Neil
c72a4eecdd
* refactor(shell): collapse the zsh wrapper to one .zshenv and a precmd hook (STA-4786)
Orca needs to run code after the user's own zsh startup files. It bought that by
keeping ZDOTDIR pointed at its own wrapper dir for the whole of startup and
sourcing each user file by hand -- four generated files per transport, with a
fake ZDOTDIR live while /etc/zshrc ran. That single decision is the root of a
whole bug family:
- /etc/zshrc assigns HISTFILE=${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zsh_history unconditionally, so
history landed inside Orca's own dir (#11044), and an epilogue had to repair it.
- zsh's sourcehome() ignores ZDOTDIR once the shell is in sh/ksh emulation, so a
user .zshenv or .zprofile ending in `emulate sh` hid every later wrapper file.
The emulation degrade blocks and their forked $(emulate) probes exist for that.
- One wrapper dir shared by two installed builds could mix files from both, so
every generated file had to redefine the helpers it called.
- The baked generation-time ZDOTDIR literal is unusable when a Windows-generated
wrapper is sourced inside WSL via /mnt/c (#8003), so the runtime path had to be
re-derived from %x.
The wrapper now hands ZDOTDIR back on its first lines and defers Orca's work to a
precmd hook that runs at the first prompt -- after .zprofile, /etc/zshrc, .zshrc
and .zlogin, every one of which zsh reads from the user's own directory exactly
as in an unwrapped shell. Each bug above stops being reachable rather than being
repaired, and their machinery goes with them: eight of thirteen exported blocks in
shell-templates.ts, both drifted discovery bodies (unifying them closes the
"reconciling the two is a follow-up" note the file carried), and the relay's
separate ORCA_USER_ZDOTDIR shape. Generated zsh drops from 819 lines across
twelve files to 143 in three.
Two things the design has to get right, both found by running it rather than
reasoning about it:
- Every function is defined ABOVE the source of the user's .zshenv. A user file
ending in `emulate sh` puts the rest of the wrapper under sh parsing rules, and
the first prototype died there with `parse error near '\n'` -- silently, leaving
the pane unwrapped. Function bodies are parsed at definition time.
- ORCA_ORIG_ZDOTDIR is vetted, not trusted. The launch config only sets it when it
resolved a usable dir, but a pane inherits its parent's environment too, so a
stale value from an older build can arrive on its own and would point ZDOTDIR
back at a wrapper dir. The ownership check Node applies now also runs in the
shell, where that route is visible.
Orca also stops inventing a ZDOTDIR: where the user has none, ORCA_ORIG_ZDOTDIR is
absent and the pane ends with ZDOTDIR unset, as an unwrapped login zsh does.
Verified on real zsh over a real PTY -- necessary, because a precmd hook never runs
in a shell started with -c, so the existing `zsh -i -c` probes could not have
exercised this design at all. src/main/zsh-startup-hook-pty-harness.ts drives the
shell to a prompt and reports through a file rather than stdout, which a PTY echoes.
* test(shell): cover the relay variant of the zsh hook in a real shell
The relay writes its own variant -- no OSC 133, remote CLI bin dir instead of the
agent-teams shim -- and it had no live coverage. It used to carry a second ZDOTDIR
shape as well, which is how it drifted from the desktop template in the first
place; now the spec flags are the only difference, and this pins that.
* fix(shell): rebase the single-file hook onto content-addressed wrapper trees
#15285 landed content-addressed wrapper roots and a per-transport fileset module
while this branch was in flight. The fileset modules are now the single place the
tree is described, so 'only .zshenv' is stated once per transport and the
required-paths check follows from it rather than repeating the list.
* test(shell): point the mixed-build proof at the relay, the one fixed wrapper path
#15285 content-addressed the desktop and daemon trees, so two builds can no
longer write the same directory there and the scenario this file covers became
unreachable on those paths. The relay still writes a fixed ~/.orca-relay/
shell-ready, so that is where the hazard survives and where the proof belongs.
* fix(test): make the zsh PTY harness survive a startup that stops to ask
Two CI-only failures, both from driving a real PTY where the old probes drove a
pipe:
- A host whose global zshrc runs `compinit` over directories it considers
insecure stops startup and ASKS. A pipe-backed `zsh -i -c` never saw the
question; a PTY sits at it until the timeout. The harness now answers it.
ZSH_DISABLE_COMPFIX does not help -- that is an oh-my-zsh convention and plain
compinit ignores it, which I confirmed by reproducing the prompt locally.
- The PS1 line was typed at t=0, so on such a host the question consumed it as
its answer. The harness now waits for the shell to fall quiet first, which
also stops a slow prompt framework racing the same write.
Also merges a duplicate vitest import the native code-quality audit flagged.
* fix(test): stop the live-shell assertions assuming macOS host behaviour
Two of them hardcoded what my machine does rather than what Orca owes:
- LINEINIT was pinned to 'none'. A host whose global zsh config installs its own
zle-line-init widget has one either way; the contract is that it looks the same
wrapped as unwrapped, which the assertion beside it already states.
- The dropped-precmd_functions case asserted HISTFILE was no longer the scoped
path. Whether the scoped value survives at all is the host's call: macOS
/etc/zshrc overwrites HISTFILE so it does not, and a host with no such
assignment keeps whatever the spawn env set. Now compared against an unwrapped
pane given the same env, which is the real contract on both.
