Getting Started

Install OrchaJS in an existing Node.js app or create a new project with create-orcha.

Prerequisites

Requires Node.js 20.12 or newer and an API key for the model provider of your choice.

npm install orchajs
npx orcha init

Running orcha init in the current directory:

Creates orcha/exampleAgent/index.json
Creates orcha/exampleAgent/instructions.md
Creates orcha/index.ts with Anthropic configured and exampleAgent registered
Creates root-level AGENTS.md with the complete Orcha development guide
Adds .orcha/ to .gitignore

Existing files are skipped, not overwritten.

Give your coding agent the complete Orcha development guide:

npx skills add Amarsia/orcha

npx create-orcha@latest my-app-name
cd my-app-name
npm install
cp .env.example .env

The starter includes example agents and scripts for the local development playground, tests, and production compilation.

Create a root-level .env file and add the credentials for the provider configured in orcha/index.ts.

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-anthropic-key

OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-key

DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=your-deepseek-key

GOOGLE_API_KEY=your-google-ai-key

The provider name in agent configuration is googlegenai.

GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=your-project-id
GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION=us-central1
GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/absolute/path/to/service-account.json

Vertex AI can also use Application Default Credentials without GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS.

AWS_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key-id
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-access-key
AWS_SESSION_TOKEN=your-session-token

Bedrock uses the normal AWS credential chain when explicit credentials are omitted.