{"slug": "show-hn-orbtile-see-which-ai-coding-agent-needs-you-on-a-logitech-keypad", "title": "Show HN: Orbtile – See which AI coding agent needs you, on a Logitech keypad", "summary": "Orbtile launched on Hacker News' Show HN as a macOS app that turns a Logitech MX Creative Keypad into a live status display for AI coding agents, showing one key per session with state, tool name and latest text. The app supports Claude Code (terminal or desktop), Codex desktop and terminal, ZCode, and Antigravity desktop (live response text from 0.2.10), and requires an Apple silicon Mac running macOS 14.0 or later plus the Logitech MX Creative Keypad; Windows and other keypads are waitlisted. Keypad approvals are optional and off by default, and Orbtile drives the keypad over USB without Logi Options+.", "body_md": "### See work as it happens\n\nOne key per session. Read its state, tool and latest words where supported, without opening every chat.\n\nTurn your Logitech MX Creative Keypad into a live view of your coding agents. See who is working, who is done, and who needs your attention.\n\nInstall it, plug in the keypad, and your agents show up. No account needed during the beta.\n\nNeeds an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14.0 or later and the Logitech MX Creative Keypad. Windows and other keypads: [join the waitlist](#waitlist).\n\nWaiting sessions come first, followed by working sessions and recent finishes. Labels and your agent’s alarm colour show what needs you.\n\nWith Key actions on, tap the hub to open the first waiting session. Hold it to see your sessions on the Mac. Supported agents can also receive keypad approvals and answers when enabled.\n\n| Agent capabilities |  |  | \n|---|---|---|\n| Agent | Live text | Keypad answers | \n|---|---|---|\n| Claude Code (terminal or desktop) | Yes | Approvals + questions | \n| Codex desktop | Yes | Supported approvals + multiple-choice questions | \n| Codex terminal | Yes | Answer on Mac | \n| ZCode | Task state | Approvals; questions on screen | \n| Antigravity desktop (from 0.2.6) | Live response text from 0.2.10 and activity state | Supported local questions; opt-in | \n| Adapters | As declared | As declared | \n| Remote sessions | Display events; bounded completion text | On the host | \n\nKeypad approval is optional and off by default. Both Key actions and the agent’s keypad setting must be on. Typed answers and unsupported questions use Answer on Mac. [See supported actions and limitations](guide.html#using).\n\nThe Logitech MX Creative Keypad is supported today. [Connect your own agent through an adapter](adapters.html), or [vote for another keypad](#keypads).\n\nOpen Orbtile from Applications and take over the keypad from the menu bar. Connect your agents in Settings > Agents. Local hooks use a private socket on your Mac; some agents use local session files. Each integration can be turned off or removed. Logi Options+ stays installed if you have it, but is not required. Read [what gets installed and read](guide.html#installs).\n\nEach session shows its name and state. Waiting sessions come first; supported agents also show the latest text. See [which agents provide live text](guide.html#connect).\n\nLabels and your agent’s alarm colour draw attention to a request. Tap a key to open its session where supported.\n\nTurn on keypad approvals to allow or deny from the keys and to pick answers to multiple-choice questions, for agents that support it. The question stays on screen too. See [what each agent supports](guide.html#using).\n\nThe label tells you the state. Motion and your agent’s alarm colour help you spot requests, so colour is never the only signal.\n\nWaiting for your approval.\n\nWaiting for your answer.\n\nAn API or tool error stopped the turn.\n\nRunning a tool; its name and command appear on the key.\n\nWriting text; supported agents show the latest words.\n\nWorking on the next step.\n\nSummarising a long context.\n\nFinished, and you have not looked yet.\n\nOpen and waiting for a prompt.\n\nThe session ended or stopped reporting.\n\nThese views come from Orbtile’s keypad renderer. See the [guide](guide.html#reading) for the full state legend and motion settings.\n\nNo. Orbtile doesn’t need Options+; it drives the keypad over USB by itself. If Options+ is installed, it stays installed and keeps updating; Orbtile never modifies it. Switch between Orbtile and Options+ at any time from the menu bar, or hold both page buttons on the keypad for 1.5 seconds. When you quit Orbtile, the keypad goes back to Options+.\n\nIt adds optional plugins or hooks for supported agents. Review each integration before enabling it. Session files and task databases are read for display; databases are opened read-only. Turn agents off or remove their integrations in Settings. Remote hooks are installed only on SSH hosts you choose. See the [files, reads and removal steps](guide.html#installs).\n\nThe [supported agents](#agents) can share the keypad, with a colour you choose for each. Keypad approval is optional and off by default for each agent. See the [integration guide](guide.html#connect) for support details, or connect another agent through the [Adapter API](adapters.html).\n\nFor supported agents, pick numbered options, including multiple choices when allowed, then hold Send for 0.6 seconds. The question stays on screen. Enable the agent's keypad interaction and Key actions first. Support varies by agent; typed answers are entered on screen. See the [key map and gestures](guide.html#using).\n\nFrosted glow, Globules and Point cloud. Point cloud draws a lattice of crisp round dots; Globules draws turning spheres of glowing globules, with its loop reset fixed in 0.2. Pick a theme in Settings > Appearance. Tool motion follows the kind of tool.\n\nThe Logitech MX Creative Keypad (its nine LCD keys and the two page buttons). Other devices come when enough owners ask: [vote for yours](#keypads).\n\nOrbtile checks a signed beta status file at orbtile.com and sends a small usage summary at most hourly in 0.2.6 (every two hours in earlier versions) while it runs, only when it changed: counts and minutes (app starts, sessions per agent, AI model names, features used) under a pseudonymous machine ID. The server keeps daily totals and changes by UTC hour of report receipt per pseudonymous Mac. Automatic reports never send prompts, transcripts, file paths or names. Chosen remote hosts send display events over SSH. Local agent events travel over a private Unix-domain socket that only your user account can open, and stay on your Mac. Feedback messages contain what you type and are stored as submitted; please leave out secrets, personal information and private task text. The beta needs no licence key and no account. Signing in is optional and only used for encrypted settings sync and the phone pad. Read the [privacy notice](privacy.html) for details.\n\nThe beta is signed with Orbtile’s own certificate and is not notarised by Apple. First open steps:\n\nOpen Anyway is available for about an hour after the blocked launch; if the button is gone, run `xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Orbtile.app`, which removes the app’s quarantine flag, in Terminal, then open Orbtile again.\n\nFind steps and checksums on the [download page](download.html#gatekeeper).\n\nOrbtile 0.2 is free during the beta. Beta builds stop working when 1.0 ships, with at least 30 days' notice. Orbtile 1.0 is pay what you want from EUR 19 for up to 5 Macs, with a 14-day trial. Read the [pricing details](pricing.html).\n\nNo. The keypad works without one. Sign in with Google or email only if you want encrypted settings sync between your Macs or the phone pad. Orbtile 1.0 will need an account, because it holds your licence.\n\nA Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 Sonoma or later, a Logitech MX Creative Keypad, and a [supported agent](#agents).\n\nExisting sessions can appear from local files. If your agent loads hooks only at launch, restart its sessions after installing or updating the integration. See the [setup guide](guide.html#connect) for your agent.\n\nTwo short lists, email only. We write once, when there is something to try.\n\nOrbtile is free while it is in beta. If it helps you, you can leave a tip. Tips are a thank-you: they do not buy a licence or any perk.\n\nFree during the 0.2 beta. Needs macOS 14 or later and a Logitech MX Creative Keypad.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-orbtile-see-which-ai-coding-agent-needs-you-on-a-logitech-keypad", "canonical_source": "https://orbtile.com/?s=hn", "published_at": "2026-10-06 14:24:16+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-06 14:50:45.272348+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "ai-tools", "developer-tools", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Orbtile", "Logitech MX Creative Keypad", "Claude Code", "Codex", "ZCode", "Antigravity", "Logi Options+", "macOS"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-orbtile-see-which-ai-coding-agent-needs-you-on-a-logitech-keypad", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-orbtile-see-which-ai-coding-agent-needs-you-on-a-logitech-keypad.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-orbtile-see-which-ai-coding-agent-needs-you-on-a-logitech-keypad.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-orbtile-see-which-ai-coding-agent-needs-you-on-a-logitech-keypad.jsonld"}}