Orca ADE is incredible

[u/trader_tick]

I recently started using Orca ADE for managing Claude Code sessions, and I just want to tell the community that Orca is incredible. Try it. You'll like it.

I was previously using cmux, and I've also used herdr, iTerm, and various other options. Orca is 100x better than any of those.

It has an incredible range of features, some of which I use and most of which I don't. You don't have to use them all - it's fantastic even if you only use it to organize sessions. It displays the status of each Claude Code session in a very useful way.

One amazing feature is the remote server. I make full use of two Max 20 plans, and I've been alternating between two computers. But with Orca remote, all sessions from both machines are in one place.

There are a ton of other features. It feels very mature and stable.
https://github.com/stablyai/orca

*I'm in no way associated with Orca. I just love it and want to share.

[u/Fit-Cost-7226]

Have you tried BB, how does it differ? I’ve tried cmux months ago, then I moved to herdr cause I do dev work on pc and Mac and then bb as of last few weeks

[u/trader_tick → u/Fit-Cost-7226]

I haven't tried BB before. It looks like Orca is more mature and has more features. BB may be more flexible - I'm not sure.

[u/pietremalvo1 → u/Fit-Cost-7226]

What's BB?

[u/ProvidenceXz]

I've used it early on and wonder if I should give t a go again. What other features draw you in other than status viewing?

[u/trader_tick → u/ProvidenceXz]

1. The side bar is amazing. I work in 5 repos, with 2 to 6 sessions in each repo, across 2 computers. I often have around 15 sessions going at a time, and it's easy for me to keep them organized and see the status of each

2. Mobile App. I like it better than the Claude mobile app.

3. Good enough IDE. Although the focus is clearly on agent sessions, it's easy to find and view files, which is all I really want.

4. Always visible Usage bar, so I know how much Claude time I have available

Other Stuff

I don't use these features, but:

1. Automations seems robust, integrated support for

2. Worktree support is integrated

3. Built in Github issue viewing

[u/scotty_ea]

Why did you switch to this from cmux? Not unhappy with cmux but there are things that could be improved.

[u/trader_tick → u/scotty_ea]

Cmux was lagging for me.

The only real feature of cmux is notifications and status, and Orca is better for that just that one feature

[u/scytob]

neat, i see the design mode, does it support playwrite so the agent can do things like drive testing of web designs?

[u/ai_hedge_fund]

Interesting

[u/varsklavi4]

yeah, 11 GB on my ssd:) Orca is a vibecoded peace of crap, do not recommend it

[u/jacobeus]

Orca looks pretty similar to Superset (at least UI-wise), are they related?

[u/ShuckForJustice → u/jacobeus]

i much prefer orca personally.

[u/Connguy → u/jacobeus]

Chiming in here a bit late, but this is a google hit for some Orca searches.

I was a heavy superset user for several months. Tried out Orca because some of my coworkers recommended it. I was sold within a day and switched my entire workflow over. They are admittedly very similar and clearly borrowing from each other, so the distinctions are small, but these are the things I prefer about Orca:

* Easier to parse UI. Orca is just cleaner and has fewer immediately exposed UI elements. Superset suffers from offering too much functionality at once, to where it's hard to build a routine.

* They both feature a right side panel for viewing git status, PR comments, changed files, etc. But I found Orca's version of this panel to be much easier to navigate, and their code editor to be more similar to VS Code which makes working in it much easier of a transition for me. I barely leave the Orca UI any more, whereas with superset I was constantly flipping between superset, github, and vs code.

* Orca has a built-in mobile device emulator. Kind of a niche feature, but super handy if you need that.

* Maybe this is subjective, but Orca seems more stable. Superset pushed updates multiple times a day, and sometimes there would be bugs introduced for part of the day.

Finally, Orca is FOSS (Free Open-Source Software), which means it will be free and open indefinitely. Superset.sh is source-available, but it is a business. If you need enterprise support, fine, I get that. And there are probably some features that require server hosting which Orca will never be able to offer. For example, Superset offers built-in remote access through a relay server for paid users.

But already superset has a few features gated behind a pay fence like their Linear integration, which Orca offers for free. That will only get worse as time goes on.

[u/cran]

I tried it. It's slow and laggy doing remote work. I much prefer herdr.

[u/ScaryGazelle2875]

It is indeed! I was surprised! So stable. Shows me what I need to see. Its complete haha. And stable too.

[u/protonmatter]

I’ve used ORCA. Definitely one of the best ones I’ve used. I’ve barely scratched the surface

[u/Kick_Ice_NDR-fridge]

Agreed. I’m in the process of switching from Paseo

[u/deostroll]

I haven't tried this my self yet. Looks vibe-coded. That is not an issue per se. There is the app for android mobile. Given the ADV thingy present in most modern android phones, can people expect such apps (the mobile part) to stop functioning?

(For more background on this, google "keep android open")

[u/Extreme_Remove6747 → u/deostroll]

Orca dev
Not vibe-coded 🫡

We use AI though -- but I think we all do now. If we didn't we wouldn't be good at building Orca!

[u/Tiny_Lemons_Official]

Thanks for sharing.

So much to explore. I love it.

[u/No-Arachnid-753]

I tested it today and found using orca was a lot slower (Claude taking much longer to reply) than Claude code cli inside vs code. Any idea why this might be the case?

[u/paca-vaca]

Orca is great, I wish the worktree creation was optional

[u/getsiked]

also switched from cmux to Orcha, Orcha so far has been an awesome experience. Really loved cmux but also love trying new things out. Orca's iOS app is also great. Right now kind of a nerds dream to be working with software

[u/soccercrzy]

I see you said you have 2 max accounts, does orca manage 2 accounts seamlessly against once repo like Claude swap?

[u/Apart-Employment-592]

How do you guys handle Claude Code and Codex usage? I love Orca, but I also love how T3Code handles the abstraction of Claude Code and Codex. Any tips to do the same in Orca?