User guide¶

Everything you can do in Orbit's interface: the floating panel, instant search, chatting with the assistant, the result and confirmation cards, context chips, notices, the Settings window, launch at login and the interface language. For installation and the first-launch setup, see Getting started; for a compact list of keys, see Keyboard shortcuts.

The panel¶

Orbit lives in a single floating panel, similar to Spotlight. It has one input field: what you type there is a search until you ask Orbit a question, and then the panel becomes a chat.

Opening and closing¶

Open: press the global shortcut (default ⌥ Space), or choose Open Orbit in the menu bar menu. The panel appears on the screen with the mouse pointer, a little below the top of the screen, at most 720 points wide. It floats above other windows (also above full-screen apps), on every Space, and the app you were using stays active.
Close: press the shortcut again, press Escape, click anywhere outside the panel, or switch to another app. ⌘W also hides it. Opening Settings or the setup window closes the panel too.
Launching Orbit again (from Finder, Spotlight or open) brings up the panel instead of starting a second copy.

Closing only hides the panel: what it showed is still there the next time (see Chat parking for what happens after a longer pause). The panel grows downward as results or a chat need room, up to about 70% of the screen height, and then scrolls. When it opens again in search mode, your previous search is selected, so typing replaces it.

Escape does one thing at a time: it closes a Quick Look preview first; otherwise it stops a running answer; otherwise it closes the panel.

Orbit has no Dock icon. Its icon in the menu bar opens this menu:

Item	What it does
Open Orbit	Opens the panel (shows your current global shortcut next to it). Takes the selection of the app you came from as context chips.
New Chat	Starts a new chat and opens the panel.
Settings… (⌘,)	Opens the Settings window.
Setup…	Opens the setup window from the first step (see Getting started).
Quit Orbit (⌘Q)	Quits Orbit. A running answer stops and is saved first.

From the keyboard, press ⌃F8 (macOS's "Move focus to status menus"), move to Orbit's icon with the arrow keys and press Return.

Instant search¶

As soon as you type, Orbit shows local results. Instant search never asks the model and sends nothing anywhere. The first row is always Ask Orbit: “…” (see Asking Orbit).

What it searches¶

Apps in /Applications, /System/Applications and ~/Applications, each with one level of subfolders such as Utilities (never inside apps), plus Finder. Every name of an app finds it: the one Finder shows (localized), the app's names in Orbit's language, in the first three of your preferred languages, and in English, and the file name. "Calculator", "calc" and "Rechner" (its German name, on an English Mac that also lists German) all find Calculator. The app list is built in the background at launch and scanned again about a second after something in those folders changes. Icons load when they are shown.
Files and folders by name, through Spotlight, in the same places and with the same rules as the assistant's file tools: the visible folders in your home folder (Desktop, Documents, Downloads and the folders you created), iCloud Drive and cloud storage, but no hidden items, nothing else from ~/Library, no contents of apps and document packages, and no secrets such as keys or .env files. Apps are left out of the file results. Under each file you see its folder as Finder names it, for example "Documents ▸ Invoices" or "iCloud Drive ▸ Taxes".
Contacts by name, only once Orbit already has access to Contacts. Instant search never asks for a permission. (The first search of Desktop, Documents or Downloads may bring up macOS's own folder-access prompt.)

Matching and ranking¶

Matching ignores case, accents and character width ("ß" matches "ss").
Apps and contacts, best match first: the whole name, the start of the name, the start of a later word or the initials ("vsc" finds Visual Studio Code), anywhere inside the name (from 2 characters), and the letters in order (from 3 characters: "xcd" finds Xcode).
Apps you open often from instant search rank higher. Orbit counts launches per app path (for at most 100 apps, stored in its settings) and never counts files, contacts or what you typed.
Files: every word you type must be the start of a word in the name. An exact name comes first; otherwise the most recently used or changed file, with a small lead for names that start with what you typed.

Limits and timing¶

At most 8 results, grouped in the order Apps, Files, Contacts: up to 4 apps, up to 2 contacts, and files fill the rest (at least 2). The first nine have the shortcuts ⌘1 to ⌘9.
Orbit waits 80 ms after your last keystroke, then shows apps at once from memory (about 85 ms after the keystroke).
Files and contacts are searched from the second letter or digit. File names on disk arrive within milliseconds; Finder's localized folder names (such as "Dokumente" for Documents on a German Mac) about 0.2 s later.
While a search runs, the earlier results that still match stay visible; your next keystroke cancels the running Spotlight queries.

Opening results¶

↑/↓ move the highlight (it wraps around), Return opens the highlighted result, ⌘1 to ⌘9 open a result directly, and a click opens it too. The panel closes after opening.
Apps launch or come to the front, files and folders open in their default app, contacts open in Contacts.
Opening a program or script from instant search is your own action, as in Spotlight. Only the assistant's open_file tool refuses to open such files.
Moved or deleted files: before a file opens, Orbit checks that it is still there. If it was moved or deleted since the search, the panel stays open, says "“…” was not found. It may have been moved or deleted." and searches again.
The keyboard stays in the input field the whole time, so VoiceOver announces the highlighted row with its ⌘ number ("Mail, Application, Command-1") and, once a search is done, how many results it found.

Asking Orbit¶

A chat: a question with a context chip, tool status rows with check mark, cross and dash, a file card, a formatted answer, the note “3 file names, 1 file, and details of 2 photos sent to Claude”, and a follow-up being answered

Starting a chat¶

Type your question and press Return while the Ask Orbit: “…” row is highlighted (it is, unless you moved the highlight to a result), or press ⌘Return, which always asks Orbit. You can also click the row. The panel turns into a chat with the language model you set up (see Choosing a language model).

While Orbit answers¶

The answer streams in as it is written; three dots show that Orbit is working.
Each tool the assistant uses gets a short status row, such as "Searching mail…" that turns into "Found 12 emails". The mark at its end shows the outcome: ✓ completed, ✗ failed, and a dash symbol for canceled. Short notes the model writes between tool calls appear in gray.
Results appear as result cards (files, mail, events, …). Actions with consequences wait on a confirmation card.
The answer is formatted (headings, lists, tables, code blocks with a Copy Code button). Links in answers open only if they are web or mail links (http, https, mailto).
"… sent to …": below each answer, a small note lists what personal content went to the model for it, for example "3 emails sent to Claude" or "3 file names, 1 file, and details of 2 photos sent to Claude". See Privacy for what is counted.
The assistant uses at most 15 tool calls per request. If it reaches that limit, a notice says "Orbit stopped running tools after 15 tool calls. Make your request more specific if the answer is incomplete."

Stopping, follow-ups and new chats¶

Stop: press Escape or click the stop button next to the input. What was answered so far stays in the chat.
Follow-up: type into the same input and press Return. While an answer is still running, Return keeps your text and says "Orbit is still answering. Wait a moment or stop the answer with Esc."; while a confirmation card waits, it says "Please confirm or cancel the action above first. Your message stays here."
Scroll the chat with the trackpad, or from the input with Page Up/Page Down, Home/End and ⌘↑/⌘↓.
New Chat: press ⌘N, click the new-chat button next to the input, or choose New Chat in the menu bar menu. The panel goes back to search mode with an empty chat. After a notice that the conversation no longer fits the model, the new chat starts with that request already in the input (see Notices).

Chat parking and history¶

An empty search field with the row “Continue chat: Find the Telekom invoice from March” below it

Orbit is a launcher first. If you open the panel again within 5 minutes, it still shows your chat. After a longer pause, it opens in search mode instead, so that typing "ma" finds Mail rather than asking the model.

The chat is only parked, not gone:

Continue chat: “…” under the empty input shows it again; click it or press ↑ in the empty input.
Typing a question and pressing Return on Ask Orbit starts a new chat with that text (like ⌘N followed by Return).
⌘N closes the parked chat.

A chat that still needs you is never parked: while its answer is running, while a confirmation card waits, or while its input holds a message you have not sent yet (that text stays a follow-up in the chat).

After a relaunch, Orbit brings back your last chat if it was active within the past 12 hours. The chat is parked, so the panel still opens in search mode. A chat you left with New Chat is not brought back.

History: chats are saved on your Mac in ~/Library/Application Support/Orbit/Orbit.sqlite; the 100 most recent are kept. Settings → Privacy → Delete Chat History… removes them all (see Privacy).

Result cards¶

A gallery of result cards: emails, events, reminders, a contact, a note, photos and an email draft

When a tool finds something, the chat shows it on a card. Cards show the first five rows (photo cards: three rows of tiles) and a Show N More link for the rest; Show Less folds them again.

Using cards from the keyboard¶

All cards except contact cards can be used without the mouse:

Tab (or Shift-Tab) in the input moves the keyboard to the latest card.
On a card, ↑/↓ select a row; past the folded rows, the card unfolds. Return opens the selected row.
Tab and Shift-Tab move to the next and previous card and, past the last or first one, back to the input.
Escape works as anywhere in the panel: it stops a running answer, otherwise it closes the panel. It does not lead back to the input; Tab and Shift-Tab do.
VoiceOver reads each row the keyboard selects.

File cards¶

An expanded file card with seven files, each with folder, date and size; one row selected; Show Less

search_files and recent_files show their results on a file card: icon, name, folder, date and size per file. The folder is named as Finder names it: "Documents ▸ Invoices" or "iCloud Drive ▸ Keynote" instead of ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~Keynote/Documents. (Cards saved by older versions show the path.) The tooltip and Copy Path always give the full path.

Mouse: click a row to select it, double-click to open it, and drag it into Finder, Mail or any app that takes files. The magnifying glass that appears on hover shows the file in Finder. The context menu offers Open, Quick Look, Show in Finder (⇧⌘R) and Copy Path (⌥⌘C).
Keyboard: ↑/↓ select, Space shows or hides Quick Look, Return opens, ⇧⌘R shows the file in Finder (like "Show in Finder" in Music), ⌥⌘C copies its path (like Finder's "Copy as Pathname"; VoiceOver says "Path copied"). The context menu shows these keys.
Quick Look: the preview follows the selection, and ↑/↓ inside the preview move the selection too. It appears above Orbit's panel on the same screen (where it was last, if that is on this screen). It closes when the panel closes, also when another Orbit window such as Settings takes the keyboard. Escape closes the preview first, and only the next Escape stops an answer or closes the panel.
VoiceOver reads each row's name, folder, date and size, announces the row that Tab and ↑/↓ select, and offers the same four actions.
What opens how: the assistant chose what the card lists, so opening from a card follows the same rules as its open_file tool. Apps, programs, scripts, installers, link files and Finder aliases whose target may not be opened are shown in Finder instead, where you can open them yourself. A file that was moved or deleted since the card was made is not opened; a note under the input says so.

Mail cards¶

A mail list card, an email draft card with Show in Mail, and an email reply card with Copy Text and Show in Mail

A mail card lists messages with sender, subject, date, preview and unread state.

A click on a message opens it in Mail.
From the keyboard: ↑/↓ select a message (VoiceOver reads its sender, subject, date and whether it is unread), and Return opens it.

Drafts and replies¶

Orbit never sends mail. When the assistant writes an email, it opens in Mail for you to review and send.

New email: an Email draft card shows To, Cc, Subject and the text, with "Opened in Mail: review it there before sending". Show in Mail brings the draft window to the front. If you closed it meanwhile, a note under the input says "The draft is no longer open in Mail. If you saved it, you’ll find it in “Drafts”."
Reply: Orbit opens Mail's own reply window, which Mail fills in itself (recipients, "Re: …", the quoted message, your signature). Mail does not let scripts write into its reply windows, so Orbit puts the text the assistant wrote on the clipboard. The Email reply card says "Reply opened in Mail: paste the text from the clipboard with ⌘V". Paste it, check the reply and send it. Copy Text puts the text on the clipboard again; Show in Mail brings the reply window to the front. Nothing reaches the clipboard if the reply window did not open.
Who has the keyboard during a reply: Mail comes to the front with the reply window and has the keyboard, so ⌘V pastes straight into it. Orbit's panel stays visible next to it, without taking the keyboard back, with the reply's card in view, and VoiceOver hears where the text is. The panel closes as usual on your next click outside it or when another app comes to the front; the shortcut or a click into the panel gives it the keyboard again (then the shortcut or Escape closes it). A panel you closed before the reply window appeared stays closed. If you switch to another app while the reply window is still opening (for example with ⌘Tab), or it does not open after all, the panel closes like after any other focus change.
Keyboard: on a draft or reply card the arrow keys (↑/↓ or ←/→) select Copy Text and Show in Mail, and Return or Space presses the selected one.

Note cards¶

A note card lists notes with title, folder, date and an excerpt. A click on a row opens the note in Notes. If that is not possible, a note under the input says why, for example that the note was deleted or that Orbit is not allowed to control Notes. From the keyboard: ↑/↓ select a note (VoiceOver reads its title, folder and date), Return opens it.

Contact cards¶

A contact card shows each contact's initials, name, company, email addresses and phone numbers. A click on an email address starts a new email in your mail app; phone numbers can be selected and copied. Contact cards are not part of the Tab order of cards.

Event and reminder cards¶

Events show the time (or "all day"), title, location and calendar, and mark recurring, Declined and Canceled events. Reminders show the due date and list; overdue ones are red (with Differentiate Without Color they also say Overdue), completed ones are checked and struck through.
Dates and times appear in Orbit's language with your region's formats, for example "Mon, Oct 5 · 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM" or, for all-day events, "Sun, Oct 4 to Thu, Oct 8 · all day".
A click on an event, or Return on the selected row, shows it in Calendar; a reminder shows in Reminders. If the app does not open, a note under the input says so. Cards saved by older versions open just the app.
After the assistant creates an event or reminder, its card says Saved in Calendar or Saved in Reminders and offers Show in Calendar or Show in Reminders.
From the keyboard: ↑/↓ select (folded rows unfold). VoiceOver hears the title, time, place, calendar and state ("Declined", "Canceled", "Repeats"; for reminders the due date, list and "Not completed", "Overdue" or "Completed").

Photo cards¶

A photo grid with favorites (heart), videos with their length, a Live Photo badge, an iCloud-only placeholder and Show 6 More

search_photos shows a grid of thumbnails: three rows, then Show N More for the rest. Favorites have a heart, videos show their length, and Live Photos have a badge.

Thumbnails come from your Photos library at about 200 pixels and never over the network: a photo that is only in iCloud shows the small version on your Mac or a cloud symbol, and no download starts. At most 32 MB of thumbnails stay in memory (PhotoKit prepares at most 120 ahead), and loading stops when a card scrolls out of view.
A click, or Return on the selected tile, shows the photo in Photos. The first time, macOS asks whether Orbit may control Photos (Automation: Photos). If it may not, a note under the input says so and nothing opens. If Photos cannot show that photo, Orbit opens Photos instead and the note says why.
From the keyboard: ←/→ select a tile, ↑/↓ a row (folded rows unfold), Return shows it. Space does nothing on a tile: a Quick Look preview would need a copy of the photo on disk, so there is none.
VoiceOver hears the kind (photo, video, Live Photo, screenshot), the date (with the year when it is not this year), "Favorite" and "Only in iCloud".

Confirmation cards¶

An editable Create event card with Cancel and Create; a decided Change volume card; a Change appearance card that was not run; notices

Every action with consequences waits for you on a confirmation card: creating an event, reminder or note, running a shortcut, changing the appearance or volume, and opening a link that you did not type yourself. Reading, searching, opening a document and drafting an email do not need a card. Which tools ask first is shown in Settings → Tools (see Tools).

What the card shows: a title (such as "Create event") and exactly what will happen. Many values can still be edited on the card before you confirm: an event's title, start, end, location and notes; a reminder's title and due date (No Date, Add Date, With time, which starts at 9:00); a note's title, text and folder; a shortcut's input; the new volume level. Edited values are checked again; if they do not fit (for example an end before the start), nothing runs and the card says Not run.
Link cards (Open link and Start a new email) show the website (an international name together with its xn--… form) or the recipients, and the whole link as it would open. Nothing on them can be edited.
Run or cancel: the run button (Create, Run, Switch, Set, Open) carries out the action; Cancel (⌘.) declines it.
Afterwards the card stays in the chat with its outcome: Completed, Failed, Not run, Canceled, "Stopped, result unknown", or "Not run: the request ended." when the request ended before you decided.

⌘Return on a confirmation card¶

With an empty input, ⌘Return runs the waiting card, as long as you can see all of it.
When the card is out of view (you scrolled up, or it is just appearing), the first ⌘Return scrolls it into view and gives its first editable field the keyboard (Tab moves between the fields), and a note under the input says "The action above is waiting for your confirmation: ⌘↩ runs it, ⌘. cancels it." The next ⌘Return runs it.
If you then click back into the input and the card leaves the view again, ⌘Return brings it back first again. ⌘Return never runs a card you cannot see.
Once the card is decided, the keyboard goes back to the input.
With text in the input, ⌘Return sends the text and never runs the card (a note says to decide about the card first).
Without a card and without text, ⌘Return does nothing here and is left to the system.

Context chips¶

Two chips above the input: “With selection: Offer.pdf” and “With selection: “Delivery by Friday” (Mail)”, each with ×

When you open Orbit with the shortcut or Open Orbit in the menu bar menu, it takes what is selected in the app you came from and shows it as a chip above the input. The chip goes to the model only together with your message.

In Finder: the selected files and folders (at most 20). Only when Finder is in front and Orbit is already allowed to control Finder (Automation: Finder): Orbit reads that status without asking, so opening the panel never brings up a macOS prompt. The chip reads "With selection: Offer.pdf" or "With selection: Offer.pdf and 2 more".
In other apps: the selected text, through Accessibility, only once Orbit is allowed under Accessibility. At most 4,000 characters are read; a longer selection is read only up to there. The chip reads "With selection: “Delivery by Friday…” (Mail)".
Never read: password fields (recognized by their role before any text is read), anything while secure keyboard entry is on, password managers (Passwords, Keychain Access, 1Password, Bitwarden, KeePassXC, LastPass, Dashlane, Enpass, NordPass, Proton Pass, Keeper, RoboForm, MacPass, Strongbox, KeePassium, Secrets and others, recognized by the identifiers their vendors ship), and Orbit itself.
Protected files: Finder items Orbit never shares (keys and other secrets, ~/Library, Orbit's data folder) are left out of the chip and not counted; the chip says how many ("With selection: Notes.md · 1 protected file left out"), and the model hears only their number, never their names. Paths in your home folder reach the model as ~/….

When it happens: the panel appears at once and the chip follows when the capture is done: VoiceOver announces it ("Context added: …"). A capture that takes longer than 0.3 s is dropped, and so is one that finishes after you sent the message or closed the panel. A new opening replaces the chips of the previous one, unless the input still holds text you have not sent together with chips you kept; then both stay and nothing new is captured.

When nothing is captured: while you type, when you launch Orbit again from Finder or Spotlight, while Orbit keeps the panel up for Mail's reply window, when nothing is selected, and when the setting is off. There is no chip for the app alone.

Removing a chip: click its ×, use VoiceOver's Remove action, or press ⌫ in the empty input to remove the last chip, like a token (VoiceOver says which one; held down, ⌫ stops at the empty input).

The setting: Settings → General → Use the selection when opening turns the chips off. The assistant's "Read frontmost app" tool (get_frontmost_context) can still read the frontmost app's window title and selection when a question needs it; switch that tool off in Settings → Tools if you do not want it. See Permissions for Accessibility and Automation: Finder.

Notices¶

When a request fails, the chat ends with one notice that says what happened and what helps, in Orbit's own words, never the provider's or the network's error text. Its buttons:

Try Again (⌘R) sends the same request again without retyping.
Open Settings opens Settings on the tab that fixes the problem (Model for the provider, Permissions for a macOS permission).
Sign In… (Claude subscription) runs Claude Code's sign-in in your browser and then sends the request again by itself; meanwhile the notice shows progress and Cancel.
New Chat (also ⌘N) starts over when the conversation no longer fits the model, with the request that did not fit already in the input, as you typed it, to send again or change. It is not sent by itself, and its context chips stay behind, since what was selected may have changed. After any other chat, a new chat starts with an empty input.

The buttons that send a request again appear only on the latest notice while nothing is running; Open Settings stays on older notices too. VoiceOver reads a notice once when it appears (an error interrupts, other notices wait).

What a card cannot do (a file that is gone, Notes or Photos that Orbit may not control) is shown as a short note under the input for a few seconds instead, and read by VoiceOver. Every notice and what to do about it is listed in Troubleshooting.

Settings¶

Open Settings with Settings… in the menu bar menu or ⌘, while the panel is open. The window is called Orbit Settings and has five tabs: General, Model, Tools, Permissions and Privacy. ⌘1 to ⌘5 switch between them. It opens on the tab you used last (or the one a notice asks for). Opening it hides the panel; closing it returns you to the app you came from.

General¶

Settings, General tab: Keyboard Shortcut, Context with “Use the selection when opening”, Startup with “Open at login”

Keyboard Shortcut → Open Orbit: click the field and press a new key combination. While recording, Esc cancels and ⌫ removes the shortcut; the × button next to the field removes it too (then open Orbit from the menu bar). A shortcut needs at least one of ⌘, ⌥ or ⌃. If one of Orbit's own menu commands already uses it, Orbit refuses it; if macOS uses it, Orbit warns and offers Use Anyway. To use ⌘ Space, first turn off Spotlight's shortcut in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Spotlight → "Show Spotlight search"; Open Keyboard Settings… goes there.
Context → Use the selection when opening (on by default): the context chips. Show Permissions… jumps to the Permissions tab (the chips need Automation: Finder and Accessibility).
Startup → Open at login: see Launch at login.
Language: explains how Orbit chooses its language (see Language).

Model¶

Choose the Provider and set it up. Full instructions for each provider are in Choosing a language model.

Claude subscription (via Claude Code): the account status ("Connected to your Claude subscription (Max)", "Claude Code is not signed in" with Sign In…, or "Claude Code was not found"), which Claude Code Orbit uses (its version, and whether it is the copy from the Claude app or one at a path such as ~/.local/bin/claude) and Check Status; the Usage of your subscription as Claude Code reports it, with a bar and the reset time; the Model (with suggestions Sonnet: balanced (default), Opus: most capable, Haiku: fastest); the Reasoning effort; and under Advanced the Program path of Claude Code (empty: detect automatically).
Anthropic API and OpenAI-compatible: the API key (stored only in your keychain; the field accepts a new key and never shows the stored one; Save, Remove), the Model (with suggestions for the Anthropic API), the Server address (empty uses the provider's default), the Reasoning effort and Test Connection. The address field warns about invalid addresses, about plain http that macOS blocks, and about unencrypted connections to other machines.
Reasoning effort: Automatic (sends no setting), Low (the default), Medium or High: higher is more thorough but slower.

Tools¶

Settings, Tools tab: switches for each tool grouped by category, with risk badges Read and Draft

Every tool has a switch, grouped by category (Files, Mail, Notes, Calendar, Reminders, Contacts, Photos, Apps, System). Orbit does not offer a switched-off tool to the model. Each tool shows its name and a risk badge:

Badge	Meaning
Read	Only reads and runs without asking.
Draft	Opens or drafts something without sending it. Runs without asking.
Asks first	Changes something. Orbit asks first, on a confirmation card.
With warning	Cannot be undone. Orbit asks first and shows a clear warning. (No current tool is at this level.)

A tool that lacks a macOS permission shows "Missing permission: …" in orange; Orbit does not offer it until you allow access in the Permissions tab. All tools are described in Tools.

Permissions¶

Settings, Permissions tab: each permission with its status, purpose and an Allow… or System Settings… button, the Mail Search mode and Refresh Status

Every permission Orbit uses, with its status (Allowed, Not allowed, Not asked yet, Restricted, Unknown, and for calendars and reminders Add Only), why Orbit needs it, a hint for what to do, and one button. Accessibility and Automation: Finder are listed only while the context chips or the "Read frontmost app" tool are on.

Allow… shows macOS's prompt while macOS can still ask (Check… while the status is unknown because Mail or Notes is not running);
System Settings… opens the right page of System Settings → Privacy & Security otherwise.

Mail Search shows how Orbit currently searches mail (Through Spotlight or Through Mail), with Check Again and, after you turned on Full Disk Access, Restart Orbit. Refresh Status reads all permissions again. The tab also reads them again whenever Orbit becomes active, for example when you come back from System Settings. Reading a status never asks. Details for every permission: Permissions.

Privacy¶

Chat History: the Storage location (~/Library/Application Support/Orbit) with Show in Finder, and Delete Chat History…, which asks "Delete the entire chat history?" and then removes all saved chats from this Mac ("Chat history deleted"). This cannot be undone.
Network: where your content goes. With the Claude subscription, Claude Code connects to Anthropic and Orbit itself makes no connection to the internet; with the other providers, Orbit's only connection is to the provider you set up. Orbit sends no telemetry or analytics data, and the chat shows below each answer which content was sent.

Language¶

Orbit's interface is available in English and German. It has no language setting of its own; it follows macOS: the language you chose for Orbit in System Settings, otherwise the first of your preferred languages that Orbit ships, otherwise English. To choose a language just for Orbit, go to System Settings → General → Language & Region → Applications, add Orbit with its language, and then quit and reopen Orbit.

The whole interface follows that language (the panel, menus, Settings, the setup, cards, notices, status rows and what VoiceOver reads), and dates, times, numbers, file sizes, durations and lists use your region's formats: in German "Mo. 5. Okt. · 10:00 bis 11:30", in English with the region Germany "Mon 5. Oct · 10:00 to 11:30", in American English "Mon, Oct 5 · 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM". If none of your preferred languages is English or German (say, only French), Orbit shows English with your region's formats.
The assistant answers in the language of your message, whatever language the interface has. The model is told only your region and clock format, never the interface's language.
Texts already in a chat (status rows, notices, cards) stay in the language they were written in; the note on what was sent always uses the current language.

Older versions of Orbit set German as Orbit's own language on their first launch whenever German was one of your preferred languages. Current versions remove that setting once, so Orbit follows macOS again unless you choose a language for it in System Settings.

Details and how to help translate: Localization.