Orkas User Guide
Start with a task, then learn each core feature through the controls you can see in the desktop app. Privacy, security, and FAQ are collected separately.
# Tell Orkas what you want to do
Open a new task and describe the result you want in one or two sentences. If you have several tasks, list them one per line. Orkas will help break them down and ask for important missing details.
For example:
- Summarize this report and list the decisions I need to make.
- Compare these three options and recommend one for my budget.
- Turn these notes into a presentation for next week's review.
You can also ask Commander how to use Orkas. For supported requests it can offer a click-to-open shortcut or complete the change through the dedicated workflow; protected or consequential steps still require your action.
# Your first task
A useful request names the result, the source material, the audience or intended use, and any important format, deadline, or approval boundary.
Open Commander
Start a new task from the main conversation area.
Describe the outcome
Say what a successful result looks like and which constraints matter.
Add only relevant context
Attach a file or select an agent, skill, connector, or Library source when the task needs it.
Choose the runtime
Use the model shown in the task input. To add an external CLI agent, use Connect agents near the bottom of the sidebar or AI Team > + Create > External.
Follow progress
Answer any decision, missing-detail, permission, or form request so the task can continue.
Review the result
Open or download the output, then ask for a focused revision in the same task when its context still applies.
# Model setup
Orkas gives you two ways to use chat models: choose an Orkas-managed official model that is ready for your account, or connect a model provider you already use. The choice affects capability, speed, cost, billing, and the route your request takes.
What it gives you
- Official models include Orkas-1.5 and Orkas-1.5 Pro. Their current frontier lineup covers DeepSeek V4, GPT-5.6 models, Claude 5 models, Gemini 3.6 Flash, and Kimi K3; the list shown in Orkas is always authoritative.
- User-configured models let you connect your own provider through OAuth or an API key, or add a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint with its exact model ID.
- Chat models share one task-input selector. Search, image, video, and text-to-speech services are configured separately, while external CLI agents use their own CLI model settings.
Best for
- Use an official model when you want managed access to current models without setting up a provider key.
- Configure your own provider when you want to use your existing account, billing, endpoint, or a specific model.
- Switch models when a task needs different reasoning, coding, visual, speed, or cost characteristics.
Start here
- Open Account settings > Models. Enable an available Official model, or add and test a provider under User-configured models.
- In a task, open the model control and choose the ready model or saved provider configuration you want to use.
- Configure search, image, video, or text-to-speech in its own group only when the task needs that service.
# Projects
A Project gives a long-running goal one shared workspace, so related tasks begin with the same background instead of rebuilding context in every conversation.
What it gives you
- Keep the goal, stable instructions, preferred output, and Project memory together.
- Reuse the agents, Library sources, and other resources that regularly support the work.
- Organize related tasks, conversations, to-dos, and Project automations in one place.
Best for
- A goal will take several tasks, such as launching a product, running research, or producing content over time.
- Future tasks should follow the same background, rules, preferred output, agents, or reference material.
- Tasks, to-dos, and scheduled automation belong to one ongoing body of work.
Start here
Create or open a Project, state the ongoing goal, then add only the instructions and resources that should apply across its tasks.
- Put rules that should apply across future Project tasks in Project instructions (up to 4000 characters).
- Put temporary directions in the current task instead.
- Add only the agents and sources that regularly support this Project, then review memory and to-dos as the work changes.
- In Orkas 1.7.0, ask Commander to manage to-dos in an existing Project. In ordinary chat, name the Project; clarify an ambiguous name before changes are saved. This does not move the conversation.
# Automation
Automation turns a well-defined instruction into work that runs once later or on a repeating schedule, without you starting the same task manually each time.
What it gives you
- Schedule a one-time run or repeat every few hours, daily, weekly, or monthly, with an optional end date or run-count limit.
- Attach the automation to a Project so each run can use its stable context and resources.
