Dev Environment — Orca as the agent host
This page explains where agent sessions run. We use Orca Dev as the host for agent work; PhpStorm and VS Code stay the editors for reading, editing and debugging, opened on the worktree paths Orca creates.
Anything beyond one inline edit needs a checkout per unit of work, a terminal per agent, and an agent-driven way to create both. Orca exposes worktrees, terminals and supervised workers through a CLI, so /wave can create slices, dispatch a worker into each, wait for it to finish and clean up without a click sequence. Each terminal can run Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode, so the host stays independent of the runtime.
Orca is not an editor, a review gate or a security boundary. Worktrees isolate files, not Git refs; merge and review gates still decide correctness, and permissions.deny plus chmod 600 .env stay required.
Host comparison
| Capability | Orca Dev | Claude Code macOS app | VS Code / PhpStorm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worktree | card, terminal and diff per slice | automatic under .claude/worktrees/ | second project window by hand |
| Parallel agents | terminal per slice | parallel worktree sessions | manual window management |
| Parallel slices with a coordinator | yes | no | no |
| Runtime | Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode | Claude, model chosen per session | any CLI in a plain terminal |
| Agent control | orca worktree, orca terminal, orca orchestration | sessions start in the UI | no host CLI |
Orca fits orchestrated waves because an agent can create and supervise its own slices; the macOS app is the more convenient choice for a human-driven single session.
Choose the flow
- One approved spec, Orca available:
/wavewith one slice. Work stays in its worktree and reaches the main checkout only as a reviewed, merged branch. - Several approved specs without file overlap:
/wave, one Claude worker per slice. - No Orca host:
/spec-work <ID>sequentially in the current checkout. This is a supported boundary, not a defect;--worktreestays opt-in because VS Code and PhpStorm do not switch their visible project. - Edit a slice: open its worktree path as a normal PhpStorm or VS Code project. Orca owns the checkout, the editor owns the file.