Getting started · Quick start

Quick start

A full loop in 5 minutes, from the very first launch — the first terminal, adding a shell, splitting panes, editing files, the in-app browser, and (optional) orchestration that puts other AIs to work as workers.

A full loop in 5 minutes

For installation, see Download · Install. With the app running, follow the steps below in order and try out the core screens.

1. Launch the app — the first terminal opens automatically

   When you launch the app, the first terminal tab opens automatically with no extra action. A new terminal starts at the Explorer's active project root.

   orchterm — first launch

   PowerShell

   # Launch the app and the first terminal opens automatically (starts at the active project root) PS D:\orch-term>

   ① Even the first key you press during the cold start is buffered, so it's never lost. More → Terminal.

2. New terminal · pick a shell (＋)

   Open a new terminal with the ＋ on the tab bar or the action at the pane's top-right. Installed shells are auto-detected and shown in a dropdown — PowerShell · cmd · Git Bash · WSL, and more.

   New terminal — pick a shell

   New terminal

   ⌷ PowerShellDefault

   ⎇ Git BashSet default

   ▮ cmdSet default

   🐧 Ubuntu (WSL)Set default

   ② Pick a shell from the list and it opens as a new tab in the active pane. More → Terminal.

3. Split panes — divide the screen

   Divide the screen with the split actions at the pane's top-right — down, right. Each pane is an independent shell, and Ctrl+Alt+arrow keys move between adjacent panes.

   orchterm — two panes (split right)

   PowerShell

   PS D:\orch-term> npm run dev ➜ Local: http://localhost:5181/ PS D:\orch-term>

   Git Bash

   user@pc:~/orch-term$ git status On branch main nothing to commit, working tree clean

   ③ The active pane is highlighted with an accent border. More → Tabs · panes.

4. Double-click a file → editor tab

   Double-click a file in the Explorer and it opens as an editor tab in the active pane (a single click previews). It supports auto-reload on external changes · encoding display · Ctrl+F find.

   orchterm — editor

   PowerShell

   terminal.ts

   1import { invoke } from "@tauri-apps/api/core";

   2

   3// Open a new terminal at the active project root

   4export async function openTerminal(cwd?: string) {

   5 return invoke("pty_spawn", { cwd });

   6}

   terminal.ts UTF-8

   ④ The loaded encoding is shown at the right of the status bar at the bottom (only for editor tabs). More → Code editor.

5. Type an address → in-app browser tab

   Type a URL in the address bar and it opens as an in-app browser tab. For https a lock appears, and the button opens it in your system browser. Local files open right away too.

   orchterm — in-app browser

   Orch term guide

   ‹›

   github.com/zendy00/orch-term-pages

   Orch term · Docs

   The URL you typed in the address bar opened in this child webview tab.

   ⑤ For https a lock · new-window links are intercepted to navigate in place. More → In-app browser.

6. (optional) Orchestration — call in workers

   Turn on orchestration in settings (off by default) and, from a commander (claude) tab, you can use natural language to spin up other AIs (codex · agy · claude) as workers and have them collaborate across multiple turns.

   commander · claudeorchestrating

   commander · claude

   backend · codex

   ❯ have backend(codex) review the SSH tunnel module ▸ open_session codex from=ep_claude_8f3a… → { session_id: s_4c1e } ▸ send "check whether channel_open_direct_tcpip is concurrency-safe" ⟳ codex working… (waiting for output idle) ◂ reply codex: "&self borrow, so it's concurrency-safe. Confirmed the listener binds to 127.0.0.1." ❯

   ⑥ One cycle: open a worker → instruct it → receive the reply. More → Agent orchestration.

   Enabling it requires a restart (127.0.0.1 only), and if you don't need in-app agent collaboration you can skip this step.

Where to next

Once you've done the loop, the details of each feature continue below.

Handy keyboard shortcuts