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name	description
orchestration	Use Orca orchestration for structured multi-agent coordination: threaded messages, blocking ask/reply flows, task dispatch, worker_done/escalation waits, task DAGs, decision gates, coordinator loops, or decomposing work across agents. Use `orca-cli` instead for full ownership handoffs, including requests phrased as "hand off", "handoff", "handover", "give this to another agent", or "another worktree" when the user did not explicitly ask to supervise, monitor, wait for results, or coordinate a DAG. Use `orca-cli` for ordinary terminal control, lightweight terminal prompts, shell commands, Orca worktree management, reading or waiting on terminals, and automation of the browser embedded inside Orca. Use Computer Use for browser windows, webviews, Orca app UI, or desktop UI outside Orca's embedded browser.

name

description

orchestration

Use Orca orchestration for structured multi-agent coordination: threaded messages, blocking ask/reply flows, task dispatch, worker_done/escalation waits, task DAGs, decision gates, coordinator loops, or decomposing work across agents. Use `orca-cli` instead for full ownership handoffs, including requests phrased as "hand off", "handoff", "handover", "give this to another agent", or "another worktree" when the user did not explicitly ask to supervise, monitor, wait for results, or coordinate a DAG. Use `orca-cli` for ordinary terminal control, lightweight terminal prompts, shell commands, Orca worktree management, reading or waiting on terminals, and automation of the browser embedded inside Orca. Use Computer Use for browser windows, webviews, Orca app UI, or desktop UI outside Orca's embedded browser.

Orca Inter-Agent Orchestration

Orchestration is Orca's structured coordination layer for agent messages, task ownership, dispatch state, and worker completion tracking.

Use this skill when coordination state matters. For lightweight terminal prompts or basic worktree/terminal/built-in-browser control, use orca-cli.

Tool Boundary

If a task says to use Orca orchestration, the coordinator must create or bind a Run, create the Task with orca orchestration task-create, then attach the worker with either the preferred orca orchestration worker-start composition or the low-level orca orchestration dispatch --inject path.

Do not substitute non-Orca subagent tools, generic agent-spawn APIs, or chat-only parallel worker features. Those may create useful workers, but they do not create Orca task/dispatch provenance, injected lifecycle preambles, worker_done authority, or decision gates.

Before claiming a worker was orchestrated, verify the task/dispatch exists:

orca orchestration task-list --json
orca orchestration dispatch-show --task <task_id> --json

If the work was accidentally run outside Orca orchestration, say so plainly. To repair provenance, rerun or revalidate the needed work through a fresh Orca terminal plus injected dispatch; do not retroactively describe the external worker as orchestrated.

When To Use

Send/reply/ask between agent terminals with persistent messages.
Dispatch structured tasks to workers and wait for worker_done or escalation.
Track task DAGs with dependencies.
Run coordinator loops or decision gates.

Do not use orchestration merely because the user says "hand off", "handoff", "handover", "give this to another agent", or asks for another worktree/agent/model/effort. Those are full ownership transfers unless the user explicitly asks to supervise, monitor, wait for worker completion/results, coordinate a DAG, use decision gates, or keep a blocking ask/reply loop.

Preconditions

orca status --json should show a running runtime.
orca must be on PATH (orca-ide on Linux).
The orchestration experimental feature must be enabled in Settings > Experimental.
orca orchestration commands are RPC calls to the running Orca runtime.

Contract Migration

Orca uses a hard cutover for orchestration mutations. It does not run a legacy scheduler, translate old writes, or drain pre-upgrade orchestration work.

If a command returns orchestration_migration_required, run_required, or a lifecycle validation error with nextCommandArgs:

Confirm effectsApplied is false.
Using the same CLI executable that returned the error, run the returned arguments: skills get orchestration --full.
Read the guide completely. Do not retry the rejected command unchanged.
Inspect the pre-upgrade Run, terminal, and assigned worktree before deciding whether any work needs replacement.
If the legacy worker is still making valid progress, leave it as the only editor in that worktree and observe it manually, read-only, until it reaches a stable handoff point.
Only then, if remaining work needs new lifecycle supervision, create or bind a lightweight Run, create a Task for the remaining work, and use worker-start in a conflict-free placement.

The arguments intentionally omit an executable name so this works with orca, orca-ide, orca-dev, or another configured Orca CLI command.

The cutover removes lifecycle authority; it does not cancel the prior assignment, invalidate its worktree, discard filesystem changes, or stop the worker process. Pre-upgrade terminals and agents can continue their valid assigned work, but they are no longer supervised by Orca: old heartbeat, question, completion, scheduler, reply, acknowledgment, and mutation calls are rejected before effects.

Legacy database rows and terminal output remain available for explicit read-only inspection:

orca orchestration run-list --json
orca orchestration run-show --id run_legacy_local --json
orca orchestration task-list --run run_legacy_local --json
orca orchestration inbox --full --json
orca orchestration check --terminal <legacy_handle> --peek --format --json
orca terminal read --terminal <legacy_handle> --json
orca terminal wait --terminal <legacy_handle> --for tui-idle --timeout-ms 60000 --json

Read-only inspection never consumes legacy mail. A stable handoff point means the worker has become idle, stopped, or completed a coherent edit/test/commit checkpoint; visible activity is a reason to keep observing, not to replace it. Do not prompt the worker to use old lifecycle commands.

Never launch a replacement editor in the same worktree while the legacy worker may still write there. Wait for a stable handoff and preserve its filesystem work; if overlap is truly required, use a separate conflict-free worktree with an explicit plan for transferring existing dirty changes. Do not use actionable check, acknowledgment, reply, send, retry, or task updates against the legacy Run.

Ownership

New orchestration messages and tasks belong to one explicitly bound Run. A Run is only a durable namespace and coordinator inbox; it never schedules or places workers. Lifecycle authority comes from the active Dispatch, and terminal handles remain routing metadata rather than durable identity. Send worker_done and heartbeat from the worker's own terminal; Orca routes them to that Dispatch's Run.

Classify inherited context before sending lifecycle messages:

Coordinated subtask: a live coordinator owns the DAG and waits on this dispatch. Follow the preamble exactly, including worker_done, heartbeat/status, ask, and escalation.
Full handoff means ownership transfer, not supervised dispatch. The original actor is not monitoring a DAG, so do not create lifecycle obligations unless the user explicitly asks you to supervise.
Classify requests containing "hand off", "handoff", "handover", "give this to another agent", "give this to another worktree", "another agent", or "another worktree" as full handoffs by default, even when the user names a custom model or reasoning effort.
Use supervised orchestration only when the user explicitly asks you to "supervise", "monitor", "wait", "track completion", "wait for worker_done", return results, coordinate a DAG, use a decision gate, or manage ask/reply flow.
Do not use orca orchestration dispatch --inject for full handoffs. It injects a coordinator preamble that tells the worker to send worker_done, heartbeat, and ask messages, then end its turn under the original terminal's dispatch lifecycle.
Do not run orca orchestration task-create, orca orchestration dispatch --inject, or orca orchestration check --wait for full handoffs. Do not peek at terminal output after prompt delivery to monitor progress.
A review-only worker_done reports findings; it does not authorize coordinator file edits. After a review-only completion, synthesize findings, ask a decision gate if ownership is unclear, and dispatch or hand off fixes unless the user explicitly asked the coordinator to own fixes.
If the user's plan names a next owner agent (for example, "then use opencode to create a PR"), post-review corrections and PR prep belong to that named owner. The coordinator routes, synthesizes, asks decision gates when needed, and supervises; the named owner edits files and creates the PR.

