ProjectsOrbit

Orbit

Lightweight IDE designed to work alongside Claude Code.

v1.6.0 · 4 Nov 2026 · Windows and Linux · MIT license

Download for Windows and Linux Source code

Orbit on the Prism repository: the file tree with the Shelf below it, a Rust file with the test Claude has just added marked in the margin, the scratchpad underneath, and three Claude Code chats side by side, one showing its edit

Orbit's Activity view: the work Claude did in five repositories, one column each, with a unit open showing its request, its files and its commit

Inlay's solution in the Solution view, with projects, dependencies and nested files, two editor groups with reference counts, and a build in the terminal

Prism's Git Graph with branches and tags, the diff of a commit beside it, and the change made by Claude in the Source Control panel

Pulse's documentation in the Docs view: a Markdown file in reading mode with its outline, next to a terminal

The notification list with two Claude chats of another repository waiting, over two files of the site code

The problem and the solution

The problem

Working with Claude Code in a terminal, I couldn't see what it was changing in the project without opening a heavy IDE, and with several repositories and chats open it was easy to lose track.

The solution

A light editor to keep next to Claude. It shows the real file tree with the changes as they happen, keeps chats and repositories side by side, and its Activity view rebuilds the work done in each project.

01 — Overview

What it does

Orbit is a small desktop editor to keep next to Claude Code: it shows the whole project, edits files, handles git and runs Claude Code in an integrated terminal. Several repositories stay open as tabs in one window. It is not a full IDE: there is no language server, debugger or refactoring.

Repositories and files

Each repository is a tab with its own color, and can move to a window of its own. The tree shows the real file system with git changes as they happen; folders you rarely open, like build output, go on the Shelf below it. For .NET repositories it can also show the solution, as Visual Studio does, with Build and Run.

Editor

CodeMirror 6 with about 140 languages loaded on demand, up to six editor groups in rows and columns, Markdown and HTML preview, images and PDFs. Files changed on disk reload by themselves, and reopen where you left them.

Code navigation

A project symbol index built without a language server: go to definition, base types and implementers, and a line above each class and function with its references and implementations.

Terminal

Real terminals in tabs, up to six Claude chats or shells side by side, clickable file paths and links. Terminals and Claude chats come back, with their conversations, when Orbit reopens.

Git

Status, diff, staging, commits, branches and a commit graph, through libgit2. Fetch, pull and push run the real git command in a terminal.

Claude Code

A timeline of the work Claude did in every repository, titled with its commits, a Claude menu with prompt shortcuts, and one notice, with a soft chime, listing the chats that are waiting for you.

02 — Details

Requirements and stack

Platform Windows and Linux

Installer 3.2 MB

Program ~7 MB

License MIT

Requirements

Windows with WebView2, which comes with Windows 11. The installer is available as .exe or .msi; new versions are then offered from GitHub and install in place with one click.

Linux: an AppImage for any distribution, a .deb for Debian and Ubuntu, an .rpm for Fedora and openSUSE, and a PKGBUILD for Arch. Orbit uses the WebKitGTK of the system, present on most desktops (the AppImage brings its own), and updates itself there too; the Arch package is updated by pacman.