FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about Orbit.
What is Orbit?
Orbit is a free AI agent for macOS that uses your computer for you. It lives in your menu bar, sees your screen, moves your cursor, clicks buttons, types text, browses the web, and creates documents — all powered by your existing ChatGPT subscription.
Do I need to know what Codex is?
No. Orbit is built on OpenAI's Codex under the hood, but you never need to interact with Codex directly. Think of Orbit as the friendly front door — you just talk to it and it handles the rest.
What can Orbit actually help with?
Controlling your Mac — clicking buttons, typing text, opening apps, and navigating menus. Browsing the web — researching, filling forms, completing multi-step tasks. Creating documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and PDFs. Learning unfamiliar software by pointing to controls and explaining interfaces. Basically anything you can do with a mouse, keyboard, and browser.
How does voice work?
Voice is local-first as of 1.1. By default Orbit uses on-device speech recognition and text-to-speech — no account, no API key, and no audio ever leaves your Mac. If you want more natural cloud voices, you can bring your own OpenAI API key for transcription and GPT TTS. You can switch anytime from the panel.
What does it cost?
Orbit itself is free to download, and voice works out of the box with no key or account. The AI brain uses your existing ChatGPT subscription. If you optionally bring your own OpenAI API key for cloud voice, that usage is billed at standard OpenAI pricing.
When does Orbit capture my screen?
Only when you explicitly activate it — by pressing the shortcut or clicking the menu bar icon. It captures only the current active display, uses it for that single interaction, then discards it. There is zero background recording.
Is my data private?
Orbit itself contains zero tracking SDKs, zero analytics, and zero crash reporters that phone home. Voice is on-device by default, so no audio leaves your Mac. If you bring your own OpenAI key for cloud voice, audio goes to OpenAI via that key — and the key itself stays in the macOS Keychain, never in plain text. Screen captures are transient and not stored.
What model does Orbit use?
Orbit 1.1 defaults to GPT-5.6 Luna, so the model, effort, and speed shown in the panel are exactly what runs. You can change the model from the Orbit panel at any time.
Can it control my computer?
Yes. Orbit can move your cursor, click buttons, type text, press keyboard shortcuts, navigate your browser, and open apps — all on your real desktop. You watch every action happen in real time, and pressing Esc stops Orbit instantly from anywhere. Actions are driven by your voice commands, not autonomous.
How do I stop Orbit mid-task?
Press Esc. It is a global kill-switch: wherever you are and whatever Orbit is doing, Esc halts the current action immediately. Under the hood, 1.1 also adds a turn watchdog and automatic session recovery, so a stuck or dropped turn never leaves Orbit wedged.
Is it open source?
Yes. The main Orbit repository is public on GitHub, and signed macOS releases are published alongside the source.
Why isn't it on the Mac App Store?
Orbit requires Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions and runs a bundled local runtime — all of which conflict with App Store sandbox restrictions. Direct download ensures full functionality.
How do I update Orbit?
Download the latest PKG from the website for the simplest upgrade path. Your settings, API keys (stored in Keychain), and preferences persist across updates.
What's the difference between Orbit and Siri?
Siri answers questions. Orbit does things. It moves your cursor, clicks buttons, types text, browses the web, and creates documents — all on your actual desktop, in your actual apps. Think of it as the assistant Apple hasn't built yet.
Is it safe to let Orbit control my computer?
You watch everything happen in real time. Orbit only acts when you ask it to, shows you what it's doing as it does it, and Esc stops any action instantly. Nothing happens in the background or without your voice command.