Orbit v1.3.0-beta.4

Orbit 1.3.0 beta 4: Orbit for Mac, native.

This is a beta. A beta install updates to later betas and to the next stable release.

New: Orbit Native for Mac (Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later). A native Mac app written in Swift, with the same Orbit inside:

• Pick your voice at the start. The first screen lets you choose Claude voice or Grok voice and set it up right there: install and sign in to Claude Code, or add an xAI key. You can skip it, or skip the whole setup.
• Qubit is the avatar. He stands on the Claude window's prompt box and comes with you into other windows when you ask.
• Orbit anywhere. Orbit can read and act in other apps' windows, including System Settings: "click Wi‑Fi" picks the sidebar row.
• Claude voice is heard from the first word. Speech recognition and Orbit's voice run on your Mac, ready a moment after Orbit opens.

For Windows and Mac:

• Help without Claude Code. If Claude Code isn't installed, Orbit shows the install command with Copy, the sign-in step, Check again and Anthropic's setup guide. It also tells you when Claude Code isn't signed in.
• Acting in other windows is more forgiving. When you name a list or sidebar item, Orbit acts on the row, not just its label, and pressing a row that can only be picked picks it.

You need the Claude desktop app and Claude Code. Grok voice is optional and billed by xAI per minute while connected; the wake word costs nothing.

Install on Windows: download Orbit-Setup-1.3.0-beta.4.exe below and run it. The installer isn't code-signed yet, so on the SmartScreen prompt click More info → Run anyway. You can verify it with the .sha256 file.

Install on Mac: download Orbit-Native-1.3.0-beta.4-arm64.dmg, open it and drag Orbit Native to Applications. The app isn't notarized by Apple yet, so the first time:

1. Open Orbit Native. macOS says it can't check it for malicious software. Click Done.
2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway next to Orbit Native, then confirm.
3. Orbit asks for the Microphone and Accessibility. Choose Always Allow if macOS asks about the Keychain.

Because it isn't notarized yet, macOS may ask for Accessibility and the Keychain again after an update.

The latest stable release is 1.2.0. Not affiliated with xAI or Anthropic.

Orbit v1.3.0-beta.3

Orbit 1.3.0 beta 3: no key needed to start.

This is a beta. A beta install updates to later betas and to the next stable release.

• Open and go. Orbit opens straight to Qubit, on the Claude voice: it runs on your own Claude Code sign-in, so there's no key to enter. "Hey Orbit" and the hotkey work without one too.
• Grok voice is optional. Add an xAI API key any time in Settings → Voice engine → Grok. If you pick Grok without a key, Orbit tells you and offers to switch back to Claude.
• Picking Qubit up is sturdier. He stays clickable and throwable even after sitting quietly for a long time.

Everything from beta 2 is here too: Orbit working in any window, Orbit's mouse, throwing Qubit, the new launcher, a choice of brain and speech-to-text model, the voice volume slider and more. See the beta 2 notes and CHANGELOG.md.

You need Windows 10/11, the Claude desktop app and Claude Code. Grok voice is billed by xAI per minute while connected; the wake word costs nothing.

Install: download Orbit-Setup-1.3.0-beta.3.exe below and run it. The installer isn't code-signed yet, so on the SmartScreen prompt click More info → Run anyway. You can verify it with the .sha256 file.

The latest stable release is 1.2.0. Not affiliated with xAI or Anthropic.

Orbit v1.3.0-beta.2

Second beta of Orbit 1.3. Windows 10/11.

Qubit

• New launcher in the website's look, with Qubit in the middle and an avatar picker.
• Click Qubit to talk to him, even while Orbit is asleep.
• Pick him up and throw him. He stays inside his window, lands on his feet, says "Wheee!" (you can turn that off in Settings), and walks on from where he landed.
• Never two Qubits at once when you switch voice engines.

Orbit anywhere

• Orbit works in any window, not just Claude's. It reads, types, clicks and picks without taking your mouse or focus. Send, post and delete still wait for your yes.
• Orbit's mouse: a second arrow in Orbit's colours that shows where it's working. You can also ask "show me where".
• Apps that only take real typing, like Discord, can run under Orbit through a private pipe, with no network port opened. Orbit asks out loud every time before restarting one.
• Connectors (MCP): find, connect and pin them by voice.

Voice

• Choose the brain behind the Claude voice (Haiku, Sonnet, Opus or Fable) and the speech-to-text model.
• A voice volume slider, plus "talk quieter" or "louder" by voice.
• No more clipped last words. Pauses mid-sentence don't end your turn, and long speech isn't lost.
• "Send it" in the same breath as a dictated message sends it. Any clear yes sends a draft.

This is a beta. If something's off, open an issue.

Orbit v1.3.0-beta.1

Orbit 1.3.0 beta 1: Qubit, and Orbit answers Claude for you.

This is a beta. If you're on 1.2.0 you won't be offered it; install it by hand to try it. From then on, a beta install updates to later betas and to the next stable release.

