Here’s the full walkthrough. The Orca AI agent environment is a free, open-source workspace for running fleets of AI agents in parallel — coding agents, scheduled automations, computer use and orchestration, all in one app.
It’s less a single agent and more a home for all of them. Here’s what it does and how to set it up.
Last updated: July 2026.
Key takeaways
- Orca is a free, open-source agentic development environment from GitHub — a home for fleets of AI agents.
- Run Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, Kimi and Antigravity side by side — enable or disable agents as you like.
- Automations run agents on a schedule; computer use lets them control apps; orchestration and voice are built in.
- Free on your existing subscriptions, or fully free with Hermes + a free API.
- Learn agent setups like this in the AI Profit Boardroom.
What Is the Orca AI Agent Environment?
Orca is a free, open-source agentic development environment — a workspace where your AI agents live and work together. Instead of one agent in one terminal, you get a fleet: multiple terminals side by side, each running a different agent, all working on your projects at once.
It supports the agents you already use — Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, Kimi, Antigravity — and you can enable, disable and switch between them from one place. Grab it from GitHub and download the app.
The Core Features
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Parallel terminals | Split the workspace; run up to several agents on one project |
| Live preview | Open your build in a browser tab as agents work |
| Page annotation | Queue visual feedback and send it to the agent in one go |
| Automations | Schedule agents to run tasks daily/weekly in the background |
| Computer use | Let agents control any app on your computer |
| Orchestration | Coordinate agents together (installable skill) |
| Orca mobile | Drive your agents from your phone via QR code |
| Voice | Talk to your agents if you prefer |
Scheduled Automations: Agents That Work While You Don’t
The automations section is where Orca goes beyond a coding tool. You can schedule any agent to run tasks in the background — the same kind of scheduled jobs you’d set up with Claude, OpenClaw or Hermes. For example: “iterate and improve this coding project every day”, or “research the latest AI news and create a new blog post on my website about it”.
Pick the agent (Hermes, say), write the prompt, set the schedule, and it runs as long as your computer is on. That turns Orca from a workspace into an automation hub.
Computer Use & Orchestration
Orca ships with two installable skills that level it up. Computer use lets your agents control any app on your machine — you enable it, run a quick terminal install, and your agents can genuinely operate your computer. Orchestration coordinates multiple agents together, so your fleet works as a team rather than in silos.
Combined with the parallel terminals, that’s a serious amount of agentic power in a free app.
How to Set It Up
- Download Orca from GitHub and install the app.
- Open or create a project — local folder, GitHub repo, or new.
- Add your agents — plug in Claude Code, Codex, Hermes or Kimi.
- Split terminals to run several at once.
- Enable the skills you want — computer use, orchestration.
- Set automations for the tasks you want running on a schedule.
Is It Really Free?
Yes — on two levels. The app itself is free and open source. And the agents inside it can be free too: plug in subscriptions you already pay for (Claude Code, Codex — no extra cost), or run the free Hermes agent with a free API like Ling Flash. In my testing, the free stack’s output genuinely held its own — the Ling 3.0 build looked slightly nicer than the Claude Code one for the same prompt.
For the free-model options, see my best free AI model guide and best free autonomous agents guide.
Orca vs Other Agent Setups
How does it compare? A single CLI (Claude Code, Hermes alone) gives you one agent in one terminal. An agent OS gives you workflows and memory. Orca’s sweet spot is the development environment layer: fleets of agents in parallel with visual feedback, previews and scheduling. They stack nicely — run your agents in Orca, and keep your wider workflows in an agent OS. See my agentic OS command center guide.
Go Further
Orca is exactly the kind of tool I cover daily inside the AI Profit Boardroom — with tutorials on pairing it with the right models, skills and automations, updated as these tools change.
New here? Start free with my AI Money Lab community (free AI course + 1,000+ AI agents), or grab a free strategy session.
FAQ
What is the Orca AI agent environment?
A free, open-source agentic development environment where fleets of AI agents (Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, Kimi) run in parallel — with live previews, scheduled automations, computer use and orchestration.
Is Orca an AI agent itself?
Not exactly — it’s the environment your agents live in. You plug in the agents you already use and run them side by side.
Can Orca run agents on a schedule?
Yes — the automations section schedules any agent to run tasks daily or weekly (e.g. improve a project, research news and publish a blog post), as long as your computer is on.
Does Orca support computer use?
Yes — enable the computer-use skill and your agents can control apps on your machine. There’s an orchestration skill too.
Is Orca free?
Yes — free and open source. Use your existing subscriptions at no extra cost, or go fully free with Hermes plus a free API.
The Bottom Line
The Orca AI agent environment is a free home for fleets of agents — parallel terminals, automations, computer use. Learn to run it properly in the AI Profit Boardroom.