- Use configured models and connectors at run time, review earlier results, and pause future runs without deleting them.
Best for
- You need a report, summary, collection, or review every few hours, daily, weekly, or monthly.
- A recurring check should use the same Project context or connected service every time.
- A one-time task should run at a specific future time instead of being remembered manually.
Start here
Open Auto, write the instruction as it should be understood at run time, choose the schedule, optional end condition, and optional Project, select the device that should run it, then save and enable it. Review the first result before relying on future runs.
# Agents
An agent is a reusable specialist that owns a type of work with a defined role, method, quality bar, capabilities, and role-specific memory.
What it gives you
- Turn recurring professional expectations into a specialist you can select instead of restating them.
- Give the specialist a workflow, required inputs, delivery standards, memory, and access to relevant capabilities.
- Use an Orkas-run agent or connect a supported local CLI agent such as Codex, Claude Code, or OpenCode.
Best for
- You repeatedly need the same specialist perspective, such as research, product design, data analysis, or content review.
- The work should follow stable quality standards, use specific capabilities, or remember role-related context.
- You want a local external CLI such as Codex, Claude Code, or OpenCode to own a task.
Start here
- Open AI Team and choose + Create to define an Orkas agent, then review its workflow, inputs, standards, and memory.
- Select an agent in the task input when that specialist should own the work. Add only agents that contribute to the requested result.
- To use Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, or another supported CLI, choose Connect agents or AI Team > + Create > External after installing and signing in to that CLI.
- In the external agent details, use Runtime settings to choose supported model, thinking, and permission overrides. Ask for permission forwards native CLI approval requests through the shared Orkas confirmation dialog, which shows the CLI action or selected path and returns the decision to the CLI. OpenCode uses fixed Full access and hides the permission selector.
- For Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode, keep the workspace default or choose a project directory. Ask to switch projects during a task to choose another existing folder.
# Skills
A skill packages how to do a repeatable job—the steps, checks, references, and expected result—so the same method can be reused by different tasks and agents.
What it gives you
- Preserve a proven method, checklist, template, and output rules as one reusable workflow.
- Apply the same method across tasks and agents without creating another specialist identity.
- Create a skill manually, from a URL or folder, import a local Skill ZIP, or install an existing one from Marketplace.
Best for
- The same steps, template, checks, or output format should be reused frequently.
- Several agents or tasks should follow one shared operating method.
- You want to turn an existing guide, URL, or local folder into a reusable workflow.
Start here
- Open Skills and choose + Create to start manually, from a URL, or from a folder. Finish its edit conversation before relying on it.
- Select the skill in a task and describe the outcome normally, including any inputs that workflow needs.
- Browse Marketplace when you want an existing workflow instead of creating one from scratch.
# Connectors
A connector gives Orkas authorized access to an external service, so a task can use current service data or perform allowed actions without repeatedly exporting files.
What it gives you
- Read live information from the connected account or workspace when the task needs it.
- Create, update, send, or perform other supported actions within the access you authorize.
- Connect a catalog service through its authorization flow or add a trusted custom MCP server.
Best for
- The task needs live information that changes in an external service.
- Orkas should create, update, send, or otherwise act in that service with your authorization.
- A repeated workflow should use the same connected workspace or account without exporting files each time.
Start here
- Open Connectors, connect a catalog service, complete its authorization, and confirm the connected state.
- For a trusted server outside the catalog, use Add MCP server and review any remote address or local command before connecting.
- Select the connector only in tasks that need it and clearly state what Orkas may read or do.
In Orkas 1.7.0, connector actions use Account settings > General > Local operation permissions, including calls from external CLI agents. Recognized reads and ordinary edits need no confirmation. Cautious and Standard ask before sensitive or unclassified actions; Trusted runs available connector actions without confirmation. Prohibited actions remain unavailable.
# Library
Library turns reference documents and stable material into reusable knowledge. Once processing finishes, Orkas can retrieve the most relevant passages for a question or task instead of making you upload and search the same files again.