Also notes, where the emulation cases live, that they only discriminate on a host
whose system zshrc clobbers HISTFILE -- on CI's Ubuntu the load-bearing assertion
is ORCA_HISTFILE having been consumed.
* test(shell): re-pin the fixes the four-file wrapper was built for
Archaeology over the removed blocks: each existed for a bug, so each needs the
bug shown to be unreachable rather than just the code gone. Six restored or added,
each naming the change that introduced the behaviour.
- #8003, twice: the wrapper sourced from a relocated root, and from a non-ASCII
(token-range) one. The old file baked its generation-time path in and had to
re-derive the runtime one from %x to avoid using it; this one bakes nothing.
Both runs assert ORCA_SHELL_FEATURES came back consumed, so 'the user's .zshrc
loaded' cannot pass on a pane that never read the wrapper at all.
- #4667: user startup files must see their OWN ZDOTDIR while they run, or plugin
and theme lookups resolve into Orca's dir. The old wrapper swapped ZDOTDIR
around each source; this one never takes it away, and the values now have to
match an unwrapped pane's.
- #1947: a user .zshenv that returns early.
- #15258: an inherited ZDOTDIR that is an Orca wrapper dir must be refused. CI
proved this route is live -- the launch config only sets ORCA_ORIG_ZDOTDIR when
it resolved a usable dir, but a pane inherits its parent's environment too.
- #11044/#11146: a nested Orca inherits neither cross-process channel and no
ZDOTDIR of Orca's, which is what makes #11044's plain shape unreachable rather
than repaired. Verified the child-env probe detects a real leak before trusting
it to report the absence of one.
Orca
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The AI Orchestrator for 100x builders.
Run Codex, ClaudeCode, OpenCode or Pi side-by-side — each in its own worktree, tracked in one place.
Download Orca
Features
Mobile CompanionMonitor and steer your agents from your phone — get notified when an agent finishes and send follow-ups from anywhere. |
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Parallel WorktreesFan one prompt across five agents, each in its own isolated git worktree — compare the results and merge the winner. |
 |
Terminal SplitsGhostty-class terminals with WebGL rendering, infinite splits, and scrollback that survives restarts. |
 |
Design ModeClick any UI element in a real Chromium window to send its HTML, CSS, and a cropped screenshot straight into your agent's prompt. |
 |
GitHub & Linear, NativeBrowse PRs, issues, and project boards in-app — open a worktree from any task and review without a context switch. |
 |
SSH WorktreesRun agents on a beefy remote box with full file editing, git, and terminals — auto-reconnect and port forwarding included. |
 |
Annotate AI DiffsDrop comments on any diff line and ship them back to the agent — review, edit, and commit without leaving Orca. |
 |
Drag Files to AgentsVS Code's editor with autosave everywhere — drag files or images straight into an agent prompt. |
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Orca CLIAgents drive Orca too — script every workflow with |
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Also in the box:
- Quick open — Search across worktrees, files, agents, commands, and repo context without leaving your flow.
- Account switcher & usage tracking — See Claude and Codex usage and rate-limit resets, and hot-swap accounts without re-logging in.
- Rich repo previews — Preview Markdown, images, PDFs, and repo docs in the workspace.
- Computer Use — Let agents operate desktop apps and visible UI when a workflow needs real interaction.
- Notifications and unread state — Know when an agent finishes or needs attention, then mark threads unread to come back later.
- And many, many more — we ship daily, so this list is perpetually behind. The changelog is the real feature list.
Supported Agents
Works with any CLI agent — if it runs in a terminal, it runs in Orca.
Claude Code
Codex
Grok
Cursor
GitHub Copilot
OpenCode
MiMo Code
Amp
OpenClaude
Antigravity
Pi
oh-my-pi
Hermes Agent
Devin
Goose
Auggie
Autohand Code
Charm
Cline
Codebuff
Command Code
Continue
Droid
Kilocode
Kimi
Kiro
Mistral Vibe
Qwen Code
Rovo Dev
+ any CLI agent
Install
Desktop — macOS, Windows, Linux
- Download from onOrca.dev
- Or grab a build directly: macOS Apple Silicon · macOS Intel · Windows (.exe) · Linux AppImage · All builds
- Running
orca serveon a headless Linux server? See the headless Linux server guide.
Or via a package manager:
# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install --cask stablyai/orca/orca
# Arch Linux (AUR) — or stably-orca-git to build from source
yay -S stably-orca-bin
Mobile Companion — iOS, Android
Pair with your desktop app to monitor and steer your agents from your phone.
- iOS: Download on the App Store or join TestFlight
- Android: Download APK 0.0.43 · Install guide
Community & Support
-
Discord: Join the community on Discord.
-
Twitter / X: Follow @orca_build for updates and announcements.
-
WeChat: Scan to join the Orca community WeChat group 7. If it is full, use group 8.
-
Feedback & Ideas: We ship fast. Missing something? Request a new feature.
-
Privacy: See the privacy & telemetry docs for what anonymous usage data Orca collects and how to opt out.
-
Show Support: Star this repo to follow along with our daily ships.
Developing
Want to contribute or run locally? See our CONTRIBUTING.md guide.
Signed Builds
Windows code signing sponored/provided by SignPath.io, certificate by SignPath Foundation.
License
Orca is free and open source under the MIT License.