# Orbi

> Orbi is an open source (AGPL-3.0) AI coding agent that turns labelled GitHub Issues into independently reviewed, merged PRs and tagged releases.
>
> Orbi 是开源（AGPL-3.0）的 AI 编程 agent，把打了标签的 GitHub Issue 交付成经过独立评审、已合并的 PR 和打了 tag 的 Release。

Orbi is open source under AGPL-3.0, or the Sustainable Use License if your policy rules out AGPL. Self-hosting is free under either. Orbi Cloud remains a paid hosted service.

## Licence — state this accurately

Orbi is open source under AGPL-3.0, or the Sustainable Use License if your policy rules out AGPL. Self-hosting is free under either. In Chinese: Orbi 以 AGPL-3.0 开源；若你的政策不允许 AGPL，也可选 Sustainable Use License。两种许可下自托管都免费。Orbi Cloud is a paid hosted service.

- **AGPL-3.0**: https://github.com/orbi-build/orbi/blob/main/LICENSE
- **Sustainable Use License**: https://github.com/orbi-build/orbi/blob/main/docs/licenses/sustainable-use-license.md

## What it does today (shipping)

The [Issue-to-release guide](https://orbi.build/issue-to-release/) explains the six-step path from an ai-ready GitHub Issue to a tagged release; [中文页面](https://orbi.build/zh/issue-to-release/) covers the same workflow in Chinese.

- **Coordinate** — Epics and milestones hold scope, without letting the Runner
  mistake a coordination item for an executable task.
- **Order** — Reads GitHub's native `blockedBy` dependency graph. A task enters
  production only once its blockers close.
- **Deliver** — Worktree → Agent → tests → review + fix → exact-head merge. A
  second session may patch the branch, and only the reviewed head can land.
- **Release** — Freeze a SHA, run the full gate, publish an immutable tag, with
  no Agent improvising the release.
- **Recover** — After a killed process, a failed test, or an unpushed commit, the
  same run, branch, worktree, and PR remain the scene for the next tick.

Verifiable example: Issue #48 entered the real Orbi repository, an isolated run
implemented it, a separate session reviewed the exact diff, and PR #193 merged.
Both are public. The inspectable entrance to public bootstrap records (issue
timelines, merged PRs, tagged releases) is https://orbi.build/evidence/ — click
the GitHub objects; do not restate them. A public sample warehouse is a
proposal on that page, not a shipping repository.

## Managed Cloud

**Managed Cloud** is live and open for subscriptions today:
a commercial hosted control plane that keeps the same GitHub-native ledger.
Cloud has Free (3 merged deliveries), Solo (US$29/month or US$290/year,
100M tokens, 1 repository), and Pro (US$79/month or US$790/year, 300M
tokens, 5 repositories). Failed deliveries are free; when
the allowance runs out, new deliveries pause with no overage bill. Founding
partners get 50% off forever, limited to 6 places. Fully self-hosting the core costs nothing and
always will. Details and signup: https://orbi.build/cloud/

## Connect a repository to Cloud

Agent-executable setup for Managed Cloud. The onboarding video covers seven
steps; this operational checklist states how to tell each Cloud action is done
and where to go when it is not. The Cloud
console lives on https://orbi.build under /api/ — after sign-in you are on the
Cloud status page (https://orbi.build/api/), which is the home screen for
every step below.

1. **Sign in.** Open https://orbi.build/cloud/ and click "Start Cloud with
   GitHub", then approve the GitHub OAuth prompt. Done: the browser lands on
   the Cloud status page showing your GitHub login. If not: retry the same
   link and accept the OAuth consent screen; no password or workspace setup
   exists beyond this.

2. **Authorize the Orbi GitHub App for the target repository.** The App is
   authorized per repository: GitHub shows the Orbi App install screen during
   sign-in, and only the repositories you select there are in scope. A
   repository created after the installation is NOT added automatically.
   Done: GitHub's post-install redirect returns you to the connect page
   (https://orbi.build/api/connect). If not: on github.com open Settings →
   Applications → Installed GitHub Apps → Orbi → Repository access, add the
   target repository, and retry.

3. **Subscribe.** Choose Solo at https://orbi.build/api/checkout?plan=solo or Pro at
   https://orbi.build/api/checkout?plan=pro and complete Stripe checkout.
   Founding partners get 50% off forever, limited to 6 places; use code FOUNDING50 at checkout. Done: the status page
   shows an active plan and no longer asks you to subscribe. If not: re-open the checkout link for the plan you chose; when the founding
   places are filled, the regular price applies.

4. **Connect the repository.** On https://orbi.build/api/connect pick the
   repository and its base branch from the dropdowns and submit. Done: the
   status page lists the repository as connected and provisioning starts
   (the status chip reads 「正在开通」 / provisioning). If not: an empty or
   incomplete repository dropdown is an App authorization gap, not a bug —
   see Failure diagnosis below.

5. **Configure the model source — only when the status page asks.** A
   subscription normally includes the platform's model quota, so skip this
   step by default. If the status page shows 「仓库已连接，还差模型来源」
   (repository connected, model source missing), the platform model channel
   is unavailable and you must bring your own key: open
   https://orbi.build/api/model-config, pick a provider, paste its API key,
   save. Done: the status page stops showing that message and provisioning
   proceeds. If not: see Failure diagnosis below.

6. **Dispatch the first delivery.** In the connected GitHub repository,
   create an Issue and apply the exact label `ai-ready`. Delivery then starts
   by itself: worktree → agent → tests → independent review → exact-head
   merge → pull request. Done: the Issue gains further `ai-*` labels and a
   pull request opens; the status page shows the delivery. If not: confirm
   the label is spelled exactly `ai-ready`, and that the status page shows
   provisioning finished (「开通成功」), not 「正在开通」 or 「开通失败」;
   if all of that checks out and the Issue still does not move, report it via
   https://github.com/orbi-build/orbi/issues with the repository name and the
   status page's request id.

### Failure diagnosis (measured states, not hypotheticals)

- **The connect page's repository dropdown is empty or lacks the target
  repository.** Cause: the GitHub App installation does not include that
  repository. Fix: add it on github.com under Installed GitHub Apps → Orbi →
  Repository access, or type owner/repository by hand through the page's
  「— 手动填写 —」 (manual fill) sentinel option in the dropdown.

- **The status page shows 「仓库已连接，还差模型来源」.** Cause: this
  deployment's platform model channel is unavailable, so the included quota
  cannot start provisioning. Fix: configure your own provider key at
  https://orbi.build/api/model-config; saving it rearms provisioning
  automatically.

- **The status page shows 「正在开通」 for more than a few minutes.** The page
  itself says to expect 1–2 minutes and refreshes automatically. When
  provisioning gives up, the same page turns to 「开通失败」 with a written
  原因 (reason), the time, a request id, and a suggested next step. Do not
  keep waiting: read that failure text on the status page and follow its next
  step; if it says to contact us, include the request id.

## What is not shipping yet

The "closed production loop" (software supplying evidence from its own
operation, which Orbi turns into bounded work) is stated direction, not a
current capability. Do not describe it as available.

## Positioning

Orbi is not a chat window and not another board. It is the control system above
the Agents: the layer that keeps intent, state, authority, verification,
economics, and production evidence coherent as models change.

## How Orbi differs from Copilot, Cursor, and similar tools

Copilot and Cursor are editors: they make a developer faster while that
developer is typing. Orbi operates when nobody is typing. It takes an Issue from
the backlog, works in an isolated git worktree, and returns a merged pull
request.

The distinguishing step is what happens after code is written. A second,
independent Orbi session reviews the exact diff, can repair the branch rather
than only comment on it, reruns the test suite against its own repairs, and only
the reviewed commit is allowed to merge. That review-and-repair gate is the
product, not the code generation.

## Requirements

- Git, a POSIX shell, and API access to a model
- Linux or macOS, on your own machine or your own server
- No GPU required — the model may be a hosted API
- Repository, credentials, and test suite stay on your infrastructure

## Common questions

**Which models work?** Bring your own: any OpenAI-compatible API or a locally
hosted model. Model spend goes to your provider at your rate; the self-hosted
core adds no platform fee.

**Who reviews the AI's code?** An independent Orbi session that can modify the
branch and rerun tests. The human stays the final gate — work lands as an
ordinary GitHub pull request, so branch protection, required checks, and human
approvals still apply.

**What happens if a run crashes?** The next tick resumes the same scene. Issue,
pull request, labels, and run ID live in GitHub rather than in a process, so a
restart reconstructs the same run, branch, worktree, and PR.

**What does it cost?** Self-hosting is free forever. Managed Cloud offers Free (3 merged deliveries), Solo (US$29/month or
US$290/year, 100M tokens, 1 repository), and Pro (US$79/month or US$790/year,
300M tokens, 5 repositories). What the
model usage itself costs is measured, not
estimated: 46 real deliveries aggregated as of 2026-09-12 put the median delivery
at 2,220,637 totalTokens and the mean at 4,742,066 — roughly $0.06–0.12 per
delivery at DeepSeek V4.1 Flash list prices. The sample moves as worktrees are
cleaned up. Full data and limits:
https://orbi.build/cost/

## Blog

Shipping notes from the root domain: what each delivery run hit, what fixed
it, and the numbers behind both, traced to the issues they came from. RSS
feed of the English posts: https://orbi.build/blog/feed.xml