What it gives you
- Ask quick, source-based questions and get answers grounded in processed policies, manuals, research, notes, or product material.
- Compare, summarize, extract, or write from a selected collection without manually locating every passage.
- Reuse the same sources across later tasks, Projects, and supported synced devices.
Best for
- You want quick, source-based Q&A across policies, manuals, research, product material, meeting notes, or other reference documents.
- Several tasks need to compare, summarize, extract, or write from the same collection of sources.
- The material should remain available for later tasks or on another synced device instead of being a one-time attachment.
Start here
- Open Library, add supported sources, give them recognizable names, and wait for processing to finish.
- In Commander or a Project task, select only the Library sources relevant to the current question.
- Ask a direct question or describe the result you want. When the answer must stay within the material, explicitly ask Orkas to use only the selected sources.
# My Apps
My Apps turns eligible interactive task results into reusable tools you can launch again without finding and reopening the original conversation first.
What it gives you
- Save eligible dashboards, calculators, forms, trackers, and other interactive results in one place.
- Open and use a saved app directly after the task that created it has finished.
- Return to the source task for revisions, keep a new version when needed, and export important data when the app supports it.
Best for
- Orkas creates an interactive dashboard, calculator, form, tracker, or other reusable tool.
- You want a result to remain easy to launch after the task is finished.
- You need to keep a useful version while returning to the source task for later revisions.
Start here
When a task result offers a save action, save the eligible interactive result to My Apps. Return to the source task for revisions, save a new version when needed, and export important app data when that option exists.
# Cloud sync
Cloud sync keeps supported Orkas data available on computers signed in to the same account, so ongoing work can continue without manual export and import.
What it gives you
- Carry supported tasks, Projects, agents, skills, and Library sources across signed-in devices.
- Continue an ongoing workflow from another computer after its changes finish syncing.
- Keep device-local data, including model API keys and task attachments, outside cloud sync.
Best for
- You use Orkas on more than one computer and want supported work to follow your account.
- A task, Project, agent, skill, or Library source created on one device should be available on another.
- You want to continue an ongoing workflow on another signed-in device without exporting and importing it manually.
Start here
Open Account settings > Data, enable cloud sync on each device that should participate, keep Orkas open while the first changes upload, and wait for sync to finish before editing the same item elsewhere.
Know before relying on it
- Keep Orkas open and connected until a large change finishes syncing, and avoid editing the same item on another device before it completes.
- Task attachments do not sync with their task. Add a supported file to Library when it should be reusable on another synced device.
- Model API keys stay on the device where they were configured and are not cloud-synced.
- Disabling sync on one device stops future synchronization there; it does not delete cloud data.
# Privacy and security
Orkas is local-first, while models, connectors, external CLI agents, optional sync, and sharing can send or store the data needed for those features. Model API keys stay on the configured device, and task attachments do not sync with their task. Review the active account, selected services, permission mode, and confirmation text before sensitive work. See Security & Trust for current storage, encryption, network, and sharing boundaries.
# FAQ
How do I start a task in Orkas?
Open a new task and describe the result you want. You can list several tasks one per line. Add only the files or resources the work needs, then follow the visible status until the result is ready.
When should I use a task attachment, Library, or Project?
Use a task attachment for one conversation, Library for material you want to reuse, and a Project when multiple tasks share instructions, sources, memory, or automations.
What should I check when a task will not run?
Check the visible task state first. You can ask Commander to inspect supported sanitized app status and offer a shortcut to the relevant screen. Answer any waiting question, restore an unavailable resource, and retry only after checking whether an external action already succeeded.
Where do I manage models, permissions, memory, sync, and account data?
Open the account entry at the bottom of the sidebar and choose Account settings. Use Account for Plan and Credits left, Data for Memory and sync, Models for chat and service setup, and General for permissions, notifications, language, and updates.