Safety, limits and feedback

Feedback, errors and notices

Send feedback to the developers, read and report application errors, answer a crash report offer, and understand the notice cards that appear at the bottom right of the window.

On this page

Purpose

Orkestra tells you when something goes wrong, and it lets you tell the developers. This chapter covers the Send feedback dialog, the Application errors item in the status bar (the error console), the crash report offer, and the notice cards at the bottom right of the window. It also lists the app-level notices about saved state and the performance guard. Other chapters list their own notices. They use the same cards and the same rules.

Where to find it

  • Send feedback — the speech-bubble button at the foot of the left activity rail (tooltip "Send feedback"). It is always shown.
  • Application errors — the warning-sign icon in the right part of the status bar. It is the first item of the right group.
  • Notice cards — a stack in the bottom-right corner of the window, above the status bar.
  • Crash report offer — a banner in the bottom-right corner, above the status bar. It appears only at start-up.

What you see

The Send feedback dialog. A small dialog with these parts, from top to bottom:

  • Send feedback — the title, with a speech-bubble icon. A ✕ icon button (tooltip "close feedback") sits at the right end.
  • Category — a list (accessible name "Feedback category") with four choices: General feedback, Bug report, Feature request, Other. General feedback is the default.
  • Message — a text box with the hint "Tell us what's on your mind…". A counter below it reads 0 / 5000 and grows as you type.
  • Attach diagnostic logs (last session) — a switch. It is on by default.
  • View what will be sent — a button with an arrow. It shows only while the switch is on.
  • Cancel and Send — the footer buttons.

The Report a problem dialog. The error console opens the same dialog in a second form. These parts differ:

  • The title is Report a problem. There is no Category list.
  • This form reports the errors recorded in the current session. You can add a comment and review the report before sending it.
  • The text box is Comment (optional) with the hint "Add an optional comment…". Its counter ends at 500.
  • View what will be sent is always shown. It also shows the recorded errors.

The Application errors item.

  • The icon — a warning sign with no number. It is grey when the list is empty and red when it holds errors. It pulses while errors are new (not yet seen). It has no hover tooltip. Its accessible name is "No application errors — open error console", or a count such as "3 application errors, 1 new — open error console".
  • The panel — it opens upward from the status bar into the bottom-right corner. Its header shows the title Application errors, a red count chip when errors exist, and a ✕ icon button (tooltip "close Application errors").
  • The list — newest error first. A row shows a red dot, the area and a short code ("area · code"), the time, and the message. A row with more data also has a Details line. It opens the technical trace and the context data.
  • The footer — Clear (tooltip "Remove all errors from this list") and Report a problem.

The crash report offer. A warning banner with the text "N crash report(s) from a previous session. Send to the developers?" and two buttons: Send and Dismiss.

Notice cards. Each card has an icon, a message, and a Dismiss icon button (tooltip "Dismiss"). Some cards have a second, dimmer line. The icon shows the tone: a red triangle for an error, a green check mark for a success, an amber triangle for a warning, an information icon for a neutral notice. A card for an error is clickable.

How to

Send feedback

  1. Click the Send feedback button at the foot of the left activity rail.
  2. Optional: choose a type in the Category list.
  3. Type your text in the Message box.
  4. Optional: click the Attach diagnostic logs (last session) switch to turn it off.
  5. Click Send.

Result: the dialog shows "Thank you! Feedback sent." and closes after 2 seconds. When Orkestra cannot reach the server, it shows "Queued — will send when online." instead.

Check what Orkestra sends with your feedback

  1. Click the Send feedback button at the foot of the left activity rail.
  2. Click View what will be sent.
  3. Read the text in the box that opens.

Result: the box shows the diagnostic logs that go with your message. Click the button again to fold the box. The button is not shown while the switch is off, because nothing is attached then.

Open the error console

  1. Click the warning icon in the status bar.

Result: the Application errors panel opens. The icon stops pulsing, because you have seen the new errors. Click the icon again, press Esc, click outside the panel or click the ✕ button to close it.

