Orchestra-Board

[!NOTE] Orchestra is an independent open-source project. It is not affiliated with Anthropic, OpenAI or Google. It only starts the CLIs you already use, with your own accounts, on your machine.

Why Orchestra

You already run Claude Code or Codex in a terminal. Orchestra puts as many of them as you want side by side on an infinite map, each one in a real terminal, and lets you link them.

• A Lead agent can delegate tasks to other agents and collect their answers by itself.
• A Frontend agent can relay its finished work to a Reviewer automatically.
• An agent can drive a terminal you can see (npm run dev, tests, builds) instead of running hidden commands.

What's new in 0.1.3

Boards

• Formations: select tiles with a right-button rectangle and lay them out as a grid, rows, columns or a line, with a live preview.
• Groups: name a set of tiles, move them together, and keep them in team templates.
• Undo / redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y) for positions and groups.
• Find a tile on every board (Ctrl+Shift+F) and enlarge a terminal over the whole map (Ctrl+Shift+M).
• Board backups: up to 10 previous workspaces, and a recovery screen if workspace.json can't be read.

Links and agents

• Review before sending on Relay links: edit, send or discard the prepared message. Queued messages can be cancelled until they are delivered.
• Exact session resume for each Claude Code and Codex tile, even when two tiles share a folder.
• History tab in Tasks: every message sent through a link, with its reply and the files changed since the task started.
• Diagnostics in Settings: where each agent's command was found, its version and its Orchestra hooks.
• A new first-launch setup: language, theme, terminal font, grid, glow and dock agents, then the guided tour.

Full history: releases

Demos

Features

Download

[!IMPORTANT] You need the agent CLIs you want to use, installed and logged in: claude and/or codex must work in a normal terminal.

[!NOTE] The app isn't code-signed yet. On Windows, SmartScreen may say “Windows protected your PC”: click More info → Run anyway. On macOS, use right-click → Open the first time.

Tutorial

First launch

Orchestra asks a few quick choices (language, theme, terminal font, grid, glow and the agents shown in the dock), then offers a one-minute guided tour on your own board. Skip goes straight to the tour. Both can be replayed from Settings › General.

1. Drop your agents

1. In the file explorer on the right, click the folder you want to work in: it becomes the active folder.
2. Drag an agent from the dock on the left onto the map. It starts in a real terminal, in the active folder.
3. Drop a second one. Each tile can be moved, resized (click its title bar first) and renamed (double-click its name).

2. Link them

Pick the Link tool (L), click the first tile, then the second. With the Select tool (V), click the label in the middle of the link to choose how they talk:

Link	What happens	Good for
Relay	When A finishes, its last reply is pasted into B with your instruction ({response} is replaced by the reply).	Dev → reviewer, writer → translator
Delegation	A sends a task with a unique ID. Requests to the same agent are queued in order; each reply goes back to its caller.	A lead that splits work between agents
Terminal	A runs commands in a Terminal tile you can watch, after asking your permission.	Dev servers, tests, builds
Note	A reads and updates a linked sticky note (list_notes, read_note, write_note).	Shared plans, checklists, findings

Relay and Delegation links can be reversed or made two-way, and have a turn limit (3 by default).

Tick Review before sending on a Relay link to stay in control: when the source finishes, the message is prepared but not sent. Edit it, send it or discard it from the link panel or the Log. When the link label is visible, it expands to show a short preview and Send / Discard buttons; with several drafts, it shows the oldest first and how many remain.

Queued messages (Relay or Delegation, waiting for a busy target) can be cancelled until they are pasted; a cancelled delegation tells its caller instead of leaving it waiting. A message already delivered cannot be recalled.

3. Give a role

Hover the small tab above a Claude Code or Codex tile and click the mask. The role is given to the agent at the start of each session (and again after /clear). The editor also shows the text last injected into the current session. A role is an instruction, not a restriction on the agent's tools.

4. Share a note

Drop a sticky note and link an agent to it. Ask the agent to read or update it; you see the changes on the map and can edit it yourself. Lines such as - [ ] To do, - [~] In progress and - [x] Done show status icons. A write replaces the whole note, so agents should read it first.

5. Follow the exchanges

Open the Log on the right edge of the map (Ctrl+Shift+J): relayed messages, delegated tasks and their replies, terminal commands and their output, and refusals in red. Each message shows its state (to review, waiting, sent, reply received, cancelled, refused). Filters narrow by board, tile and type; click a task ID (#1a2b3c4d) to follow one task. Export log saves the filtered list as JSON. The log stays in memory only.

6. Answer permissions

When an agent waits for you, a notch slides out of the inbox icon in the top bar. For a simple yes/no permission, Accept or Refuse right there; for a question or a plan, it takes you to the terminal. The Blockers inbox also lists refused exchanges, turn limits and stopped terminals across boards.

7. Review the changes

When a tile works in a Git repository, a tab above it opens the Changes window: every changed file in its worktree with a colored diff, and Open in VS Code. Other tiles in the same worktree are listed, since changes in a shared folder can't be attributed to one agent. Orchestra only reads Git here.

8. Resume and recover

Claude Code and Codex resume the exact session saved for each tile. If a saved session is missing, Orchestra asks you to start a new conversation instead of resuming another tile's. Settings › General › Board backups keeps up to 10 previous workspaces; if workspace.json is unreadable at startup, choose a backup or a new board.

Recipes

A lead and two workers. Put a Claude Code Lead above a Codex and a Claude Code, linked with Delegation. Ask the lead: “Ask each of your agents for a short poem and tell me which one is best.” It writes to both, waits for their replies and answers you. (Also available as a team template.)

Dev + reviewer. Link a Frontend agent to a Reviewer with a Relay and the instruction “Review this change and list any bug: {response}”. Give the reviewer the role “You never edit files.” Every time the frontend agent finishes, the reviewer checks its work.

An agent that runs your dev server. Link an agent to a Terminal tile, then ask: “Start the dev server in the linked terminal and tell me when it's ready.” You see the command run; the agent reads the output and can stop it with Ctrl+C.

A prepared sequence. Open Tasks, create a task with a step for your developer and a step for your reviewer with Attach the previous response, then click Run. See the sequence guide.

Tasks › Sequences. A task is a saved list of prompts. Orchestra waits for each response before sending the next one, to the same agent or another. Start it on Run or when a given agent finishes; a step can attach the previous response or wait for your approval. Pause, resume or stop at any time; the current agent always finishes its answer. Sequences are stored in task-sequences.json (50 tasks, 50 steps each).

Tasks › History. Every message sent between agents through a link, with its reply and the files changed since the start. Read the reply, then mark the result as done or failed. You can also Track a task you give an agent yourself. Files changed since the start compares the worktree with a snapshot taken when the work began, without any commit or stash. Snapshots stay local and are bounded (20 references, 500 files each, 200 KB per file).

Formations and groups. Select several tiles with a right-button rectangle, then open Formation: adaptive grid, 3 or 4 per row, 2 columns, horizontal line or centered column. Hover a formation to preview it; Ctrl+Z undoes it. Create a named group from the selection: drag its name to move its members, double-click to rename, or ungroup without closing tiles.

Team templates. Choose the project folder and replace any unavailable agent with an installed one, then create a new board. Roles and links are registered before the agents start. Each instance gets fresh tiles and sessions. Saved templates live in team-templates.json.

Top bar. Tasks, Search, Teams, Inbox and Settings are compact icons. To show their names on hover, turn on Settings › Appearance › Expand toolbar buttons on hover.

