Orca ADE — The Open-Source Control Tower That Commands AI Agents From Your Smartphone

"What if you could run and manage 30 AI agents simultaneously on one screen?" Orca is not just a code editor. It is an ADE (Agent Development Environment) that gathers terminal-based AI agents — Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Gemini, and more — into one place to run and manage them at once. In particular, it boasts unrivaled features: perfect Korean support and mobile app integration.

1. What Orca Is — Not an IDE but an ADE

If existing VS Code or Cursor are IDEs (integrated development environments) built so a human can type code comfortably, Orca positions itself as an ADE (agent development environment).

Orca itself is not an AI model that writes code. It plays the role of a "control tower" that gathers the AI agents you already use to run and manage them simultaneously.

Core Features at a Glance

2. Core Features in Detail

2.1 Perfect Korean Support

Unlike most overseas AI tools, which are English-centric, Orca fully supports Korean from prompt input to the UI and settings menus. Give it an instruction in Korean and the AI agent interprets and executes it as-is.

2.2 Mobile App Integration — The Most Innovative Feature

This is where Orca differs most from other tools. It provides its own iOS/Android mobile app.

Usage scenarios:

• Connect from your smartphone at a cafe or on the move to Orca on your local PC
• Give a natural-language instruction: "Add validation code to the signup page I just wrote and run the tests"
• Monitor in real time on your phone as the AI agent builds code and fixes errors
• When the final result is ready, complete a remote commit/push with one tap in the app

How to connect:

1. Launch the desktop Orca app
2. Go to Settings → Mobile Sync / pairing tab
3. Check the QR code shown on screen
4. Scan the QR code with the Orca app on your phone
5. The connection completes in 5 seconds after security verification

2.3 Independent Git Worktree System

When you give different jobs to several AIs in one project, branches and files easily get tangled. Orca automatically creates an independent Git Worktree for each AI agent.

• Several AIs code safely in their own rooms without worrying about file conflicts
• Review and merge each AI's changes independently
• Especially useful for complex, large-scale projects

2.4 Prompt Fanning — Pick the Best-Written Code

You can throw the exact same request at Claude Code and Codex at the same time.

• Intuitively compare the differences (diffs) between the two agents' outputs on one screen
• Choose and adopt the code you like best
• Cross-verify several AIs' approaches to the same problem

2.5 UI State Restore

Even after a reboot or an abnormal shutdown, the previous working environment is fully restored. Open terminals, AI agent sessions, file tabs, and layout are all preserved as they were. This is one of the most convenient features.

3. Download and Installation

Official Downloads

macOS

# Install with Homebrew
brew install orca

Windows

Download the Windows-only installer (.exe) from the official homepage and run it. It installs like any ordinary program.

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Download and install the official deb package
# After downloading the .deb file from the official website:
sudo dpkg -i orca_*.deb

# Or install dependencies automatically
sudo apt install -f

System Requirements

4. Basic Usage

First Run and Setup

1. Launch Orca
2. Add AI agents from the left sidebar
3. Choose the AI agents to use (Claude Code, Codex, etc.)
4. Enter each agent's API key or credentials
5. Open the project folder

Running AI Agents

1. Open a new terminal in the central terminal area
2. Enter the AI agent command to use:
   - claude code: "claude"
   - codex: "codex"
   - gemini: "gemini"
3. Give each agent a task
4. Check the results in real time in the left file tab

Mobile Integration

1. Launch desktop Orca
2. Settings → Mobile Sync tab
3. Check the QR code
4. Scan the QR with the Orca app on your phone
5. Pairing complete — now you can give remote instructions from your phone

Using Git Worktrees

1. Manage the project with Git
2. Orca automatically creates a Worktree per AI agent
3. Each AI's changes are stored in isolation
4. Review completed work and merge into the main branch

5. Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: Fixing a Complex Bug

"This API endpoint frequently throws 500 errors — analyze all 5 related files and find the cause"

→ Orca instructs Claude Code and Codex at the same time, compares the two results, and adopts the most reliable fix

Scenario 2: Refactoring + Writing Test Code

"Refactor this module to async/await and write the related test code"

→ In Agent Mode, while one AI performs the refactor, another writes the test code in a separate Worktree

Scenario 3: Mobile Remote Development

From a cafe, on your phone: "Add password validation logic to the login component I just made, and fix it so there are no lint errors"

→ Orca on your local PC performs the work through the AI agent, and you check the result in real time on your phone

6. Orca vs Existing Tools

7. Conclusion

Orca is a tool that changes the paradigm of AI coding tools. It focuses not on "which AI to use" but on "how to manage several AIs."

Recommended for:

• Developers who use several AI agents at the same time
• Developers who want to manage AI work from their phone while on the move
• Developers who want to work comfortably in a Korean environment
• Developers who prefer open-source tools
• Developers who want their working environment restored after a reboot

Since it is free open source, it is well worth trying once without any burden.

8. Resources