• Qubit, a square with one eye, lives on your Claude window (Settings → Avatar: Pixel buddy, Qubit or None). He sleeps while Orbit sleeps, listens, thinks, talks with his eye as his mouth, shows feelings in time with his words, stomps Send, watches Claude work and celebrates when it's done. Ask him for a backflip, a roll or a jump. While nobody's talking to him he has a life of his own.
• Pixel buddy: a 16-pixel character along the bottom of the Claude window, if you'd rather.
• "Hey Orbit" wake word ("Hey Grok" still works).
• Stop Claude by voice. Say "stop" or "cancel that run" and Orbit presses Claude's own Stop button.
• Answer Claude when it's blocked. Permission prompts, Claude's questions and plans to approve: Orbit tells you, reads them, and answers with Claude's own buttons.
• Drafts go straight into the box as your own words, said to Claude. Ask for a change and the whole box is retyped. Sending still waits for your yes.
• Web search for both voice engines.
• Claude voice (beta, opt-in): Claude Haiku as the voice, through your own Claude Code sign-in, with speech heard and spoken on your PC. No xAI key needed.
• Mute button, and the orb can be turned off while an avatar is on.

You need Windows 10/11 and the Claude desktop app. With Grok as the voice you also need an xAI API key; voice is billed by xAI per minute while connected. The wake word costs nothing.

Install: download Orbit-Setup-1.3.0-beta.1.exe below and run it. It installs over 1.2.0. The installer isn't code-signed yet, so on the SmartScreen prompt click More info → Run anyway. You can verify it with the .sha256 file.

The latest stable release is 1.2.0. See CHANGELOG.md for everything in this beta and SECURITY.md for how Orbit protects your sessions, key and microphone.

Not affiliated with xAI or Anthropic.

Orbit v1.2.0

Orbit 1.2.0: Grok tells you when things are ready, and updates itself.

• Updates itself. From this version on, Orbit checks GitHub for new versions, downloads them in the background and installs when you quit. Turn it off, or press Check now, in Settings → Updates. Every download is checked against its checksum before it installs.
• Grok wakes up to tell you. When Claude finishes something Grok sent for you, or the second brain answers after you hung up, Grok wakes, tells you, then listens for a few seconds in case you want something. Turn on Wake Grok to say it (Settings → When Claude finishes) to hear about every finished prompt. Wakes are spaced out and capped at 6 an hour.
• A second brain. For hard questions, Grok can ask Claude Code in the background (Settings → Second brain) and give you a short spoken answer, with the details there if you ask. This replaces Orbit Agents.
• Picks up where you left off. When Grok goes to sleep it keeps a short note of what you were doing, only in memory and only for 30 minutes, so "Hey Grok" carries on instead of starting cold.
• New Claude sessions by voice. "Start a new session", then say what you want. Grok only sends after you say yes.
• Voice-only sending. The draft card is gone. Grok reads the prompt back and sends it when you say yes.
• Works across Claude windows. The orb sticks to Claude Code and follows whichever Claude window you're using, and switching sessions works across windows.
• Claude Code sign-in. Settings → Second brain shows whether Claude Code is signed in and has a Sign in button. If the sign-in expires, Grok says so and offers to open it for you.
• The orb: Claude-orange while Claude works, pulses with your voice and Grok's, and you can stir it with your mouse, like on the website.- Fixes: wakes that played no sound, the mic not opening after a wake, back-to-back wakes, and session switching being refused during a call. Plus fixes from three security reviews and two new fuzzers that run Orbit against stand-ins for Grok and Claude.

You need Windows 10/11, the Claude desktop app, and an xAI API key. Voice is billed by xAI per minute while connected; the wake word costs nothing.

Install: download Orbit-Setup-1.2.0.exe below and run it. If you have 1.1.0, install this one over it by hand (1.1.0 can't update itself); after that, Orbit keeps itself up to date. The installer isn't code-signed yet, so on the SmartScreen prompt click More info → Run anyway. You can verify it with the .sha256 file.

See SECURITY.md for how Orbit protects your sessions, key and microphone.

Not affiliated with xAI or Anthropic.

Orbit v1.1.0

Orbit 1.1.0: say "Hey Grok", and copy to clipboard.

• "Hey Grok" wake word (optional, Settings → Listening): starts or wakes Grok hands-free. Recognized fully offline on your PC, so it's free and no audio leaves your computer until Grok is awake.
• "Go to sleep" hangs up, so nothing is billed while Grok sleeps. Say "Hey Grok" or press the hotkey to start again.
• Copy to clipboard: "copy Claude's last answer", "copy that command". Grok only copies when you've just asked it to.

Everything from 1.0: ask what Claude is doing, hear when it finishes, switch sessions, and dictate prompts that Grok only sends after you say yes or click Send. Minimizes to a small always-on-top orb. The default hotkey is Ctrl+Alt+G (changeable).

You need Windows 10/11, the Claude desktop app, and an xAI API key. Voice is billed by xAI per minute while connected; the wake word costs nothing.

Install: download Orbit-Setup-1.1.0.exe below and run it. The installer isn't code-signed yet, so on the SmartScreen prompt click More info → Run anyway. You can verify it with the .sha256 file.

See SECURITY.md for how Orbit protects your sessions, key and microphone.

Not affiliated with xAI or Anthropic.