Orbi

Orbi is a local, contextual helper inside the onplate desktop app. It helps you understand the current screen, warns about the consequences of actions and shows whether the result could be confirmed against the actual local state.

Orbi is not a general AI chat and does not invent answers to free-form questions. It works with the data onplate already knows about the current section, so its explanations are short, checkable and tied to the interface.

How to open it

The Orbi button is at the bottom of the sidebar. Press it — the panel for the current screen opens next to the menu.

In compact mode the Orbi icon stays in the menu. If the helper is hidden entirely, you can bring it back:

through the command palette ⌘/Ctrl+K → Show Orbi;
in Settings → Show Orbi.

The panel closes with the cross or the Esc key. Closing collapses the panel but keeps the button. The Hide Orbi command removes the button as well; right after hiding, onplate offers to undo it.

What Orbi explains

For every section Orbi shows:

what the current screen is for — which data is gathered here;
where to start — the nearest useful step given the state of the section;
what to watch out for — a risk, a limitation or an important distinction;
how this section is put together — an extra explanation behind the Explore the screen button;
the selected object — name, type, version, security and the number of installs, when you have opened the card of a skill, MCP server, subagent or package;
a live hint — the main risk on the dashboard, an empty filter result, or the need to finish a scan first.

Buttons inside the hints lead to the source data: to Bindings, Sync, Security, the storage or another related section.

The explanation before an action

Before a deletion, a config replacement and other important actions onplate shows:

what exactly will change;
which files, bindings or records will be touched;
whether the action can be undone fully or only partly;
what it will take to restore things.

This explanation is meant to be read before you confirm. Deleting a resource from storage, for example, can leave the installed copy inside an AI, and restoring a record from the trash does not always bring back the installs that were removed.

The last confirmed action

After supported operations Orbi shows a “Last confirmed action” card. Depending on the resource it may hold:

the AI tool and the install scope;
the version and the path of the file or config;
how many installs were confirmed and how many were skipped;
what stayed in storage or moved to the trash;
a link to the next section to check.

The words “installed” or “deleted” appear only after the updated local state was checked. For a skill, for example, onplate re-reads the bindings and looks for the expected version at the expected path.

For MCP, confirming the config entry does not prove that the server starts and the connection works. After installing, use Test connection in the MCP servers section separately.

If the result is unconfirmed

The message “Could not confirm…” means onplate did not get a reliable final state. That is not the same as a rollback: before the error the operation may have changed the storage, a file, a profile, a config or part of a package’s resources.

The safe order of actions:

Do not repeat the operation right away.
Refresh the source section.
Open Bindings and pick the resource type and the AI you need.
Check the actual paths, versions and remaining installs.
Only then repeat the action or fix the missing part.

The technical reason for the error stays on the screen where the action was performed. Orbi keeps a safe explanation of the state and the next step, but it does not write the raw error text into its history — that text can contain local paths and other sensitive details.

Orbi history and the audit trail

The Action history section keeps up to ten recent result explanations locally. Press an entry to go back to the screen where the action happened.

Orbi history can be cleared independently of the Activity log. The log is the full audit source for operations; clearing the helper’s short history does not delete it.

Privacy

Orbi works locally and uses only the context the onplate interface already knows. It does not send file contents, configs or secrets to an external AI service.

If something is unclear

Problem	What to do
Orbi is not visible	Open `⌘/Ctrl+K` and pick Show Orbi, or enable it in Settings
The hint is about the wrong object	Close the card, select the object again and open Orbi
The result is marked unconfirmed	Refresh the source section and Bindings, then check the path and the version
You need the technical reason	Go back to the screen of the operation: the raw error text is not kept in Orbi history
You need the full list of operations	Open Action history → Open the full activity log