If unclear, inspect orchestration state before sending lifecycle messages:

orca orchestration task-list --json
orca terminal list --json
# If inherited context includes a task id:
orca orchestration dispatch-show --task <task_id> --json

Messaging

orca orchestration send --subject <text> [--to <run:id|dispatch:id|legacy_handle>] [--from <handle>] [--body <text>] [--type <type>] [--priority <level>] [--thread-id <id>] [--payload <json>] [--json]
orca orchestration check [--terminal <handle>] [--ack <delivery_id>] [--peek|--all] [--types <type,...>] [--format] [--wait] [--timeout-ms <n>] [--json]
orca orchestration reply --id <msg_id> --body <text> [--from <handle>] [--json]
orca orchestration ask (--question <text>|--resume <msg_id>) [--options <csv>] [--timeout-ms <n>] [--from <handle>] [--json]
orca orchestration inbox [--limit <n>] [--json]

Rules:

Omit --from unless impersonating another terminal; Orca auto-resolves it from the current terminal.
A coordinator check returns the bound Run's oldest FIFO Delivery (up to 50 messages) and replays that exact batch until --ack <delivery_id>. Process every message before acknowledging; check --ack <id> --wait acknowledges, checks, and waits in one operation.
Use --peek and --all only for read-only history/debugging. Type filters decide when a waiter wakes; the returned actionable Delivery is still the oldest full batch.
Use dispatch:<id> for coordinator guidance to one supervised worker. Orca routes that stable address locally or through the connected-server relay; do not substitute a remote terminal handle.
Terminal handles remain appropriate for low-level pre-Dispatch messaging. Prefer agentTerminalHandle from the create response, fall back to startupTerminal.handle for older runtimes, then re-resolve with orca terminal list --worktree ... --json if missing or stale. Continue with the replacement handle only; never dual-send to old and new handles.
orca orchestration check --peek --format --json returns locally formatted unread mail without consuming it; it never writes to terminal input or remotely wakes another terminal. Use orchestration dispatch --inject to deliver a tracked task, or terminal send when an existing agent needs a free-form prompt.
While supervising workers manually, use check --wait --types worker_done,escalation,question --timeout-ms <n> instead of sleep/poll loops. Process the whole Delivery, reply to question messages with orca orchestration reply --id <msg_id> --body <answer> --json, then acknowledge and keep waiting.
Treat a check --wait timeout or {count:0} as a checkpoint, not a worker failure. Long coding tasks routinely run 15-60 minutes; keep using rolling waits unless you receive worker_done/escalation, the terminal exits or disappears, or the user explicitly asks you to stop.
Heartbeats and visible terminal activity mean the worker is alive, not done. Do not stop, close, kill, or restart a worker just because it has not produced a completion message yet.
Use ask when a worker needs a blocking answer from the coordinator; it defaults to the active Dispatch's Run. Timeout or disconnect leaves the question pending, so resume by its original message ID instead of asking again.
check --wait returns one bounded Delivery, not every future completion. Process every message, acknowledge it, then keep waiting until every expected Dispatch settles.
Group addresses include @all, @idle, @claude, @codex, @opencode, @gemini, @droid, @grok, @cursor, and @worktree:<id>.
Message types include status, dispatch, worker_done, merge_ready, escalation, handoff, question, decision_gate (legacy/gates), and heartbeat.
Use group addresses only for messages that are genuinely useful to many terminals, such as status broadcasts or intentional fan-out questions. Do not send dispatch lifecycle messages to groups.
worker_done belongs to the active Dispatch and defaults to its Run mailbox; never target a group.
A valid worker_done for the active taskId + dispatchId marks the task and dispatch completed automatically. Do not follow it with task-update --status completed; reserve manual updates for explicit recovery or overrides.
heartbeat is also Dispatch-scoped. Include both IDs and omit --to so Orca uses the owning Run; use status for broad progress updates.

Tasks And Dispatch

A Run is the namespace/inbox, a Task is the work item, and a Dispatch assigns one Task attempt to a terminal. Create or bind a Run once before the common loop.

orca orchestration run-create --objective <text> --json
orca orchestration task-create --spec <text> [--deps <json_array>] [--parent <task_id>] [--json]
orca orchestration task-list [--status <status>] [--ready] [--brief] [--json]
orca orchestration task-update --id <task_id> --status <status> [--result <json>] [--json]
orca orchestration dispatch --task <task_id> --to <handle> [--from <handle>] [--inject] [--json]
orca orchestration dispatch-show --task <task_id> [--json]

Task statuses: pending, ready, dispatched, completed, failed, blocked.

Dispatch rules:

--inject sends the task spec plus preamble into a recognized agent CLI so it can report worker_done.
If the target is a bare shell, omit --inject, dispatch for tracking if needed, then send the prompt manually with orca terminal send --terminal <handle> --text <prompt> --enter --json.
After 3 consecutive failures on one task, the dispatch context circuit-breaks and the task is marked failed.
Use task-list --brief --json for coordinator sweeps; it collapses whitespace and caps each echoed spec at 160 characters (spec_truncated marks shortened rows). Omit --brief when the full spec is required, or when an older CLI rejects it as an unknown flag.

Preferred Supervised Worker Loop

Use worker-start for the normal supervised path. It composes the existing worktree, terminal, readiness, and dispatch primitives while returning exact created/reused effects. Agents still choose placement and concurrency; Orca does not schedule workers or infer conflicts.

Create the Run and every independent Task first, then start all independent workers before waiting:

orca orchestration run-create --objective "<objective>" --json
orca orchestration task-create --spec "<worker A task>" --json
orca orchestration task-create --spec "<worker B task>" --json
orca orchestration worker-start --task <task_a> --worktree current --agent codex --json
orca orchestration worker-start --task <task_b> --worktree current --agent claude --json

current and exact existing worktrees create a fresh agent terminal and do not rerun setup. Reuse an existing agent only with --terminal <handle>.

For a new worktree, setup runs by default and agent-first creation reuses the returned startup agent terminal:

orca orchestration worker-start --task <task_id> --worktree new-child --name <name> --agent codex --setup run --json
# Independent/top-level:
orca orchestration worker-start --task <task_id> --worktree new-top-level --name <name> --agent codex --setup run --json

Setup normally starts alongside the agent. Only a repository explicitly configured with wait-for-setup delays agent launch until setup succeeds. Use --setup skip or --setup inherit only for a concrete reason.

Read the returned receipt before continuing: ready plus setup running is normal for start-immediately, while wait-for-setup returns setup succeeded before accepting task input. A failed or unknown start exits nonzero; inspect its stage, effects, and residualResources instead of guessing or automatically retrying. A wait-for-setup timeout can honestly leave setup running, which is not proof of failure.

To run the worker on another connected Orca server, add --on <saved-environment>. The Run and Tasks remain authoritative on the current server; later commands route by Dispatch ID, so never repeat --on:

# Mac Run home -> Windows worker (the reverse is identical from a Windows Run home)
orca orchestration worker-start --task <task_id> --on windows --worktree new-top-level --repo <exact_remote_repo_selector> --name <name> --agent codex --setup run --json
orca orchestration worker-show --dispatch <dispatch_id> --json
orca orchestration worker-read --dispatch <dispatch_id> --limit 50 --json
orca orchestration send --to dispatch:<dispatch_id> --subject "Follow-up" --body "<attempt-specific guidance>" --json

Remote current and new-child are intentionally invalid because those words are ambiguous across servers. Use an exact discovered remote worktree selector or new-top-level with an explicit remote repo selector.

The follow-up is structured inbox mail, not prompt injection. The worker's next orchestration check receives it even when the Dispatch is on another connected Orca server.

worker-read defaults to --source auto: Orca returns the exact hook-reported Codex, Claude, OpenClaude, or Grok transcript when it can prove the worker session, otherwise it returns bounded terminal output with source: "terminal" and a typed fallbackReason. Continue with the returned top-level cursor; it stays pinned to that exact source. If Orca reports source_changed, start a fresh read without the old cursor. Never supply or guess a provider session ID or transcript path.

Wait until every expected Dispatch settles, not for a fixed number of batches:

orca orchestration check --wait --types worker_done,escalation,question --timeout-ms 900000 --json
# Process every message in the returned Delivery, then atomically ack and continue:
orca orchestration check --ack <delivery_id> --wait --types worker_done,escalation,question --timeout-ms 900000 --json

Workers report exactly once using the IDs and capability injected by Orca; they do not supply Run/server/terminal identity:

orca orchestration send --type worker_done --subject "<status>" --body "<what changed, findings, and what remains>" --task-id <task_id> --dispatch-id <dispatch_id> --outcome succeeded --files-modified "path/a,path/b" --json
# On failure, use --outcome failed; never encode failure only in prose.

A worker question defaults to its owning Run. Timeout leaves it pending:

orca orchestration ask --question "<question>" --options "yes,no" --timeout-ms 600000 --json
orca orchestration ask --resume <message_id> --timeout-ms 600000 --json
# Coordinator:
orca orchestration reply --id <message_id> --body "<answer>" --json

Recovery is conditional, never a fixed destructive sequence:

worker-show --dispatch <id> says ready: keep waiting or read bounded output.
It proves failed or stopped: start a replacement with worker-start --task <task> --retry-of <id> plus an explicit --on/--worktree and --agent/--terminal choice. Retry does not silently inherit placement.
It remains outcome_unknown: either worker-stop --dispatch <id> and inspect again, or explicitly worker-abandon --dispatch <id> while accepting that resources may still be live. Abandon performs no remote, process, or filesystem action.
worker-stop closes only the exact supervised agent terminal. It never deletes the worktree, setup terminal, configured tabs, or unrelated processes.

Low-level worktree create, terminal create, and dispatch --inject remain valid recipes for custom argv or topology that worker-start does not express.

Gates And Legacy Inspection

orca orchestration gate-create --task <task_id> --question <text> [--options <json_array>] [--json]
orca orchestration gate-resolve --id <gate_id> --resolution <text> [--json]
orca orchestration gate-list [--task <task_id>] [--status <status>] [--json]

Use ask for worker-to-coordinator questions; it creates a question message that the coordinator answers with reply. Use gate-create only for coordinator-managed task DAG decisions, not for answering a worker's ask.

coordinator-start, coordinator-stop, run, and run-stop are retired scheduler commands. They perform no effects and return the current-skill recovery action. They are not aliases for lightweight Run creation or binding.

Recovery only: orca orchestration reset --tasks|--messages|--all --json clears the selected local orchestration database state. Do not run it during active coordination unless explicitly abandoning that state.

Full Handoffs

For full ownership transfer, use non-lifecycle terminal/worktree commands and then stop monitoring unless the user asks for supervision.

Treat these as full handoff requests by default: "hand off", "handoff", "handover", "give this to another agent", "give this to another worktree", "send this to another agent", "another agent", "another worktree", or "launch another agent to own this." Custom model or reasoning effort words such as gpt-5.5, high, or xhigh do not make the handoff supervised.

Supervised orchestration remains available only when the user explicitly asks for supervision or coordination: "supervise", "monitor", "wait for worker_done", "wait for results", "track completion", "DAG", "decision gate", "ask/reply", or "coordinate workers."

Do not run orca orchestration task-create, orca orchestration dispatch --inject, or orca orchestration check --wait for full handoffs. task-create is also forbidden because it records coordinator-owned tracking state; if a task row is needed, the user asked for supervised orchestration. Do not create a taskId/dispatchId, inject a lifecycle preamble, wait for completion, or read the worker terminal after prompt delivery except to avoid losing the initial prompt.

New top-level worktree handoff:

orca worktree create --name <task-name> --no-parent --agent codex --prompt "<task brief>" --setup run --json

Before creating a new worktree from an active feature branch, decide and state whether the desired Orca lineage is child or top-level. Use child worktree lineage only when the new work is conceptually stacked under or dependent on the active worktree. For independent repo-wide fixes, standalone feature work, or unrelated follow-up tasks, create a top-level worktree with --no-parent.

Existing terminal handoff:

orca terminal send --terminal <handle> --text "<task brief>" --enter --json

Custom Codex model/effort handoff:

orca worktree create --agent codex --prompt ... launches the known Codex agent but does not accept Codex-specific --model or -c model_reasoning_effort=... arguments. When the user asks for a specific Codex model or effort, create the independent worktree first, launch Codex with the requested command in that worktree, wait only for TUI readiness if prompt delivery would otherwise race startup, send the prompt, and stop.

