orbit

README

orbit

A terminal dashboard for Claude Code, Codex, and GitHub Copilot CLI sessions across all your projects.

Orbit shows which agents are working, finished, or waiting for you. Sessions run inside tmux, so closing Orbit or a terminal tab does not stop them.

 ██████╗ ██████╗ ██████╗ ██╗████████╗
██╔═══██╗██╔══██╗██╔══██╗██║╚══██╔══╝
██║   ██║██████╔╝██████╔╝██║   ██║
██║   ██║██╔══██╗██╔══██╗██║   ██║      ▲ needs attention 1 · ● working 2
╚██████╔╝██║  ██║██████╔╝██║   ██║     18 of 77 sessions shown
 ╚═════╝ ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚═════╝ ╚═╝   ╚═╝
╭─ ▶ SESSIONS · RECENT ────────────────────────╮ ╭─ PREVIEW · WORK/API ────────────────────╮
│ ▌ ▲ cl work/api                           2m │ │ Refactor batch runner                   │
│ ▌   Refactor batch runner    needs attention │ │ ~/work/api                              │
│   ⠸ cx src/widgets                      40m │ │ claude · main · 46 msgs · 2m ago       │
│     Evaluate the docs              working │ │                                         │
│   ◆ cl services/billing                  1h │ │ ▸ last prompt                           │
│     Add retry to webhook queue     finished │ │   now run the tests                     │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────╯ ╰─────────────────────────────────────────╯
  ⏎ attach   tab drive   n new   d dispatch   / filter   ? shortcuts

Install

macOS with Homebrew:

brew install sadrig91/tap/orbit

Linux, or without Homebrew:

go install github.com/sadrig91/orbit/cmd/orbit@latest

Prebuilt binaries are also available from GitHub Releases.

Orbit requires tmux 3.4 or newer. Ghostty 1.3+ or iTerm2 is optional and adds native tab opening and desktop notifications.

Run it from any directory:

orbit

Orbit checks for updates at most once a day. Disable this in ~/.config/orbit/config.toml:

[update]
auto = false

You can also use orbit --no-update or ORBIT_NO_UPDATE=1 for one run.

Using Orbit

The left pane lists sessions. The right pane shows details or a live terminal. The ▶ marker shows which pane owns keyboard input.

• Press Enter to resume or attach to the selected session.
• Press Tab to drive the selected agent inside Orbit. If it is dormant, Orbit resumes it first.
• Press Tab or Ctrl+G to return from the live terminal to the session list.
• Press [ or ] to jump directly between sessions needing attention.
• Press ? at any time for the complete shortcut reference.

When a live terminal is focused, Ctrl+F toggles full screen. Ctrl+Alt+- makes the detail pane narrower and Ctrl+Alt++ makes it wider from either side of the split. Mouse-wheel scrollback shows how many lines you are above the live output.

Keys

Key	Action
Enter	Attach or resume the selected session
Tab	Switch between the session list and live terminal
Ctrl+Alt+- / Ctrl+Alt++	Resize the detail or terminal pane
[ / ]	Previous / next session needing attention
j / k, arrows	Move through sessions
g / G	First / last session
/	Filter titles, paths, branches, and agents
f	Search inside transcripts
Esc	Clear search or dismiss a persistent error
o / p	Cycle sorting / grouping
a	Toggle recent and all sessions
n	Compose a new interactive session
d	Compose a headless task dispatch
R / L	Retry the selected dispatch / open its run log
s / S	Summarise one / all visible sessions
x	Confirm and kill the selected tmux session
r	Refresh
D	Open diagnostics
?	Open shortcut help
q	Quit; running sessions continue

Attach overrides are also available: i attaches in the current terminal, t opens a tab, and w opens a window. Orbit reuses an existing tab when it can find one instead of opening a duplicate.

Session state

Mark	Meaning
▲	Needs attention, such as a permission prompt
◆	Finished its last response
●	Working
○	tmux is alive, but the agent exited
·	Not running; attach to resume it

New sessions and dispatch

Press n to start an interactive agent. The composer lets you choose the agent and directory, and works even when the dashboard is empty. Use Left/Right to select an agent, Tab to move to the directory, and Up/Down to choose a recent project.

Press d to run a task headlessly. Its composer keeps the session list visible and preserves the draft until launch succeeds:

• Enter adds a task line; Ctrl+Enter or Alt+Enter opens the review screen.
• Tab or Shift+Tab moves between the task and directory.
• Up/Down selects a recent project directory.
• A leading @claude, @codex, or @copilot is the only agent selector; without one, Orbit uses the selected session's agent.

For example:

@codex can you check feature X?

A dispatch appears in the normal session list immediately and survives quitting Orbit. Its detail view shows timing, recent activity, and the final result. Attach to take it over, press x to cancel it, R to retry it, or L to read the complete run log.

Claude dispatches stop and show ▲ when a tool needs approval; Orbit does not approve it for you. Codex and Copilot do not expose an approval channel in their non-interactive modes. Copilot additionally requires explicit opt-in:

[dispatch]
timeout = "30m"
copilot_allow_all_tools = false

Search and summaries

/ filters visible metadata as you type. f searches transcript contents after you press Enter. Esc clears either search.

s creates a short cached summary of the selected session. S queues all visible sessions without summaries. Orbit uses each provider's installed CLI, so no separate API key is needed. Automatic summaries are off by default because they spend tokens while you browse:

[summary]
auto = true
auto_min_new_messages = 8
max_input_chars = 12000

Provider commands can be overridden when you want a different model:

[summary.codex]
command = ["codex", "exec", "--ephemeral", "--model", "your-model"]

Configuration and accessibility

Orbit creates an annotated config at ~/.config/orbit/config.toml. It covers attach behavior, notifications, recent-session limits, sort and grouping, dispatch, updates, summaries, and agent icons. Existing settings are preserved when new defaults are added.

Useful environment settings:

Variable	Effect
NO_COLOR=1	Remove ANSI styling and use text agent tags
ORBIT_REDUCED_MOTION=1	Replace animated indicators with a static dot
ORBIT_ICONS=text	Always use cl, cx, and cp tags
ORBIT_NO_UPDATE=1	Disable the update check for this run

Ghostty and Kitty can display agent logos through the Kitty graphics protocol. Other terminals automatically use text tags. Run orbit --probe-logos to check support.

Errors stay visible until Esc dismisses them. Press D for diagnostics about the latest scan, preview mode, tmux and agent availability, stack-dump path, and most recent error. Inside diagnostics, r refreshes and c clears the recorded error.

Notes

• Orbit uses a private tmux server and does not change your normal tmux setup.
• Closing a tab detaches; it does not kill the session. Use x when you intend to stop one. The transcript and cached summary remain available.
• tmux owns live-pane scrollback. Use its copy mode (Ctrl+O, then [) for selection and search.
• Flags: --inline, --window, --no-notify, --list, --json, --probe-logos, --no-update, and --version.

License

MIT