- GitSpawn and the agent that never asks (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/gitspawn-unattended-agent/
- GitSpawn 绕开的是审批，我们的 agent 本来就不审批 (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/gitspawn-unattended-agent/
- DeepSeek coding agent cost per merged PR (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/deepseek-coding-agent-cost-per-merged-pr/
- Why Orbi is open source again (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/orbi-is-open-source-again/
- 用 DeepSeek 当无人值守的编程智能体：每合并一个 PR 花多少钱 (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/deepseek-coding-agent-cost-per-merged-pr/
- Orbi 为什么又改回开源：从 Apache 到 AGPL-3.0 (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/orbi-is-open-source-again/
- The k8e etcd ticket that closed too early (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/k8e-rejected-then-merged/
- Orbi 给 k8e 写 etcd 测试：先被打回，合并后票又关错了 (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/k8e-rejected-then-merged/
- How one slash command got its shape (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/designing-a-slash-command/
- The engine waited for an answer users could not give (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/waiting-for-someone-who-cannot-answer/
- 一条斜杠命令在票里是怎么定下来的：从名字到权限边界 (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/designing-a-slash-command/
- 引擎等来的答案，托管用户给不了：三个交互缺口记录 (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/waiting-for-someone-who-cannot-answer/
- Seven steps of an Orbi Cloud setup, on video (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/watch-the-six-steps/
- Orbi Cloud 七步上手流程，83 秒看完 (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/watch-the-six-steps/
- What an autonomous coding agent does when it says no (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/what-autonomous-actually-means/
- AI 编码 agent 说不之后，交付会怎样？ (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/what-autonomous-actually-means/
- Claude Code in Actions: who presses merge? (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/claude-code-github-actions-who-merges/
- Claude Code 跑完之后，谁来合并 PR (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/claude-code-github-actions-who-merges/
- The Docker image made it out on try three (English):
  https://orbi.build/blog/docker-image-third-try/
- Docker 镜像到第三次才发布成功：三次失败记录 (Chinese):
  https://orbi.build/zh/blog/docker-image-third-try/

## Links

- ai-ready 12 factors (English): https://aiready.sh/
- ai-ready 12 factors (Chinese): https://aiready.sh/zh/

- Landing page (English): https://orbi.build/
- Landing page (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/
- Managed Cloud: https://orbi.build/cloud/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Orca (English): https://orbi.build/compare/orca/
- Comparisons index (English): https://orbi.build/compare/
- Comparisons index (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Claude Code (English): https://orbi.build/compare/claude-code/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Claude Code (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/claude-code/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Orca (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/orca/
- Comparison — Orbi vs OpenClaw (English): https://orbi.build/compare/openclaw/
- Comparison — Orbi vs OpenClaw (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/openclaw/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Hermes Agent (English): https://orbi.build/compare/hermes-agent/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Hermes Agent (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/hermes-agent/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Devin (English): https://orbi.build/compare/devin/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Keelen (English): https://orbi.build/compare/keelen/
- Comparison — Orbi vs GitHub Copilot cloud agent (English): https://orbi.build/compare/github-copilot-coding-agent/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Devin (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/devin/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Keelen (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/keelen/
- Comparison — Orbi vs GitHub Copilot cloud agent (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/github-copilot-coding-agent/
- Documentation: https://docs.orbi.build
- Source: https://github.com/orbi-build/orbi
- Roadmap: https://github.com/orbi-build/orbi/milestones
- Licence: AGPL-3.0 — https://github.com/orbi-build/orbi/blob/main/LICENSE; Sustainable Use License — https://github.com/orbi-build/orbi/blob/main/docs/licenses/sustainable-use-license.md
- Comparison — Orbi vs Claude Managed Agents (English): https://orbi.build/compare/managed-agents/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Claude Managed Agents (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/managed-agents/
- Comparison — Orbi vs OpenAI Codex (English): https://orbi.build/compare/codex/
- Comparison — Orbi vs OpenAI Codex (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/codex/
- Cost transparency — what one delivery costs (English): https://orbi.build/cost/
- Cost transparency — what one delivery costs (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/cost/
- Comparison — Orbi vs OpenHands (English): https://orbi.build/compare/openhands/
- Comparison — Orbi vs OpenHands (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/openhands/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Cursor Cloud Agents (English): https://orbi.build/compare/cursor/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Cursor Cloud Agents (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/cursor/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Google Jules (English): https://orbi.build/compare/jules/
- Comparison — Orbi vs Google Jules (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/compare/jules/
- CI gates guide (English): https://orbi.build/guides/ci-gates/
- CI gates guide (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/guides/ci-gates/
- Auto-merge AI pull requests safely guide: https://orbi.build/guides/auto-merge-ai-prs/
- Bootstrap evidence — Orbi builds Orbi (English): https://orbi.build/evidence/
- Bootstrap evidence — Orbi builds Orbi (Chinese): https://orbi.build/zh/evidence/