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Readme
◯ R B I T A L
Structural governance for AI coding agents
ORBITAL is an AI-native development framework that gives your coding agent structure, boundaries, and accountability. Instead of letting AI loose on your codebase, ORBITAL enforces a phased lifecycle where every change is scoped, proposed, approved, and verified.
npm install -g thinkorbital
cd your-project
orbital liftoffWhy ORBITAL
AI coding agents are powerful but ungoverned. They hallucinate file paths, overwrite working code, ignore project conventions, and operate without audit trails. ORBITAL fixes this:
- Scoped execution — AI only touches files it's been granted access to
- Human gates — proposals require approval before any code is written
- Isolated branches — every task runs in its own git worktree
- Full audit trail — every decision, every file access, every phase transition is logged
How It Works
Every unit of work follows the ICPAEV lifecycle:
Intent → Context → Proposal → Authorization → Execution → Verification| Phase | What happens |
|---|---|
| Intent | Define what you want built — objective, scope, success criteria |
| Context | Resolve which files the agent can read and write (CBAC envelope) |
| Proposal | AI generates a technical plan — approach, files, risk assessment |
| Authorization | Human reviews and approves (or rejects) the proposal |
| Execution | Agent writes code in an isolated worktree with enforced boundaries |
| Verification | Tests pass, criteria met, changes merge back to your branch |
Key Concepts
Context-Based Access Control (CBAC)
Every intent gets a context envelope — a precise manifest of which files the agent can read, which it can modify, and which are off-limits. This isn't advisory; it's enforced at the MCP gateway level.
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ Context Envelope │
│ │
│ ✓ writable: src/auth/*.ts │
│ ○ readable: src/types/*.ts │
│ ✗ denied: .env, secrets/ │
└─────────────────────────────┘Tiered Governance
| Tier | Use case | Governance |
|---|---|---|
| T1 | Quick fixes, small changes | Auto-advance, minimal gates |
| T2 | Features, refactors | Human authorization required |
| T3 | Architecture, design work | AI-led design conversation → decomposed into sub-intents |
MCP Server
ORBITAL includes a Model Context Protocol server that your AI agent connects to automatically. The server exposes governance tools — the agent can't skip phases, exceed its file boundaries, or self-authorize. Every tool call is traced.
CLI Commands
orbital liftoff Initialize ORBITAL in any project
orbital orbit Create a new trajectory + intent
orbital context Resolve context envelope
orbital propose Generate AI proposal
orbital authorize Approve proposal for execution
orbital execute Begin isolated code execution
orbital verify Run verification checks
orbital status View all trajectories and intents
orbital monitor Live terminal dashboard
orbital design T3 design conversation
orbital systems Health check (--fix to auto-repair)Full command reference: thinkorbital.ai/docs/cli-lifecycle
What liftoff Creates
your-project/
├── .orbital/
│ ├── config.yaml # Project detection + settings
│ ├── ORBITAL.md # Agent instructions (auto-generated)
│ ├── trajectories/ # Work streams
│ ├── orbits/ # Intent state + evidence
│ ├── policy/ # Security policies + capability profiles
│ ├── context/ # Layers, manifest, generated context
│ ├── envelopes/ # CBAC access grants
│ └── traces/ # Gateway audit logs
├── .mcp.json # MCP server registration
└── CLAUDE.md # Agent bootstrap instructionsWorks With
- Claude Code (VS Code, CLI) — first-class MCP integration
- Cursor — MCP server support
- Any agent that speaks Model Context Protocol
Requirements
- Node.js 18+
- Git 2.25+
Documentation
Full docs, architecture deep-dives, and guides at thinkorbital.ai