Jinwoo Hong
49274394fc
* refactor(mobile): put the branch-compare leg on the lifecycle owner (step 5) The compare kept three hand-rolled guards for one reply, combined in an `isCurrentLoad()` the four exit points each had to remember to call: `branchCompareGenerationRef` (latest-wins), `currentBranchCompareIdentityRef` (the route identity, written in render) and `mountedRef`. The owner replaces the first two. An attempt now `reset()`s and then `load`s, so the newest attempt is the only one holding a live lease, and the reply is published only through `commit(lease, value)`. What retires a compare is named at the call site: this host, this route identity, this workspace. A compare is a refresh, so neither of the owner's other two mechanisms applies here and the `reset()` before each `load` is what says so: nothing it holds is reusable, and no attempt may share its predecessor's reply. Dropping that line makes the second attempt join the first's request and publish a base ref the user already navigated away from. The identity retire moves into the render-phase adjust-on-prop-change block, where the identity ref was written. Leaving it to the next load's scope is not the same thing: that load only starts once the fresh `git.status` returns, and an in-flight compare would publish the old worktree's commits first. `mountedRef` stays. A detached route has no screen to publish to, which is a fact about the view, not about which reply is current. The three decision points that used to write state mid-flight — no base ref, a refused capability, an unreadable reply — are a returned `BranchCompareOutcome` now, so the loader body writes nothing and the screen is written in one place. That also puts this file under the loader-write source fence. No golden moves: the recording suites reproduce byte for byte. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JNnE9qzUZMMnqpZWCqM3nb * docs(mobile): correct the compare scope comment to the one call that reads it The pilot's wording named two scope consumers; the compare leg has only `load`. What the scope still adds over the render-phase retire is the structural half: a scope the owner has not seen retires on its own. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JNnE9qzUZMMnqpZWCqM3nb * feat(mobile): give the lifecycle owner's loader a currency probe A loader that spans two round trips had no way to ask whether its scope had moved, so a superseded attempt sent its second request and was only refused at commit. The probe answers exactly the question commit asks and carries nothing to publish with, so the owner's publish fence is unchanged: a loader that stops on it returns null, which the owner already reads as no value. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JNnE9qzUZMMnqpZWCqM3nb * fix(mobile): keep a superseded branch compare off the wire Restores request-count parity with main for the one path the migration changed: an attempt superseded while it resolved its base ref used to stop before sending git.branchCompare, and under the owner it sent one and was refused at commit. It now stops on the owner's currency probe between the two legs, so the screen is unchanged and so is the request count. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JNnE9qzUZMMnqpZWCqM3nb * docs(mobile): say what the probe's missing generation actually is Stripping the directive gives TS2339, a member that does not exist, not a privacy error: the probe has no generation to keep private. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JNnE9qzUZMMnqpZWCqM3nb * test(mobile): pin that a detached route sends no compare The detach reset() was the only thing retiring an attempt after the route went away, and deleting it left the suite green. This schedule detaches mid base-ref lookup and asserts nothing reaches git.branchCompare; without the reset() it fails with one request sent. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JNnE9qzUZMMnqpZWCqM3nb * refactor(mobile): drop the scope member the identity key already carries statusIdentityKey is `${hostId}\0${worktreeId}`, so listing worktreeId beside it read as a third fence when it fences nothing new. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JNnE9qzUZMMnqpZWCqM3nb * refactor(mobile): split the compare protocol out of the loaders hook The outcome union, the attempt and the screen mapping are the compare leg's own protocol, not the hook's: nothing in them reaches React. Moved verbatim to mobile-branch-compare-outcome.ts with a unit pin for the mapping, which only the hook's schedules covered before. The hook drops from 283 to 230 lines against a 300 limit. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JNnE9qzUZMMnqpZWCqM3nb * refactor(mobile): correct the joiner comment and narrow the compare sender A joiner never receives the probe: its fn is never invoked, it awaits the originating request's promise, and retire() clears inFlight so none can join across a generation bump. The compare attempt takes the operation sender the convention names rather than a whole RpcClient, which it only ever used as that. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01JNnE9qzUZMMnqpZWCqM3nb
Orca Mobile
React Native companion app for Orca. Monitor worktrees, view terminal output, and send commands from your phone.
Local development uses two processes:
- Orca desktop/Electron from the repo root. This hosts the mobile WebSocket RPC server on port
6768. - Expo Metro from
mobile/. This serves the React Native app on port8081.
Unless a command says otherwise, run mobile app commands from the mobile/ directory.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 24+
- pnpm
- Xcode and/or Android Studio tooling for simulator or device builds
- Expo Go on your phone, or a development client build when native modules are needed
- Phone and desktop on the same LAN when testing a physical phone
Start Desktop Orca
From the repository root:
pnpm install
pnpm dev
Confirm the mobile RPC server is listening:
lsof -nP -iTCP:6768 -sTCP:LISTEN
Restart pnpm dev after changing Electron main-process code. Metro hot reload only applies to the mobile JavaScript bundle.
Start The Mobile App
cd mobile
pnpm install
pnpm start
Scan the Expo QR code with your phone's camera on iOS, or Expo Go on Android.
For a native dev-client build:
pnpm exec expo run:android
pnpm exec expo run:ios
pnpm start --dev-client
Pair With Desktop Orca
- Open Orca desktop.
- Go to Settings > Mobile.
- Scan the pairing QR code from the mobile app.
- Confirm the mobile host endpoint is
ws://<desktop-ip>:6768.
For the Android emulator, use ws://10.0.2.2:6768. For a physical phone, use the desktop LAN IP, for example ws://192.168.0.179:6768.
If the phone has a stale host entry, remove it from the app and pair again.
Development Paths
Android Phone
- Install Expo Go from Google Play
- Run
pnpm start, scan QR with Expo Go - For native modules:
pnpm exec expo run:android - Run with
pnpm start --dev-client
iOS Simulator
- Install Xcode from the App Store
- Run
pnpm start --iosto open in iOS Simulator
Physical Phone Debugging
The phone can be inspected through the connected device tooling:
orca snapshot --json
orca click --element @e3 --json
orca fill --element @e1 --value "ls" --json
orca screenshot --json
Use snapshot first to find the current element refs, then click/fill those refs. After mobile file edits, Metro usually hot reloads automatically, but navigating out of and back into the session screen can be useful because it re-runs terminal.subscribe.
Terminal Streaming Repro Without A Phone
Use this when terminal output does not render on device and you need to split server streaming bugs from WebView/UI bugs:
cd mobile
ORCA_MOBILE_WS_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:6768 pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64>
You can pass a worktree selector as the third argument:
pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "id:<worktreeId>"
pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "path:/absolute/worktree/path"
pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "name:my-worktree"
The expected result includes:
streamSawMarker: true
readSawMarker: true
If this repro fails, debug the desktop runtime/PTY path before the mobile WebView. If it passes but the phone is blank, debug the session screen or TerminalWebView readiness/queueing path.
Terminal Color Repro Without A Phone
Use this when terminal colors disappear after switching tabs. Open a Claude Code terminal and at least one other terminal in the target worktree, then run:
cd mobile
ORCA_MOBILE_WS_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:6768 pnpm exec tsx scripts/repro-terminal-colors.ts \
<deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "id:<worktreeId>"
The script captures terminal.subscribe snapshots in an A → B → A sequence and writes raw snapshots to mobile/terminal-color-repro/. If the two A snapshots have different sgrColor counts, the desktop snapshot changed during the switch. If they match, the ANSI color data is still present and the bug is in mobile replay/rendering.
Validation
Run these checks before committing mobile terminal changes:
cd mobile
pnpm exec tsc --noEmit
pnpm lint
cd ..
pnpm typecheck:node
Protocol Version Compatibility
Mobile and desktop talk over a versioned protocol. Because mobile updates lag desktop by 24-48h via the App Store, both sides exchange version numbers on status.get so a genuinely incompatible combo can hard-block instead of silently misbehaving.
