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Quickstart

Requirements

Bun >=1.3.0 for source development or typed project authoring.
Git.
At least one configured backend CLI when running live flows: Claude, Codex, OpenCode, or Pi.

Install Orcats

npm i @twelvehart/orcats
npm i -D typescript
bunx -p @twelvehart/orcats orcats --version

typescript enables editor feedback and the CLI typecheck preflight. Bun >=1.3.0 must be on PATH because the npm CLI shim runs with Bun.

Write `hello.ts`

import { flow, llm, selectBackend } from "@twelvehart/orcats";

await flow()(async () => {
  const selected = selectBackend({ default: "claude" });
  try {
    const conversation = llm().autonomous(selected.backend, {
      prompt: "Say hello from an autonomous Orca flow."
    });

    const outcome = await conversation.awaitResult();
    if (outcome.type !== "success") {
      throw new Error(`Backend failed with outcome: ${outcome.type}`);
    }

    console.log(outcome.result.output);
  } finally {
    await selected.shutdown?.();
  }
});

Run the flow

bunx -p @twelvehart/orcats orcats --backend claude hello.ts

--backend sets ORCA_BACKEND. A flow that calls selectBackend() honors it. A flow that calls claude(), codex(), opencode(), or pi() directly pins that backend.

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