Orca

Container + Wasm orchestrator with AI ops
Fills the gap between Coolify and Kubernetes.

Documentation • Quick Start • Features • Contributing

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Orca is a single-binary orchestrator for teams that have outgrown one server but don't need Kubernetes. It runs containers and WebAssembly modules as first-class workloads, with built-in reverse proxy, auto-TLS, secrets management, health checks, and an AI operations assistant. Deploy with TOML configs that fit on one screen — no YAML empires.

Docker Compose ──> Coolify ──> Orca ──> Kubernetes
   (1 node)        (1 node)   (2-20)     (20-10k)

Quick Start

cargo install mallorca

# Option A: systemd (recommended — handles port binding automatically)
orca install-service
sudo systemctl start orca

# Option B: manual (requires setcap after each install/update)
sudo setcap 'cap_net_bind_service=+ep' $(which orca)
orca server --daemon

Add worker nodes:

# On the worker node:
orca install-service --leader <master-ip>:6880
sudo systemctl start orca-agent

Create a service in services/web/service.toml and deploy:

[[service]]
name = "web"
image = "nginx:alpine"
replicas = 2
port = 80
domain = "example.com"
health = "/"

orca deploy && orca status

What's New in v0.2.2

• WebSocket streaming -- agents connect to the master over a persistent bidirectional WebSocket, replacing HTTP heartbeat polling.
• Agent proxy hot-adds routes + TLS certs on container deploy -- no proxy restart needed.
• Reconcile on reconnect -- after a network partition, agents automatically converge to the desired state.
• