# Orca Developer Reference Wiki

> Orca is a cross-platform Electron IDE that orchestrates multiple AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Gemini, and 30+ more) running in parallel across isolated git worktrees. This reference covers the multi-process architecture, relay protocol, worktree lifecycle, source-control integration, and extension surfaces.

This is a Grok-Wiki source-grounded repository wiki. Use the complete Markdown link when an agent needs the full repo context.

## Context Links

- [Complete Markdown wiki](https://grok-wiki.com/public/wiki/stablyai-orca-47ffb1f68457/llms-full.txt)
- [Complete Markdown alias](https://grok-wiki.com/public/wiki/stablyai-orca-47ffb1f68457.md)
- [Human interactive wiki](https://grok-wiki.com/public/wiki/stablyai-orca-47ffb1f68457)
- [GitHub repository](https://github.com/stablyai/orca)

## Repository

- Repository: stablyai/orca

- Generated: 2026-05-27T07:48:15.466Z
- Updated: 2026-05-27T07:50:40.638Z
- Runtime: Pi · Claude Code · claude-sonnet-4-6:high
- Format: Technical
- Pages: 6

## Pages

- [Technical Orientation](https://grok-wiki.com/public/wiki/stablyai-orca-47ffb1f68457/pages/01-technical-orientation.md): What Orca is, how its three Electron processes (main, preload, renderer) plus the relay server fit together, key entry points, build targets, and how the rest of this reference is organized.
- [Relay Server & Agent Communication Protocol](https://grok-wiki.com/public/wiki/stablyai-orca-47ffb1f68457/pages/02-relay-server-agent-communication-protocol.md): The WebSocket relay server (src/relay/) that every agent subprocess connects to for filesystem access, PTY sessions, git operations, and workspace-session state. Covers protocol handshake, handler dispatch, plugin overlay sandboxing, and the shared protocol envelope types.
- [Worktree & Parallel Agent Orchestration](https://grok-wiki.com/public/wiki/stablyai-orca-47ffb1f68457/pages/03-worktree-parallel-agent-orchestration.md): How Orca creates, tracks, and tears down isolated git worktrees for each agent session; the agent-awake service, trust presets, hook lifecycle, worktree-removal safety checks, and the IPC surface that the renderer uses to drive orchestration.
- [Git & Source-Control Integration Layer](https://grok-wiki.com/public/wiki/stablyai-orca-47ffb1f68457/pages/04-git-source-control-integration-layer.md): The git runner, multi-provider source-control IPC handlers (GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, Gitea), hosted-review (PR/MR) flows, commit-message generation, and the shared git-history and upstream-status types that the renderer consumes.
- [Renderer UI & Zustand State Management](https://grok-wiki.com/public/wiki/stablyai-orca-47ffb1f68457/pages/05-renderer-ui-zustand-state-management.md): The React renderer process: App entry point, Zustand store slices (worktrees, tabs, terminals, repos, agent-status), tab-group layout, terminal shell integration via xterm.js, sidebar, and the IPC bridge through which renderer slices subscribe to main-process events.
- [CLI, Skills & Extension Points](https://grok-wiki.com/public/wiki/stablyai-orca-47ffb1f68457/pages/06-cli-skills-extension-points.md): The orca CLI binary (src/cli/), built-in skill discovery and metadata (src/main/skills/, src/shared/skills.ts), the agent-hook relay for external automations, SSH remote-runtime support, and the operational surfaces developers use to extend or automate Orca (runtime environments, setup scripts, MCP config).

## Source Files

- `electron.vite.config.ts`
- `package.json`
- `README.md`
- `skills/orchestration/`
- `src/cli/dispatch.ts`
- `src/cli/index.ts`
- `src/main/agent-awake-service.ts`
- `src/main/agent-trust-presets.ts`
- `src/main/git/runner.ts`
- `src/main/git/status.ts`
- `src/main/git/worktree.ts`
- `src/main/hooks.ts`
- `src/main/index.ts`
- `src/main/ipc/github.ts`
- `src/main/ipc/gitlab.ts`
- `src/main/ipc/hosted-review.ts`
- `src/main/ipc/worktrees.ts`
- `src/main/repo-worktrees.ts`
- `src/main/skills/discovery.ts`
- `src/main/worktree-removal-safety.ts`
- `src/preload/index.ts`
- `src/relay/dispatcher.ts`
- `src/relay/fs-handler.ts`
- `src/relay/git-handler.ts`
- `src/relay/plugin-overlay.ts`
- `src/relay/protocol.ts`
- `src/relay/pty-handler.ts`
- `src/relay/relay.ts`
- `src/relay/workspace-session-handler.ts`
- `src/renderer/src/App.tsx`
- `src/renderer/src/components/Sidebar.tsx`
- `src/renderer/src/components/terminal/TerminalShell.tsx`
- `src/renderer/src/store/index.ts`
- `src/renderer/src/store/slices/tab-group-state.ts`
- `src/renderer/src/store/slices/tabs.ts`
- `src/renderer/src/store/slices/terminals.ts`
- `src/renderer/src/store/slices/worktrees.ts`
- `src/shared/agent-hook-types.ts`
- `src/shared/agents-orchestration-steps.ts`
- `src/shared/commit-message-generation.ts`
- `src/shared/git-history.ts`
- `src/shared/hosted-review.ts`
- `src/shared/mcp-config.ts`
- `src/shared/runtime-environments.ts`
- `src/shared/runtime-rpc-envelope.ts`
- `src/shared/setup-script-imports.ts`
- `src/shared/skills.ts`
- `src/shared/types.ts`
- `src/shared/workspace-session-schema.ts`
- `src/shared/worktree-id.ts`