Changes and review
Read every change an agent makes beside the conversation, then commit, push, or open a pull request.
The Changes panel
The Changes panel sits beside a thread and shows what has changed in the thread's folder. Open it in any of these ways:
- Press ⌘J, or click Show panel in the thread's header, then pick the Changes tab. New tab (+) opens it when no tab shows it.
- Click the line counts in the Commit chip over the composer. It appears when the folder has uncommitted changes.
- Click Review on a turn's change card.
What the panel compares depends on where the thread works:
| Thread works in | The panel shows |
|---|---|
| A worktree | Everything since the worktree started, commits included (All branch changes), or only what isn't committed yet (Uncommitted changes). Show uncommitted and Show branch changes switch between them. |
| Your checkout | Every uncommitted change in the checkout, whoever made it. |
The header counts the changed files and lines. When several files changed, a list above the diff marks each one A (added), U (new, not yet tracked), M (modified), D (deleted) or R (renamed), and the diff folds each file to a header row; click a header to open it. An untracked file over 1 MB shows as a one-line placeholder instead of its contents. The diff reads unified in a narrow panel and side by side once the panel is wide enough. Expand panel widens it, and Esc or Collapse panel docks it again. The panel sits on the right of the conversation. Move panel left in the thread's header docks it on the left, and Move panel right in the panel's own header moves it back. Diffs follow the Word wrap choice in the Files tab.
The panel updates as the agent edits, when you come back to the OpenOrc window, and after a command you run in the terminal. Refresh reloads it at once.
Review one turn
When a turn edits files, a card appears under the agent's reply: Changed 3 files, with the lines added and removed. Its chevron lists the files.
- Review opens that turn's changes in the Changes panel, as they were saved when the turn ended, so later edits don't mix in. All changes returns to the full view.
- Click a file name to see only that file's changes from the turn.
- Undo puts the files back as they were before the turn. It asks for a second click to confirm. See Following the work.
Comment on lines
Leave comments on the diff for the agent to address, the way you would on a pull request.
- Click a line number. To comment on several lines, drag or shift-click across line numbers in the same hunk.
- Write what should change and choose Add comment, or press ⌘↵.
- Add as many comments as you need. Each shows on the diff, marked not sent yet, and in a list under it.
- Choose Send 2 to the conversation (the number counts your unsent comments).
OpenOrc sends them as one message that quotes each comment's lines and asks the agent to address every comment, or to say why one is wrong. If the agent is busy, the message waits in the queue; removing it from the queue returns the comments to the review. A comment whose lines change later is marked Outdated.
Commit
- Choose Commit in the Changes panel, or in the chip over the composer.
- Write the message. OpenOrc doesn't write commit messages for you, so the field starts empty.
- Choose Commit.
OpenOrc stages every change in the thread's folder and commits it, and your Git hooks run as they would for your own commit. The panel then shows Committed with the commit's short hash.
Push and open a pull request
The panel's Commits tab lists the thread's commits on one line, newest first, with each commit's subject, short hash, author, and age. A hollow dot marks a commit that origin doesn't have yet, and a filled dot one that it has. The list also picks up commits and pushes you make in a terminal.
- Choose Publish branch the first time, and Push 2 commits (or however many) after that. OpenOrc never force-pushes. If origin has newer commits, it asks you to pull them in first.
- Once the branch is on origin with every commit, PR appears. Choose it.
- In Open a pull request, pick the Target branch, check the Title and Body, and choose Open PR.
The title starts as your newest commit's subject, and the body as the repository's pull request template when it has one. The target starts as the branch the thread started from, or else the project's default branch. Afterwards, the thread's header shows the pull request's state, open, merged or closed. While it is open, OpenOrc checks it again about every five minutes.
Changes in a task
A task's Changes tab shows the Changes panel of the task's thread beside the task, and Commits shows that thread's commits. Line comments you write from a task are labeled with it, and sending them moves the task back to In progress.
What each action needs
| Action | Needs |
|---|---|
| Changes panel, change cards, Undo | A project folder that is a Git repository. See Projects without Git. |
| Commit | Uncommitted changes, a Git user name and email, and hooks that pass. |
| Publish branch, Push | A remote named origin, a branch to push, and Git credentials that work without a prompt, such as an SSH key or a credential helper. |
| PR | The GitHub CLI, gh, installed and signed in with gh auth login, and a branch other than the default branch, pushed with every commit. Without gh, a worktree thread on a GitHub remote gets a PR button that opens GitHub's compare page in your browser instead. |
Next steps
Checked against OpenOrc's source on November 9, 2026.