Orca
A desktop IDE that gives each agent task its own git worktree, terminal, browser tab, and diff to review.
Orca answers the same problem as Luvus — several agents working at once — from the other direction. Instead of a terminal UI, it’s a desktop application, and the unit isn’t a pane but a task: each one gets its own git worktree, its own agent terminal, its own browser tab, and its own diff.
Install
brew install --cask stablyai/orca/orca
Windows has an installer and Linux an AppImage, both on the releases page. There’s a companion mobile app for checking on a run from a phone.
It drives the agent CLIs you already have — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor CLI, GLM — so you still need whatever subscription those require. Orca itself is MIT-licensed and free.
Why worktrees are the point
Two agents editing one checkout is how you get a merge conflict with yourself. Orca
gives each task git worktree isolation, so branches move independently and nothing
half-finished blocks the next task.
# what Orca is doing for you, by hand
git worktree add ../myapp-feature-a -b feature-a
git worktree add ../myapp-bugfix-b -b bugfix-b
git worktree list
When the work is merged or abandoned, the worktree goes with it.
The panels
| Panel | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Terminal | The agent’s session, one per task |
| Browser | The dev server for that worktree, not a shared localhost |
| Diff | Review changes and annotate them before anything is committed |
| Layouts | Tabs and split panes, so two tasks sit side by side |
The browser panel matters more than it sounds: with several worktrees running, each needs its own port, and having the right preview attached to the right task removes a constant source of “why didn’t my change show up.”
Running it elsewhere
Tasks can execute over SSH or on a self-hosted server, which keeps a long build off your laptop while the review still happens in the local window.
Luvus or Orca
| Luvus | Orca | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Terminal UI | Desktop app |
| Works over plain SSH | Yes | Local window, remote execution |
| Isolation | Worktrees and path leases | A worktree per task |
| Review | Diff with notes in the TUI | Diff panel with annotations |
| Fits if | You live in tmux | You want a preview browser beside the diff |
Both wrap the same agent CLIs, so trying one costs nothing but disk.
One gotcha on Linux
orca is also the GNOME screen reader. On a Linux desktop, running bare orca in a
terminal may start speech instead of the IDE — use the AppImage or the distribution’s
own launcher and confirm which binary you’re calling.
which -a orca
Next
The same job one layer down, owning the terminals themselves → herdr
Last updated 04 Sep 2026, 00:00 UTC.