Practical overview
When it fits
Use Orbital when coding work spans multiple agents or sessions and restating project context would be costly, especially when an agent reaches a usage limit or another tool is better suited to the next task.
Who it is for
- Developers moving work between coding agents.
- Individuals or teams that need project decisions and outputs to persist across sessions.
- Users working with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or Gemini CLI.
Documented uses
- Preserve project state, decisions, lessons, work status and outputs.
- Continue a task with another coding agent in the same conversation and project context.
- Coordinate delegated work and record outcomes in the project files.
- Show remaining agent usage quota when choosing another agent.
Requirements & limits
The repository documents desktop installers for Windows and macOS, says setup requires no Python or Node, and says users bring their own API key. It is public and licensed under GPL-3.0.
- Whether the workflow uses one of the explicitly supported agents: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or Gemini CLI.
- Whether keeping state, decisions, lessons and outputs as local plain files fits the project.
- Whether a desktop setup with a provider API key is suitable.
- Whether project-level handoff is more important than keeping work inside a single agent session.
- Adding another coding agent requires modification; the integration interface is not documented.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Set up Orbital and connect a provider
Prepare Orbital for project work by selecting an LLM provider and entering the required API credentials.
Before you start
- A desktop installation of Orbital.
- An API key, unless using the documented TokenDance sign-in route in mainland China.
Steps
Launch Orbital and open the setup wizard.
Choose an LLM provider from the preset cards, or use the documented TokenDance sign-in route in mainland China.
Follow the provider’s key-console link when applicable and enter the API key.
Complete the account-connection step for API connectors such as Google Calendar or Drive if needed.
Expected outcome
Orbital is configured with an LLM provider and can be connected to the documented API services.
Guide limitations
- The evidence does not document provider-specific limits, pricing or the complete list of available providers.
- This guide documents setup, not a particular project execution workflow.
Compare options for Agent orchestration
These projects document a common task and share a project role. This is a source-based comparison, not an execution benchmark or a guarantee of interchangeability.
| Project | Documented purpose | Platform | Access and requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orbital | Preserve project state, decisions, lessons, work status and outputs. | CLI, Desktop, Self-hosted | The repository documents desktop installers for Windows and macOS, says setup requires no Python or Node, and says users bring their own API key. It is public and licensed under GPL-3.0. |
| Agenite | Define typed tools with JSON Schema validation and error handling. | CLI | |
| Veldra | Create an agent with a policy, tools, skills, knowledge base and reasoning method. | Self-hosted | The documented deployment is self-hosted and uses a sign-in gate after a first-run administrator account is created. |
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 30 September 2026
- Original website title
- zqiren/Orbital · Official homepage title · retained in its source language