Read the details of an error

  1. Click the warning icon in the status bar.
  2. Click Details under an error row.

Result: the technical trace and the context data of that error show under the message. Only a row that has this data shows Details.

Clear the error list

  1. Click the warning icon in the status bar.
  2. Click Clear.

Result: the list is empty and the icon turns grey. Clear removes the errors from this list only. Orkestra keeps its own log files.

Report a problem to the developers

Before you start, make sure the error list holds at least one error.

  1. Click the warning icon in the status bar.
  2. Click Report a problem in the panel footer.
  3. Optional: type a short note in the Comment (optional) box.
  4. Optional: click View what will be sent to read the errors and logs.
  5. Click Send.

Result: the panel closes and the dialog shows "Thank you! Report sent." It closes after 2 seconds. The error list stays as it is.

Open the error console from an error card

  1. Click a card with a red icon, for example one that starts with "An error occurred —".

Result: the card slides away and the Application errors panel opens.

Dismiss a notice card

  1. Click the Dismiss button on the card.

Result: the card slides away. A card that you do not dismiss leaves by itself (see "Limits and tips").

Send a crash report

Before you start, turn on Offer to send crash reports from a previous session in Settings, Diagnostics. It is off by default. See Settings: diagnostics, performance, system state, license and about. The banner appears only at start-up, after a run that crashed.

  1. Read the banner at the bottom right.
  2. Click Send.

Result: the button reads Sending… and both buttons are disabled. The banner then closes. Orkestra sends each crash report with the diagnostic logs attached. It shows no success or error message.

Dismiss a crash report offer

  1. Click Dismiss in the banner.

Result: the banner closes and sends nothing. Orkestra does not offer the same crash again.

States and messages

Send feedback and Report a problem.

  • Send is disabled while the Message box is empty or holds only spaces. In the Report a problem form it is enabled, because the errors are the content.
  • While sending: the button reads Sending…. The fields, the switch and Cancel are disabled.
  • Success: a success note with a check mark, "Thank you! Feedback sent." (Report a problem: "Thank you! Report sent.") and a Done button. The dialog closes after 2 seconds.
  • Offline: a success note "Queued — will send when online." Orkestra sends it later by itself.
  • Failure: a warning note "Couldn't send — try again". The button now reads Retry. Your text stays. A refusal by the server and a missing server give the same note.
  • Box under View what will be sent: "Loading diagnostics…" while it loads, "Nothing to preview." when nothing is available.
  • The text boxes stop at 5000 characters (500 for the comment).

Application errors.

  • Empty list: a success note "No errors recorded. The application is running cleanly." Clear and Report a problem are disabled.
  • The list holds the 200 newest errors of the current run. It is empty again after a restart.
  • Only errors count. Warnings and information do not appear here.
  • The Report a problem body is a numbered list of the newest errors, "[area] CODE — message", with at most 30 lines. A line "…and N more." follows when there are more.

Notices about saved state. These cards come from Orkestra itself. The first five show once, at start-up. Cards with a red icon are clickable and open the Application errors panel.

  • Info: "Your layout was reset; a backup was saved at <path>"
  • Error: "Your layout could not be loaded and the backup could not be saved. Your changes are not being saved, so the damaged file is not overwritten. Free disk space or fix permissions in the data folder, then restart the app."
  • Error: "Your saved workspace could not be read (<code>). It has not been overwritten and your changes are not being saved. Fix the file's permissions or free disk space in the data folder, then restart the app." The code is a short error code, or "unknown error".
  • Info: "<N> Helm conversation(s) could not be moved to the transcript store. The original state file was saved at <path>. Those chats open empty."
  • Error: "Helm transcript migration FAILED for <N> conversation(s): the backup could not be saved at <path>. State changes are paused until the raw state backup succeeds; resolve this persistence failure and retry." The words "at <path>" show only when a path is known.
  • Info: "Changes weren't saved — the error was recorded." It shows at any time when Orkestra could not save a change.
  • Error: "An error occurred — <message>". It shows each time a new error is recorded. The error is also in the list.