The two-step custom-argv path cannot enforce a repository's explicit wait-for-setup startup policy because the later terminal create is not the startup owned by worktree create. Use it only when the repository starts agents immediately. If the repository requires wait-for-setup, use an agent-first configured launcher that can preserve sequencing, or stop and ask rather than silently bypassing the policy.

Note: when no repo default-terminal configuration supplies a primary terminal, bare create opens a fallback shell before terminal create adds the agent. Configured default tabs are materialized instead and may run real commands. Prefer --agent whenever custom argv is not required. With the two-step path, target only the agent handle; close a prior terminal only after terminal list or terminal show confirms it is an unused shell.

Use the exact full <repo-id>::<path> worktree id returned by orca worktree create --json; a bare repo id cannot target the new worktree.

orca worktree create --name <task-name> --no-parent --setup run --json
orca terminal create --worktree id:<newFullWorktreeId> --title <task-name> --command 'codex --model gpt-5.5 -c model_reasoning_effort="xhigh"' --json
orca terminal wait --terminal <handle> --for tui-idle --timeout-ms 60000 --json
orca terminal send --terminal <handle> --text "<task brief>" --enter --json

Wait only for tui-idle when needed to avoid losing the prompt. Do not monitor task completion.

--no-parent only controls Orca lineage; it does not choose the Git base. If the work should start from the repo default base, omit --base-branch so Orca uses that default, or explicitly pass the repo default base (origin/main, origin/master, or the orca repo show --repo <selector> --json value); never base it on the current feature branch unless the user explicitly asks for stacked work or "branch from current". Put current-branch context in the prompt instead.

Worker Terminals

Choose the worker location before creating a terminal. Fresh worker means a fresh agent session, not a new git worktree. For parallel work, create one fresh agent terminal per worker in the same required worktree, falling back to the active worktree when none is named. If the task says current worktree only, depends on uncommitted files/artifacts, or must validate/PR the current branch, keep every worker in the active worktree:

orca terminal create --worktree active --title <task-name> --command "codex" --json
orca terminal wait --terminal <handle> --for tui-idle --timeout-ms 60000 --json
orca orchestration dispatch --task <task_id> --to <handle> --inject --json

Reuse an idle agent in the required worktree only if the prompt allows reuse; otherwise create a fresh terminal there. Create a new worktree only when the user explicitly requests one or a concrete checkout or filesystem conflict makes sharing unsafe or impossible; if the user did not request it, state that conflict before running worktree create. Independent tasks, parallel execution, convenience, or a preference for separate checkouts are not isolation requirements.

When a new worktree is allowed, use child lineage for isolated work that is stacked under or dependent on the active worktree, and use --no-parent when it is not stacked. Decide the Git base separately: --no-parent makes the worktree top-level in Orca, while omitted --base-branch uses the repo default base.

For every new worktree, pass --setup run so any configured repository setup hook runs. This does not mean waiting for setup before agent launch: preserve the repository's startup policy, whose default starts setup and the agent side by side. Use --setup skip or --setup inherit only when there is a concrete task-specific reason, and state that reason before creating the worktree. This rule does not rerun setup for current or existing worktrees.

orca worktree create --name <task-name> --agent codex --setup run --json
# or: --agent claude | omp | pi | grok | ...
# Read <handle> from agentTerminalHandle, falling back to startupTerminal.handle.
orca terminal wait --terminal <handle> --for tui-idle --timeout-ms 60000 --json
orca orchestration dispatch --task <task_id> --to <handle> --inject --json

For new-worktree workers, read the id and agentTerminalHandle from worktree create, falling back to startupTerminal.handle for older runtimes. Use that as the sole worker handle when present; otherwise use terminal list to resolve the agent handle. Omit --repo only inside an Orca-managed worktree; otherwise pass --repo <selector>.

