Orca Release Notes

Thank you so much for using Orca and for your continued support! ❤️

Please note: It usually takes 48–72 hours for a landed PR to be released (except P0+ fixes). We have many more exciting PRs and features coming in later versions!

The short version

Native chat: Claude subagent activity and Codex background tasks are now visible in chat. Completed turns show changed files, and task updates stream into the composer.

Orchestration: Worker-terminal ownership is established at creation. Startup, mobile input, and older federation coordinators have additional recovery safeguards.

Workspace & browser: Background browser tabs load on open, and creating a chat preserves the active worktree.

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Product experience

Workspaces, tabs & browser

Keep the current worktree selected, and trust a newly opened browser tab to be ready when you visit it.

Tabs & browser

• fix(browser): load newly opened background tabs by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/19633
• Unify tab surface selection across workspace activation by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/19635
• fix(native-chat): keep worktree active during chat creation by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/19753

Agents & workflow

Native chat

The conversation gives you a much better read on what an agent did, is doing, and has delegated.

Agent activity & results …

Thank you so much for using Orca and for your continued support! ❤️

Please note: It usually takes 48–72 hours for a landed PR to be released (except P0+ fixes). We have many more exciting PRs and features coming in later versions!

The short version

Native chat: Claude subagent activity and Codex background tasks are now visible in chat. Completed turns show changed files, and task updates stream into the composer.

Orchestration: Worker-terminal ownership is established at creation. Startup, mobile input, and older federation coordinators have additional recovery safeguards.

Workspace & browser: Background browser tabs load on open, and creating a chat preserves the active worktree.

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Product experience

Workspaces, tabs & browser

Keep the current worktree selected, and trust a newly opened browser tab to be ready when you visit it.

Tabs & browser

• fix(browser): load newly opened background tabs by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/19633
• Unify tab surface selection across workspace activation by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/19635
• fix(native-chat): keep worktree active during chat creation by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/19753

Agents & workflow

Native chat

The conversation gives you a much better read on what an agent did, is doing, and has delegated.

Agent activity & results …

Thank you so much for using Orca and for your continued support! ❤️

Please note: It usually takes 48–72 hours for a landed PR to be released (except P0+ fixes). We have many more exciting PRs and features coming in later versions!

The short version

Add project is back where you can find it. The sidebar used to hide New workspace and Add project behind different affordances depending on how wide your window was. Now there is one Create button and both live inside it — same labels, same place, every window size.

Structured chat grew up. Turn on Structured Chat in Experimental settings and agent output reads like a conversation: tool calls grouped into batches, execution details you can open, Codex subagent activity instead of raw opcodes, /clear and /compact, renameable tabs, hover timestamps, and resume straight from Agent Session History. Native Windows gets structured Codex chat too.

Remote work holds on better. Relay region selection, rehoming, and reconnects are steadier on desktop and cloud. Terminals keep their input, output, and identity through recovery, restart, and scrollback replay.

It's quicker. A large pass removed redundant re-renders, rescans, and allocations across the renderer, sidebar, terminals, Git parsing, and catalog indexing.

Two things were pulled. The mobile relay connect-speed work and background mobile push were reverted for a further pass — they are not in this release.

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Product experience …

Thank you so much for using Orca and for your continued support! ❤️

Please note: It usually takes 48–72 hours for a landed PR to be released (except P0+ fixes). We have many more exciting PRs and features coming in later versions!

Notable changes

• Improved Codex chat UI is available when Structured Chat is enabled in Experimental settings, with inline file diffs, pane actions, clearer tool output, individual task stops, and structured mobile Codex chat.
• GitHub Projects Roadmap views now render as timelines; the desktop also adds tab scrolling, narrower tabs, and refreshed notifications.
• Faster workspace, renderer, editor, terminal, Git, and remote operations, alongside stronger SSH relay and Windows/WSL recovery.

Product experience

Workspaces & projects

• Fix scope of workspace-creation-project tour target by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/18502
• fix(worktrees): route managed worktree removal by resolved execution host by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/18529
• fix(worktrees): resolve the execution host at both worktree-create entry points by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/18545
• Keep the floating workspace above a working native chat pane by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/18692
• fix(ui): unmount project selector before Add Project handoff by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/18730 …

What's Changed

• Bump mobile app.json to 0.0.47 by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17102
• feat(i18n): localize onboarding checklist steps to Korean by @hwantage in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17108
• perf(editor): stop re-rendering every code block on each keystroke by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17008
• fix(ci): stop the Linux Electron probe step from starving its own probes by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17071
• test: stabilize process and transcript liveness checks by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17126
• test: widen updater schedule boundary margin by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17130
• Repair scheduled computer-use CI by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17122
• Fix setup-provisioned skills missing at agent startup by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17124
• fix(terminal): recover OMP from stale working directories by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17128
• fix(gpu): persist the safe-graphics marker before the restart prompt by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/16945
• feat(i18n): localize Agent Dashboard to Korean by @junyeokk in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17121
• fix(gpu): capture hardware identity in crash reports by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/16973 …

Thank you so much for using Orca and for your continued support! ❤️

Please note: It usually takes 48–72 hours for a landed PR to be released (except P0+ fixes). We have many more exciting PRs and features coming in later versions!

Notable changes

• Faster worktree, renderer, editor, browser, terminal, and Git operations across local and remote workspaces.
• More resilient agent sessions, native chat, SSH relay recovery, and Windows/WSL execution.
• Expanded workspace, terminal, CLI, cloud, and cross-platform reliability improvements.

UI / workspaces

• fix(task-page): restore behavior lost in the UI split by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17926
• fix(renderer): restore behavior the UI split dropped by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/18002
• refactor(task-page): fold the task page into one provider-grouped tree by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/18008
• fix(palette): recompute quick-action availability when runtime status changes by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/18027
• feat(app): open Markdown files from the OS in the floating workspace by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17906
• fix(review-notes): classify send failures and mirrored tabs by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/18023
• fix(github-project): sort and group empty field values last in both directions by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17921 …

Thank you so much for using Orca and for your continued support! ❤️

Please note: It usually takes 48–72 hours for a landed PR to be released (except P0+ fixes). We have many more exciting PRs and features coming in later versions!

Notable changes

• Faster worktree switching, Git metadata scans, terminal startup, and renderer updates across local, WSL, and remote workspaces.
• More reliable native chat and agent sessions, including large command results, live tool progress, image attachments, and delivery recovery.
• Broader SSH, Windows/WSL, GitLab, updater, startup, and release reliability improvements.

UI / workspaces

• fix(mobile): unblock targeted SSH session tab refresh by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17486
• Preserve user-set workspace names across branch changes by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17448
• Automations ux improvement by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17626
• fix(terminal): mount one surface per workspace id in the workbench (STA-4846) by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17432
• Avoid Linear read re-fetches when workspace scope is unchanged by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17529
• fix(browser): scroll oversized viewport presets by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17569
• fix(browser): refuse DevTools for offscreen guests by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17485 …

Thank you so much for using Orca and for your continued support! ❤️

Please note: It usually takes 48–72 hours for a landed PR to be released (except P0+ fixes). We have many more exciting PRs and features coming in later versions!

Notable changes

• Faster worktree creation and smoother performance across terminals, large diffs, Git operations, and the app UI.
• A more capable native chat experience, with image paste and attachment previews plus improved send and response reliability.
• More reliable remote/SSH and Windows/WSL workflows, including safer terminal recovery, path handling, and updater downloads.

UI / workspaces

• perf: overlap independent worktree create preflight by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17386
• perf(worktree): prepare checkouts while the composer is open by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17290
• fix(worktree): complete a create Git can confirm but cannot list by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17388
• perf(worktree): overlap finalization head probes by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17443
• perf(worktree): parallelize head identity metadata reads by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17449
• perf(diff): defer large diffs until user loads them by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17521
• Add show-more button for recent tabs in empty-query palette by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17693 …

Thank you so much for using Orca and for your continued support! ❤️

Please note: It usually takes 48–72 hours for a landed PR to be released (except P0+ fixes). We have many more exciting PRs and features coming in later versions!

Notable changes

• Faster, smoother everyday use through Markdown, worktree, terminal, and renderer performance improvements.
• More reliable agent sessions, native chat, remote/SSH connections, and Windows/WSL workflows.
• Refined browser, automation, mobile, onboarding, and cross-platform infrastructure.

UI / workspaces

• Improve worktree palette layout with flex-1 titles by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17273
• perf(markdown): skip closed-search update renders by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17162
• perf(markdown): skip unmatched list tokenizer scans by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17134
• perf(markdown): update code highlighting incrementally by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17147
• perf(markdown): cache repeated syntax highlighting by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17158
• Make worktree palette hint rows keyboard-clickable by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17272
• Raise rich Markdown size limit to 600 KB by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17288
• Clarify automation history unavailability and improve recovery UX by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17284 …

Thank you so much for using Orca and for your continued support! ❤️

Please note: It usually takes 48–72 hours for a landed PR to be released (except P0+ fixes). We have many more exciting PRs and features coming in later versions!

Notable changes

• More reliable agent sessions, native chat, terminal recovery, and workspace state across local, remote, and SSH connections.
• Smoother onboarding and everyday editing with faster rendering, improved review workflows, and clearer agent status.
• Korean localization for onboarding and the Agent Dashboard, plus mobile, Windows, GPU, and CI reliability improvements.

UI / workspaces

• Show ready and close actions for draft reviews by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/16889
• Fix GitLab MR management menu in Checks sidebar by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/16906
• Fix lost session-tab changes during initial census by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17064
• fix(sta-5781): stop cross-client resets of workspace view preferences by @Jinwoo-H in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/17057
• fix(ui): label agent state glyphs and swap monitoring to a heartbeat by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/16981
• fix(mobile): create-worktree sheet dies after picking a source and loses the picked PR by @brennanb2025 in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/16917 …

What's Changed

• Update Android download links to 0.0.44 by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15898
• fix(win32): hide the console window for agent-browser and git helpers by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15887
• Revert premature Android link update merge by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15899
• fix(ports): report a Stop as succeeded when the listener already exited by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15888
• Reland Android download links for 0.0.44 by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15905
• fix(skills): normalize contributor-facing paths in the skill guide generator by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15861
• fix(cli): allow an empty --value for storage set commands by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15863
• fix(i18n): correct five Korean strings that changed meaning in machine translation by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15875
• feat(wsl): one runner for every wsl.exe invocation by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15903
• fix(wsl): migrate 21 call sites onto the WSL runner by @nwparker in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15923
• fix(mobile): remove close tabs to the right action by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15894
• Move worktree palette search to top of sidebar nav by @AmethystLiang in https://github.com/stablyai/orca/pull/15854 …