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Window layout: top bar, sidebar and status bar

Find your way around the main Orkestra window, and learn to use the top bar, the window controls, the left sidebar and the status bar.

On this page

The main Orkestra window has four parts: a top bar, a left sidebar, the workbench area and a status bar. Use this page to locate each part of the window, including the window controls, Settings, activity rail, sidebar panels and status bar.

Where to find it

The parts fill the whole window.

  • The top bar runs along the top edge.
  • The left sidebar starts under the top bar, at the left edge.
  • The workbench area is right of the sidebar. The Helm launcher is at its bottom centre.
  • The status bar runs along the bottom edge.

Orkestra draws its own window controls. The window has no native title bar and no native menu bar.

What you see

Top bar, from left to right:

  • Orkestra mark — the logo (a square frame with one blue square). It sits above the activity rail. It does nothing when you click it.
  • Recent projects — one-click shortcuts to the projects you opened last. Each shortcut is named Switch to project: <name>. Hidden when no project exists. Hidden when the window is 1120 px wide or less. See Projects.
  • Project switcher — shows the current project name, or No project. Click it to pick, search or edit projects. See Projects.
  • Workbench tab strip — one tab per workbench of the current project, and a + button (tooltip "new workbench") to add one. Shown only when a project is selected. See Workbenches and the canvas.
  • Toolbar — shown only when the project has a workbench. In order:
  • Settings button — a gear icon (tooltip "Settings"). Always shown. It opens the Settings window. See Settings: the window, appearance, terminal, workbench and notifications.
  • Window controls — three buttons at the right edge: Minimize, Maximize (or Restore) and Close.
  • Drag area — every empty part of the bar. Press and drag it to move the window.

Left sidebar:

  • Activity rail — a narrow strip of icons at the left edge. It has an upper group (Upper modules), a lower group (Lower modules) and the Send feedback button at its foot.
  • Module panels — the area right of the rail. It shows the open modules. It holds up to two panels: one for the upper group (above) and one for the lower group (below).
  • Width divider — a thin vertical line between the sidebar and the workbench area. It shows only while a panel is open.

Workbench area:

Status bar, from left to right. See Status bar items below.

The seven sidebar modules Each module has one icon on the rail. The icon tooltip is the module label.

Label What it is for Chapter
ToDo The task board of the project. Tasks
Worktrees Git worktrees of the project. Worktrees
Files The file tree of the project. Files
Session history Closed terminal sessions you can restore. Session history
Scheduler Scheduled routines. Scheduler and routines
Source Control Git changes, commits, branches. Source control
Agents All launched agents and their status. Agents panel and agent status

On a fresh start the upper group holds Files. The lower group holds ToDo, Worktrees, Session history, Source Control, Scheduler and Agents, in this order. Files is open in the upper region and ToDo is open in the lower region.

A module panel Every module panel has the same frame:

  • Title — the module label, for example ToDo.
  • Count — a small number next to the title. ToDo shows the number of tasks of the project. Worktrees shows the number of worktrees, and only when the project has a folder on disk. Other modules show no number.
  • Module buttons — Worktrees, Files and Agents put their own buttons right of the title. A thin line separates them from the close button. The module chapters describe these buttons.
  • ✕ button — closes the module. Tooltip "Close module".
  • Body — the module itself. It scrolls.

Status bar items The center of the status bar is not used. The items are, in screen order:

  1. Getting started — a progress ring and a count such as 3 of 11, or All set. It opens the setup checklist. It shows only while the checklist is not hidden. See First-run setup, Getting started and tours.
  2. Usage — one small gauge for each usage provider you chose. Click it to open the Usage limits panel. It is not shown when no provider is chosen. See Usage limits.
  3. Application errors — a warning icon. It is grey when no error exists and red when errors exist. See Feedback, errors and notices.
  4. Project operations — a clock icon. A number shows how many operations run now (clone, create, scan, import). See Adding, creating, cloning and importing projects.
  5. Approvals — an icon with the number of requests that wait for you. See Approvals.
  6. Agents — the label Agents and a tally: total, active, working, awaiting, not started, finished. It reads none and is disabled when no agent exists. Click it to open the Agents module in the sidebar. See Agents panel and agent status.

How to

Show or hide a sidebar module

  1. Click an icon on the activity rail, for example the Worktrees icon.
  2. Click the same icon again.

Result: after step 1 the module opens in its group and the icon is highlighted. After step 2 the module closes. If the other group still has an open module, that panel fills the sidebar.

Close a module from its panel

  1. Click the ✕ button (tooltip "Close module") at the right end of the panel title.

Result: the panel closes. The other open panel, if any, fills the sidebar.

Reorder rail icons or move one to the other group

  1. Press and hold an icon on the activity rail.
  2. Drag the icon to a new place in the same group or in the other group. A thin line shows where the icon will land.
  3. Release the mouse button.

Result: the icon is at its new place and its module is open. If you moved the icon to the other group, the module opens there. The new order is saved.

Change the sidebar width

  1. Press the mouse button on the thin vertical line between the sidebar and the workbench area.
  2. Drag the line left or right.
  3. Release the mouse button.

Result: the sidebar gets wider or narrower. Orkestra keeps the width.

Change the height of the upper and lower panels

Before you start, open one module in the upper group and one module in the lower group.

  1. Press the mouse button on the thin horizontal line between the two panels.
  2. Drag the line up or down.
  3. Release the mouse button.

Result: the upper panel gets more or less height. The lower panel takes the rest.

Open Settings

  1. Click the gear Settings button at the right of the top bar.

Result: the Settings window opens. See Settings: the window, appearance, terminal, workbench and notifications.

Move the window

  1. Press the mouse button on an empty part of the top bar.
  2. Drag the window to a new place.

Result: the window moves. Buttons, tabs, menus and the other controls in the bar do not start a drag.

Minimize the window

  1. Click the Minimize button in the window controls.

Result: the window goes to the taskbar or Dock.

Maximize or restore the window

  1. Click the middle button in the window controls. Its label is Maximize or Restore.

Result: a normal window fills the screen. A maximized or full-screen window returns to its normal size. The button label changes to match the window state, also when you change the state with a system shortcut.

Close the window

  1. Click the Close button in the window controls.

Result: the window closes. Orkestra asks no question first. On Windows and Linux Orkestra then quits and the live terminal sessions end. On the next start the terminals come back as dormant sessions. See Terminal states, reconnect and history.

Open and close a status bar panel

  1. Click an item in the status bar, for example Project operations.
  2. Click the ✕ button in the title of the panel that opens above the bar.

Result: the panel closes. You can also press Esc or click outside the panel.

States and messages

  • Loading… appears while Orkestra restores the saved window layout.
  • No project selected — choose a project from the top-bar switcher to open its workbench. This project has no workbench. means the selected project has none yet.
  • Project-dependent modules show an empty prompt until you select a project: ToDo, Worktrees, Files, Session history, Scheduler and Source Control. Agents is global and can list terminals from every project.
  • The highlighted activity-rail icon marks the open module. With all modules closed, only the rail remains; its width divider disappears.
  • The middle window control reads Restore when the window is maximized or full screen, and Maximize otherwise. With no project selected, the workbench tabs and toolbar are hidden; Settings and the window controls remain visible.

Limits and tips

  • Each group shows one module at a time. Open a second module of the same group and it replaces the first.
  • You cannot hide the rail. To make the sidebar small, close all open modules.
  • Orkestra saves the sidebar layout: the icon order, the groups, the open modules, the width and the panel heights. After a restart, Files opens in its group when no other module is open there.
  • The sidebar width is between 220 and 560 px. The upper panel takes between 15 % and 85 % of the sidebar height.
  • Resizing and moving icons work with the mouse.
  • The window is at least 960 x 620 px.
  • In a narrow window the tab strip shrinks and scrolls first. At 1120 px width or less the recent-project shortcuts disappear. At 1024 px or less the project switcher shows no name text. The toolbar, Settings and the window controls stay.
  • The window controls are the same on Windows, macOS and Linux: the same three buttons, at the right end of the top bar. Orkestra has no native title bar and no native menu bar on any of them.
  • Closing the window quits Orkestra on Windows and Linux. On macOS the app keeps running after the window closes.
  • The window controls stay above dialogs and the focus overlay, so you can always use them.
  • Press Ctrl+J (Cmd+J on macOS) to open or close Helm (on Windows and Linux, not while the cursor is in a terminal). Hover the Helm launcher to see its tooltip, Ask Helm (⌘J). Helm can also show as the bottom bar or as the side panel at the right of the window. See Helm assistant.
  • For all keys see Keyboard shortcuts.