For an allowed new worktree, use agent-first: --agent reveals the new worktree and launches the selected agent in its first terminal, without adding a separate fallback shell for that worker. Pass --setup run; repo setup and default-terminal settings may add intentional tabs or splits. Do not run bare worktree create and then terminal create --command <agent> for the same worker when agent-first create is available: without configured default tabs, that two-step path leaves a fallback shell + agent pair. Only use it when custom agent argv is required (for example Codex model/effort flags) or when an older CLI rejects --agent; if you must, message only the agent handle. Configured default tabs are intentional surfaces, so close a prior terminal only after terminal list or terminal show confirms it is an unused shell. Do not run worktree create when the task must stay in the current worktree.

Use orca worktree create --prompt ... or orca terminal send ... for full handoffs or untracked/lightweight prompts. Those paths do not attach taskId/dispatchId; the worker should not send lifecycle messages unless the prompt supplies a live orchestration preamble.

Sidebar lineage and orchestration lifecycle are related but not identical. A same-worktree worker may appear as a peer under that worktree in the sidebar while remaining a child dispatch in orchestration state; only an actual child worktree creates visible parent/child worktree lineage.

Other terminal commands coordinators often need:

orca terminal list [--worktree <selector>] [--json]
orca terminal create [--worktree <selector>] [--title <text>] [--command <cmd>] [--json]
orca terminal split --terminal <handle> [--direction horizontal|vertical] [--command <cmd>] [--json]
orca terminal wait --terminal <handle> --for tui-idle --timeout-ms <n> --json
orca terminal read --terminal <handle> --json
orca terminal send --terminal <handle> --text <text> --enter --json

If an older CLI rejects worktree create --agent, create the worktree normally, then run orca terminal create --worktree <selector> --command "codex" --json or --command "claude".

Wait for tui-idle before dispatching. Always pass --timeout-ms; real coding tasks can take 15-60 minutes. During supervision, use rolling check --wait windows. If a window returns no matching message, inspect task-list, terminal read, or terminal wait --for tui-idle as a liveness checkpoint; if the terminal is still working or producing activity, keep waiting instead of retrying the task.

Agent Guidance

Workers with a valid live preamble must send worker_done exactly once from their own terminal with an explicit --outcome succeeded or --outcome failed: orca orchestration send --type worker_done --subject "<short status>" --body "<3-sentence summary: what you did, what you found, what's left>" --task-id <task_id> --dispatch-id <dispatch_id> --outcome succeeded --files-modified "path/a" --report-path "<optional>" --json
A failed outcome is still a terminal report, but Orca records both the Dispatch and Task as failed. Never encode failure only in the subject/body.
After sending worker_done, end your turn and idle at the agent prompt. Do not poll or keep calling orca orchestration check; the coordinator re-engages you with a fresh preamble + TASK block delivered as new terminal input.
For long tasks, send heartbeat/status only when the preamble asks for it, including both IDs: orca orchestration send --type heartbeat --subject "alive" --payload '{"taskId":"<task_id>","dispatchId":"<dispatch_id>","phase":"implementing"}' --json
If blocked before completion, use ask; use escalation only when ownership is valid and the coordinator must intervene.
Treat preambles inherited through terminal history or full handoffs as stale unless the current prompt explicitly keeps that coordinator in the loop.
Coordinators should use task-list --ready as external memory, dispatch parallel waves, and avoid dependency chains deeper than 3-4 steps.

Example

orca terminal create --worktree active --title login-css-worker --command "claude" --json
orca terminal wait --terminal <handle> --for tui-idle --timeout-ms 60000 --json
orca orchestration task-create --spec "Fix the login button CSS" --json
orca orchestration dispatch --task <task_id> --to <handle> --inject --json
orca orchestration check --wait --types worker_done,escalation,question --timeout-ms 900000 --json

Next Action

Coordinator: confirm orca status --json, create or bind a Run, inspect task-list/dispatch-show if inheriting state, then use the explicit supervised loop (task-create -> worker-start -> check --wait). Use low-level terminal creation plus dispatch --inject only when the composed start does not express the needed topology.

Worker: if the current prompt contains a live dispatch preamble, do the task, use ask for blocking questions, and send worker_done once with the required payload. If the preamble is stale or absent, do not send lifecycle messages; inspect state or treat the prompt as an ordinary handoff.

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