FAQ
What is Orbit, in one line?
Section titled “What is Orbit, in one line?”A desktop command center that sits between Apollo, your queue, and your coding agent, handling everything around writing code — orchestration, monitoring, planning, deploys, secrets, and design. See What is Orbit.
Does Orbit write code?
Section titled “Does Orbit write code?”No. Your editor and your coding agent write code. Orbit orchestrates the prompts, watches what’s running, and manages everything around the editing loop.
Which coding agents does it work with?
Section titled “Which coding agents does it work with?”Any agent that reads files — Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Aider — plus local and custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints. You map each complexity tier to whichever agent and model you want.
What does it cost?
Section titled “What does it cost?”Orbit has a free local layer plus subscription-backed Pro features. Local operations and bring-your-own-key usage are not gated by Sivants billing; AI work that runs through Sivants can use Sivants Credits that never expire.
New installs get a 14-day full-Pro trial that bypasses the free-tier limits. When it expires, Orbit applies the current plan limits and explains which subscription-backed features are unavailable, including remote/mobile access through the tunnel where that access depends on Sivants infrastructure.
Does my API key leave my machine?
Section titled “Does my API key leave my machine?”No. Keys live in the Vault, encrypted locally with AES-256-GCM, and are never sent to Sivants.
How does my phone reach Orbit?
Section titled “How does my phone reach Orbit?”Through a Cloudflare Tunnel or equivalent remote URL and a small Wake Receiver service, authenticated with the Vault shared secret. During the full-Pro trial this remote path is available while Orbit bypasses free-tier limits; after expiry it follows the current plan limits and Orbit shows which subscription-backed remote features are unavailable. If the desktop app is in the tray, your phone can wake the server in about thirty seconds. If you fully quit Orbit on the desktop, a wake request is recorded but the server can’t start until you open the app again. See Orbit on Your Phone.
What is Apollo?
Section titled “What is Apollo?”Apollo is Orbit’s unified chat, planning, and co-pilot surface. It knows your projects live, helps shape work into clear prompts, and can run real Orbit operations on confirmation.
Does Apollo write code by itself?
Section titled “Does Apollo write code by itself?”No. Apollo can help plan, queue prompts, read project context, generate assets, and run Orbit operations you confirm. Your configured coding agent still performs code changes through the prompt queue.
Does Orbit work offline?
Section titled “Does Orbit work offline?”The desktop app does. The Electron shell loads and runs without the background server — you can browse projects, read context, use the Vault, and view the queue. Live work (running prompts, streaming output, mobile, the tunnel) needs the server on.
What license is Orbit under?
Section titled “What license is Orbit under?”Business Source License 1.1 (licensor: Sivants LLC), with a four-year change date and conversion to Apache 2.0. The additional use grant permits personal and commercial development workflows; offering Orbit as a hosted service to third parties is not permitted. The Capture SDK is open source.