Keyboard shortcuts

Everywhere (even in a terminal)

Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Next / previous board
Ctrl+1…9	Go to board
Ctrl+Shift+T	New board
Ctrl+,	Settings
Ctrl+Shift+E / A / U / J	Files / active agents / usage / log
Ctrl+Shift+F	Find a tile on every board
Ctrl+Shift+M	Enlarge or restore the selected terminal

On the map

V P N T L	Select, pen, sticky note, text, link
F	Fit everything in view
Del	Delete the selection (with confirmation)
F2	Rename the selected tile
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y	Undo / redo

In a terminal, Ctrl+C copies when text is selected (otherwise it interrupts) and Ctrl+V pastes. The full list is in Settings › Shortcuts.

Privacy and safety

App data (settings, boards, tasks, templates) lives in %APPDATA%\Orchestra (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Orchestra). The exchange log and the blockers inbox stay in memory only.

FAQ

That's Orchestra's status hooks (working / done). Choose Trust all and continue once; Codex remembers it.

Claude Code and Codex can relay, delegate, drive a terminal, use linked notes and run task sequences. Other CLIs (Aider, Gemini CLI, your own…) work in a tile and can receive relayed messages; their integration does not include Orchestra hooks or orchestration tools.

Yes: Settings › Agents. Pick a known agent (Google Antigravity, Aider, Qwen Code, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot CLI, Cursor CLI, Goose, Amp, Kimi CLI…) or add your own command, logo and color. Test checks that the command exists, and Settings › Diagnostics shows where it was found.

Look at the inbox icon in the top bar: the agent may be waiting for a permission or an answer. The Blockers inbox also shows turn limits reached and refused exchanges. Settings › Diagnostics tells you whether the agent has Orchestra hooks and which hook it sent last.

Orchestra runs on Windows and macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), with an installer for each in every release. Linux is not tested or packaged yet.

Build from source

Use Node.js 22.12+. Install the locked dependencies with npm ci.

npm ci           # node-pty ships prebuilt binaries: no Visual Studio or Python needed
npm run dev      # Vite + Electron with hot reload
npm test         # session, recovery, queue, review, undo and diagnostics tests
npm run dist     # Windows installer in release/Orchestra-Setup-<version>.exe

The macOS version lives on the macbook branch: npm run dist:mac there builds the .dmg files (on a Mac), and every push to that branch builds them on GitHub Actions.

launcher.exe at the root rebuilds the interface and prepares a local Orchestra.exe with Orchestra's icon and product metadata (npm run build:launcher recompiles the launcher; npm run build:runtime prepares the runtime). The original Electron executable stays unchanged. The branded copy adds about 250 MB under ignored node_modules and is reused until Electron, the icon or the version changes. Close the app before applying a runtime update.

If Windows' ransomware protection (Controlled folder access) is on and the project is in Documents, it may block the installer build: allow makensis.exe or build elsewhere.

electron/            Node side: windows, terminals, files, local server, MCP
  main.cjs           window, IPC routes, notifications
  preload.cjs        the only bridge to the UI (window.pty, fs, settings, workspace, git…)
  ptyManager.cjs     one real PTY per tile
  hookServer.cjs     local server (127.0.0.1 + token) for agent hooks and MCP tools
  mcpServer.cjs      the "orchestra" MCP server started by each agent (stdio)
  linkRelay.cjs      Relay links
  delegation.cjs     Delegation links (list_agents, send_to_agent, wait_for_replies)
  terminalLink.cjs   Terminal links (run_in_terminal, read_terminal, interrupt_terminal)
  activityLog.cjs    exchange log (memory only)
  agentStatus.cjs    tile status and permission requests
  claudeHooks.cjs    per-tile Claude Code settings and MCP config
  codexProfile.cjs   Codex profile and hooks
  git.cjs            branches, worktrees, read-only changes and diffs
src/                 React interface (map, tiles, panels, settings, tutorial)
docs/images/         README images, demos and artwork

The path of a keystroke: xterm.js → window.pty.write → IPC → node-pty → the CLI, and back through pty:data:<id>.

Feedback & support

License

MIT © 2026 Dimitri (@Adoraay)