Constants live in two files (Metro can't resolve outside mobile/):
src/shared/protocol-version.ts—DESKTOP_PROTOCOL_VERSION,MIN_COMPATIBLE_MOBILE_VERSIONmobile/src/transport/protocol-version.ts—MOBILE_PROTOCOL_VERSION,MIN_COMPATIBLE_DESKTOP_VERSION
Today all four are set so evaluateCompat always returns { kind: 'ok' } — nothing blocks. The wire format is in place to flip a switch when needed.
When to bump
Bump DESKTOP_PROTOCOL_VERSION (and the mobile mirror MOBILE_PROTOCOL_VERSION when relevant) for breaking changes:
- Removed RPC method or required parameter that mobile uses
- Changed meaning (units, nullability) of an existing field mobile reads
- Changed encryption, framing, or auth handshake
Do not bump for additive changes:
- New RPC methods
- New optional fields on existing methods
- New event types in
terminal.subscribe
Set MIN_COMPATIBLE_MOBILE_VERSION (kill-switch) when desktop ships a change that requires a minimum mobile version to function safely. Same for MIN_COMPATIBLE_DESKTOP_VERSION from the mobile side.
When a verdict is blocked, mobile/src/components/ProtocolBlockScreen.tsx renders a screen pointing the user at either the App Store (mobile too old) or GitHub Releases (desktop too old).
To exercise the block screen locally: set MIN_COMPATIBLE_DESKTOP_VERSION = 999 in mobile/src/transport/protocol-version.ts, rebuild, pair to any desktop. Revert before merging.
Mock Server
Develop the mobile app without a running Orca desktop instance:
pnpm mock-server # starts mock WebSocket server on port 6768
Connect from the app using endpoint ws://localhost:6768 and token mock-device-token.
Environment variables
MOCK_NATIVE_CHAT=1— serve the native-chat scenario (one live agent tab, empty transcript, image upload) instead of the default terminal fixtures.MOCK_CHAT_AGENT=omp— withMOCK_NATIVE_CHAT=1, present an OMP tab and four decoded transcript messages, including a tool call and result, instead of the default Claude scenario. It deliberately omitstranscriptPathto exercise legacy-hook readability discovery; current OMP hooks may report a path.MOCK_SERVER_KEY_FILE— persist the server keypair across restarts so a paired device keeps its public-key pin. A missing or invalid file is re-keyed with a warning, which forces a re-pair.
Scenario control files
Read on every request, so behaviour can be flipped mid-session without a restart (a restart would re-key E2EE and force a re-pair). Write the mode into the file, or delete it for the default.
MOCK_SEND_MODE_FILE(defaultorca-mock-send-modein the system temporary directory) —accept(default) accepts the send,errorfails it withmobile_input_floor_unavailable, anything else reports the send as rejected.MOCK_TERMINAL_LIST_MODE_FILE(defaultorca-mock-terminal-list-modein the system temporary directory) —omitreturns an empty terminal list,otherreturns a list that omits the chat handle, anything else lists it.MOCK_TERMINAL_STREAM_MODE_FILE(defaultorca-mock-terminal-stream-modein the system temporary directory) —deadanswers a subscribe withsubscribedthenend(a gone PTY), which is what exercises the rearm bound and terminal prune; anything else streams normally.
Connecting to Real Orca
- Start Orca desktop with WebSocket transport enabled
- In Orca, go to Settings > Mobile and scan the QR code with this app
- The QR encodes the connection endpoint, device token, and TLS fingerprint
Project Structure
mobile/
├── app/ # Expo Router screens (file-based routing)
│ ├── _layout.tsx # Root layout with navigation stack
│ ├── index.tsx # Home screen — paired hosts list
│ └── pair-scan.tsx # QR code scanning screen
├── src/
│ ├── terminal/ # Terminal WebView and xterm bridge
│ └── transport/ # WebSocket RPC client
├── scripts/
│ ├── test-subscribe.ts # Desktop streaming repro without a phone
│ └── mock-server.ts # Standalone mock WebSocket server
└── assets/ # App icons and splash screen