Orbit

[Orbit]

Agents write. Orbit delivers.

[Release] [npm] [License: MIT] [Docs]

[Animated tour of the real Orbit dashboard while Orbit's agents work on Orbit itself: a proposed task waiting for approval, 16 tasks running at once across two hosts with 100 files locked so overlapping work waits its turn, an auto-drain with 12 running and 19 admitted that pauses new starts while the host runs hot, and auto-concurrency forecasting CPU and memory for each admission; a Codex pull-request pipeline run from isolated worktree through implement, commit, validate, review gate and push to an open pull request, 21 steps in 24 minutes 15 seconds; routines on a host clock and 22 auto-task definitions that keep the queue fed; analytics showing 3,277 tasks done in 30 days, 167% more than the 30 days before, and each model's implementation times; and the codebase view ranking the paths agents struggle with across 6,002 tasks.]

Orbit is a local-first runtime for coding agents. Keep using your authenticated agent CLI; Orbit adds a durable task queue, sandboxed worktrees, file locks for parallel runs, a gated delivery pipeline, and an audit log.

Why: fast agents make planning, review, and traceability easy to lose. Orbit keeps the prompt, plan, and review behind every change, with a task ID on every workflow commit.

• Single binary, no cloud. State lives in ~/.orbit and .orbit/; Orbit sends no telemetry.
• Bring your own agents. Use the provider CLIs you already have authenticated, without giving Orbit API keys.
• MIT licensed. No paid tier or hosted offering.

How it works

You:    The fsProfile lookup is undocumented. Get that fixed.Agent:  Files a proposed task with acceptance criteria. Approve it and ship?You:    Yes.Agent:  Queues it, then runs plan → execute → review in a locked, isolated worktree.        Opens a pull request. Review and merge it, then approve the task to close it.

Nothing starts without approval; PR runs stop for your review unless you authorize --complete. The task record keeps the prompt, plan, execution trace, and review. For larger specs, ask your agent to orchestrate: the bundled orbit-orchestrate skill splits the work, queues it once approved, runs it in parallel, and diagnoses failures (delivery workflows).

Quick start

You need: macOS or Linux (x64 or arm64; Windows uses WSL2), Node 18+, an authenticated agent CLI, and authenticated gh for pull requests.

npm install -g @orbit-tools/cliorbit init    # machine name, task-ID prefix, agent skills, and Linux sandbox setup

Open your agent in the repo and ask it to “set up Orbit for this repo”. The bundled orbit-setup skill registers it, connects MCP, runs orbit doctor, and asks for choices such as the PR target branch. Start a fresh agent session, then ask: “Add a hello.txt file containing hello; file it as an Orbit task.” Approve and ship the task when prompted, review and merge the PR, then approve the task to close it. Watch with orbit web serve.

Prefer a plugin? Install Orbit for Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor. Every MCP tool has a CLI twin; for the same loop without an agent, see your first task from the terminal.

cd <repo> && orbit workspace init --mcp    # add --ship-mode local to skip PRsorbit doctororbit web serve

Features

• Plan and govern: durable tasks, audit records, friction, and local search.
• Execute safely in parallel: sandboxes, locks, gated pipelines, and eight agent CLIs.
• Run unattended: bounded drains, optional completion, recurring reviews, and multiple machines.
• Observe and extend: dashboard, plugins, and bundled agent skills.

Crews and complexity routing

Crews name a provider, model, and effort level; complexity pools choose one for a task without an explicit crew. See crew definitions, init's seeded pools, and complexity routing, weighting, and overrides.

MCP and authority

Connect your agent explains operator and agent-only authority; federated MCP connects multiple machines.

Where state lives

Scoping rules explain machine and workspace state. See the runbooks for backups, recovery, and upgrades.

Learn more

• orbit-cli.com: guides, concepts, and the full CLI and config reference
• docs/CONFIG.md: crews, pools, base branch, sandbox
• docs/POSITIONING.md: what Orbit is for, and what it deliberately isn't
• docs/OPTIMISTIC_MERGING.md: the preferred delivery mode: merge fast, review after landing, keep the queue draining
• ARCHITECTURE.md and design docs
• CHANGELOG.md: Orbit is pre-1.0, and breaking changes ship in minor releases

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome, from typo fixes to new executors. Small fixes can go straight to a PR; bigger changes start with an issue. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT