| name | orca-cli |
| description | Use the public `orca` CLI to operate Orca-managed worktrees, folder contexts, terminals, repos, automations, worktree comments, and the browser embedded inside the Orca app. Use when the user says "$orca-cli", "use orca cli", "Orca worktree", "child worktree", "cardStatus", "spawn codex/claude in a worktree", "read/wait/send Orca terminal", "terminal send", "full handoff", "handover", "give this to another agent", "another worktree", "Orca browser", or "control the browser inside Orca". Prefer this over raw `git worktree`, ad hoc PTYs, Playwright, or Computer Use when the task touches Orca-managed state. Use Computer Use for browser windows, webviews, or desktop UI outside Orca's embedded browser. |
Orca CLI
This file is a discovery stub, not the usage guide. The full, version-matched Orca CLI
reference is served by the orca binary itself — kept out of this file on purpose so it
can never drift from the binary that will actually run your commands.
Engage Orca whenever its running editor/runtime is the source of truth: Orca-managed
worktrees, folder contexts, terminals, repos, automations, worktree comments, and the
browser embedded inside the Orca app. Triggers include "$orca-cli", "Orca worktree",
"child worktree", "spawn codex/claude in a worktree", "read/wait/send Orca terminal",
"full handoff" / "handover" / "give this to another agent", and "control the browser
inside Orca". Use plain shell tools when Orca state does not matter.
Resolve the CLI for this session
Choose the executable once and reuse it for every later command:
- If the
ORCA_CLI_COMMAND environment variable is set, use its value. Orca exports this
for managed WSL sessions.
- Otherwise, in a dev checkout whose session exposes
ORCA_DEV_REPO_ROOT, use orca-dev.
- Otherwise, on Linux outside an Orca-managed terminal, use
orca-ide. Never run bare
orca there — outside Orca's terminals it normally resolves to the
GNOME Orca screen reader (/usr/bin/orca) and starts speech on the user's machine.
- Otherwise, use
orca.
Below, ORCA is a placeholder for the executable you resolved. Substitute it before
running anything; do not create a shell variable or run ORCA literally. This works the
same way in POSIX shells, PowerShell, and cmd.exe.
If the selected executable cannot run, report its exact error and stop. Do not fall through
to another executable, which could silently target a different Orca build.
Load the full guide before running Orca commands
ORCA skills get orca-cli
That prints the complete, version-matched guide for the exact binary that will handle your
next commands — worktrees, handoffs, terminals, automations, and the built-in browser.
Read it first, then run the specific command you need.
Don't guess subcommands or flags from memory or from a cached copy of this stub. They
change between Orca releases, and this file deliberately no longer lists them. Confirm the
app is up with ORCA status --json (start it with ORCA open --json if needed), and
prefer --json for agent-driven calls.
If an older Orca does not recognize skills get
Use this fallback only when the selected binary explicitly reports that skills get is an
unknown command. Another failure is not proof of an older binary; report it rather than
guessing or changing executables. For a confirmed pre-guide binary, use only this bounded,
read-only bootstrap to orient. Do not dead-end and do not invent commands:
ORCA status --json
ORCA worktree ps --json
ORCA terminal list --json
Then tell the user that updating Orca restores the full, version-matched guide via
ORCA skills get orca-cli. Beyond these commands, ask the user rather than guessing a
command surface this older binary may not support.
