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README.md

Orca Mobile

React Native companion app for Orca. Monitor worktrees, view terminal output, and send commands from your phone.

Local development uses two processes:

  • Orca desktop/Electron from the repo root. This hosts the mobile WebSocket RPC server on port 6768.
  • Expo Metro from mobile/. This serves the React Native app on port 8081.

Unless a command says otherwise, run mobile app commands from the mobile/ directory.

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 24+
  • pnpm
  • Xcode and/or Android Studio tooling for simulator or device builds
  • Expo Go on your phone, or a development client build when native modules are needed
  • Phone and desktop on the same LAN when testing a physical phone

Start Desktop Orca

From the repository root:

pnpm install
pnpm dev

Confirm the mobile RPC server is listening:

lsof -nP -iTCP:6768 -sTCP:LISTEN

Restart pnpm dev after changing Electron main-process code. Metro hot reload only applies to the mobile JavaScript bundle.

Start The Mobile App

cd mobile
pnpm install
pnpm start

Scan the Expo QR code with your phone's camera on iOS, or Expo Go on Android.

For a native dev-client build:

pnpm exec expo run:android
pnpm exec expo run:ios
pnpm start --dev-client

Pair With Desktop Orca

  1. Open Orca desktop.
  2. Go to Settings > Mobile.
  3. Scan the pairing QR code from the mobile app.
  4. Confirm the mobile host endpoint is ws://<desktop-ip>:6768.

For the Android emulator, use ws://10.0.2.2:6768. For a physical phone, use the desktop LAN IP, for example ws://192.168.0.179:6768.

If the phone has a stale host entry, remove it from the app and pair again.

Development Paths

Android Phone

  1. Install Expo Go from Google Play
  2. Run pnpm start, scan QR with Expo Go
  3. For native modules: pnpm exec expo run:android
  4. Run with pnpm start --dev-client

iOS Simulator

  1. Install Xcode from the App Store
  2. Run pnpm start --ios to open in iOS Simulator

Physical Phone Debugging

The phone can be inspected through the connected device tooling:

orca snapshot --json
orca click --element @e3 --json
orca fill --element @e1 --value "ls" --json
orca screenshot --json

Use snapshot first to find the current element refs, then click/fill those refs. After mobile file edits, Metro usually hot reloads automatically, but navigating out of and back into the session screen can be useful because it re-runs terminal.subscribe.

Terminal Streaming Repro Without A Phone

Use this when terminal output does not render on device and you need to split server streaming bugs from WebView/UI bugs:

cd mobile
ORCA_MOBILE_WS_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:6768 pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64>

You can pass a worktree selector as the third argument:

pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "id:<worktreeId>"
pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "path:/absolute/worktree/path"
pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "name:my-worktree"

The expected result includes:

streamSawMarker: true
readSawMarker: true

If this repro fails, debug the desktop runtime/PTY path before the mobile WebView. If it passes but the phone is blank, debug the session screen or TerminalWebView readiness/queueing path.

Terminal Color Repro Without A Phone

Use this when terminal colors disappear after switching tabs. Open a Claude Code terminal and at least one other terminal in the target worktree, then run:

cd mobile
ORCA_MOBILE_WS_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:6768 pnpm exec tsx scripts/repro-terminal-colors.ts \
  <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "id:<worktreeId>"

The script captures terminal.subscribe snapshots in an A → B → A sequence and writes raw snapshots to mobile/terminal-color-repro/. If the two A snapshots have different sgrColor counts, the desktop snapshot changed during the switch. If they match, the ANSI color data is still present and the bug is in mobile replay/rendering.

Validation

Run these checks before committing mobile terminal changes:

cd mobile
pnpm exec tsc --noEmit
pnpm lint
cd ..
pnpm typecheck:node

Protocol Version Compatibility

Mobile and desktop talk over a versioned protocol. Because mobile updates lag desktop by 24-48h via the App Store, both sides exchange version numbers on status.get so a genuinely incompatible combo can hard-block instead of silently misbehaving.

Constants live in two files (Metro can't resolve outside mobile/):

  • src/shared/protocol-version.ts — DESKTOP_PROTOCOL_VERSION, MIN_COMPATIBLE_MOBILE_VERSION
  • mobile/src/transport/protocol-version.ts — MOBILE_PROTOCOL_VERSION, MIN_COMPATIBLE_DESKTOP_VERSION

Today all four are set so evaluateCompat always returns { kind: 'ok' } — nothing blocks. The wire format is in place to flip a switch when needed.

When to bump

Bump DESKTOP_PROTOCOL_VERSION (and the mobile mirror MOBILE_PROTOCOL_VERSION when relevant) for breaking changes:

  • Removed RPC method or required parameter that mobile uses
  • Changed meaning (units, nullability) of an existing field mobile reads
  • Changed encryption, framing, or auth handshake

Do not bump for additive changes:

  • New RPC methods
  • New optional fields on existing methods
  • New event types in terminal.subscribe

Set MIN_COMPATIBLE_MOBILE_VERSION (kill-switch) when desktop ships a change that requires a minimum mobile version to function safely. Same for MIN_COMPATIBLE_DESKTOP_VERSION from the mobile side.

When a verdict is blocked, mobile/src/components/ProtocolBlockScreen.tsx renders a screen pointing the user at either the App Store (mobile too old) or GitHub Releases (desktop too old).

To exercise the block screen locally: set MIN_COMPATIBLE_DESKTOP_VERSION = 999 in mobile/src/transport/protocol-version.ts, rebuild, pair to any desktop. Revert before merging.

Mock Server

Develop the mobile app without a running Orca desktop instance:

pnpm mock-server           # starts mock WebSocket server on port 6768

Connect from the app using endpoint ws://localhost:6768 and token mock-device-token.

Connecting to Real Orca

  1. Start Orca desktop with WebSocket transport enabled
  2. In Orca, go to Settings > Mobile and scan the QR code with this app
  3. The QR encodes the connection endpoint, device token, and TLS fingerprint

Project Structure

mobile/
├── app/                   # Expo Router screens (file-based routing)
│   ├── _layout.tsx        # Root layout with navigation stack
│   ├── index.tsx          # Home screen — paired hosts list
│   └── pair-scan.tsx      # QR code scanning screen
├── src/
│   ├── terminal/          # Terminal WebView and xterm bridge
│   └── transport/         # WebSocket RPC client
├── scripts/
│   ├── test-subscribe.ts  # Desktop streaming repro without a phone
│   └── mock-server.ts     # Standalone mock WebSocket server
└── assets/                # App icons and splash screen