools — see which to choose.)

Always the latest version. Every project installs the newest published release of its CLI, natively where the platform allows (Grok is the exception: its official binary is 64-bit only, so it runs under emulation). The installer is also the updater — re-run it to move to the latest. Each repo ships a <cli>-check-update probe that prints {installed, latest, update_available}, and you can pin a specific version if you ever need to.

Controlling CPU usage

Every CLI runs through a taskset / nice wrapper, so you can bound how much of the board it takes. There are two knobs:

  • <CLI>_CPUS — cores used by the running agent: CLAUDE_CPUS, GROK_CPUS, KIMI_CPUS (KIMI_CODE_CPUS), VIBE_CPUS.
  • <CLI>_BUILD_CPUS — cores used by the one-time install compile, where there is one: KIMI_BUILD_CPUS, VIBE_BUILD_CPUS.

Both default to all 4 cores. Capping them makes the board run cooler and stay responsive for other work — worth doing on a passively-cooled unit, or whenever a sustained load would otherwise heat the SoC enough to throttle or freeze it:

GROK_CPUS=0,1 grok                  # run the agent on 2 cores
KIMI_BUILD_CPUS=0,1 curl … | bash   # install/compile on 2 cores

On the 1 GB board the installers also enable earlyoom as a memory safety net, and the rule of thumb is one heavy CLI at a time (Claude Code, Grok and Kimi Code additionally ship a job daemon for running batches safely).

3. Install

Each tool installs with a single command on the board (run as a normal user, not root):

# Claude Code CLI
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Yumi-Lab/claude-code-smartpi/main/install.sh | bash

# Grok CLI
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Yumi-Lab/grok-cli-smartpi/main/install.sh | bash

# Kimi Code CLI (TypeScript)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Yumi-Lab/kimi-code-smartpi/main/install.sh | bash

# Kimi CLI (Python)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Yumi-Lab/kimi-cli-smartpi/main/install.sh | bash

# Vibe CLI
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Yumi-Lab/vibe-cli-smartpi/main/install.sh | bash

Re-run any of these later to update to the latest version. To keep the board cool during a compile, prefix the installer with its build knob — see Controlling CPU usage.

4. Requirements

  • A Smart Pi One or Smart Pad running a Debian-based Linux (see Install Linux)
  • armv7l / 32-bit ARM CPU (Allwinner H3)
  • At least 1 GB RAM
  • An active internet connection
  • Access to the matching provider: a Claude Pro/Max account (Claude Code), an X (x.com) or grok.com / SuperGrok account (Grok CLI), a Kimi account or API key (Kimi Code CLI / Kimi CLI), or a Mistral account or API key (Vibe CLI)

5. What can you do with it?

These assistants run in agent mode: they can read and write files, run shell commands, and help you build and debug projects directly on the board. Typical uses on a Smart Pi One:

  • Writing and fixing Python scripts for the GPIO sensors and modules
  • Setting up services (Klipper, Home Assistant, media servers…)
  • Explaining Linux commands and troubleshooting the system
  • Prototyping small projects with a full conversational coding assistant

6. Which one should I choose?

All five give you an interactive terminal UI and one-shot (-p "question") query mode. Pick the one that matches the account or key you already have:

  • Choose Claude Code CLI if you have a Claude Pro or Max account. It runs natively as a Node.js tool (no emulation) and ships a job daemon for running many agents safely.
  • Choose Grok CLI if you have an X (x.com) or grok.com / SuperGrok account. It runs the official binary under QEMU emulation, with a warm daemon to keep repeat calls fast — watch thermals on long runs.
  • Choose Kimi Code CLI for Moonshot's newest tool (TypeScript, kimi-code) — local web UI, ACP, plugins, and a job daemon for batches. Native via npm + Node 22, at the cost of a heavier warm start per session.
  • Choose Kimi CLI for the lighter Moonshot option (Python, kimi) — the quickest to start on a 1 GB board.
  • Choose Vibe CLI if you have a Mistral account (or API key). It's a thin client — inference runs on Mistral's servers, so it's light on the board (the first install compiles for a few minutes).

Two Moonshot tools: kimi-code (Code CLI) is the TypeScript successor with the new features; kimi (Kimi CLI) is the lighter Python original. Both install side by side. Nothing stops you from installing all of them — just remember to run one heavy CLI at a time.