Performance guard notices. They show only for actions that the guard takes by itself. A sleep that you start yourself shows no card.

  • Put "<terminal name>" to sleep — <reason> — the guard put an idle terminal to sleep.
  • Performance threshold hit — <reason> — a limit is crossed and no terminal went to sleep. This happens in Notify only mode, or when no terminal can sleep. It shows once for each episode. A new episode starts after the value goes back under the limit.
  • The reason reads, for example: "12 live agents (max 10)", "app footprint 1.2 GB (limit 2.0 GB)", "system memory 8% available (floor 10%)" or "idle 5h (limit 4h)".
  • The settings are in Settings, Performance. See Settings: diagnostics, performance, system state, license and about. A sleeping terminal wakes when you click it. See Terminal states, reconnect and history.

Crash report offer. The banner has no ✕ button and no timer. It stays until you click Send or Dismiss. If a send fails, the banner closes anyway, and Orkestra does not offer that crash again.

Limits and tips

  • One stack for all notices. Every notice card of the app uses the same stack at the bottom right. It never blocks the window and it shows above dialogs. Only the cards take clicks. Cards from the same source stay together. From top to bottom the order is: saved-state and error notices, performance guard, launch, short app cards, source control, budget.
  • How long a card stays. The time depends on its source. Launch cards, short app cards and source control cards wait while you point at them with the mouse or move keyboard focus into them. They go on with the time that is left when the mouse and the focus leave the card. Saved-state, error and performance guard cards do not wait.
    • Saved-state, error and performance guard cards: 9 seconds.
    • Launch cards: 9 seconds. See Starting terminals and agents.
    • Short app cards, for example a confirmation after a copy or close action in the Agents panel: 1.8 seconds. See Agents panel and agent status.
    • Short app cards with a red error icon, for example a refusal because a person controls the terminal through Telegram: 6 seconds.
    • Source control result cards: 6 seconds. See Source control: changes and commits.
    • Budget cards have no timer. They stay until you click Dismiss. See Budget protection.
    • External IDE failure and Default target unavailable cards stay until dismissed or an action is chosen. The failure card's Copy command action changes to Copied briefly and leaves the card in place. See Projects.
  • A line on the card. Launch, source control and short app cards show a thin line along the lower edge. The line shrinks until the card leaves, and it stops while the card waits. Saved-state, error, performance guard, and sticky cards show no line.
  • Long messages wrap. A card keeps its width. A long message, for example "A person controls this terminal through Telegram. Try again in 60 seconds, then 2 minutes, then 5 minutes.", continues on the next line. Orkestra does not cut it off.
  • No duplicates. The same notice does not stack. The first card stays. For the saved-state and error cards, its 9-second timer starts again.
  • Motion. A card slides in and rolls away. With Reduce motion on, it moves without animation. See Settings: the window, appearance, terminal, workbench and notifications.
  • A card is a pointer, not a record. A saved-state or error card leaves after 9 seconds. The error stays in the Application errors list until you clear it or restart. A sticky external-open card remains until you act on it or dismiss it.
  • Click outside closes the dialog. In Send feedback, a click on the dark area outside the dialog closes it and throws away your text. Esc and the ✕ button do the same.
  • No key needed. You do not need an activated license key to send feedback. The dialog does not name a server and has no way to attach a file or a screenshot. Only the diagnostic logs go along.
  • What the logs hold. They are a short summary of the recorded errors and recent log entries. Orkestra removes secrets and shortens home-folder paths before it attaches them. The size limit is about 64 KB. View what will be sent shows the exact text.
  • Log files. The log files on disk keep more than the error list. Use Settings, Diagnostics (Open logs folder, Export support bundle). See Settings: diagnostics, performance, system state, license and about.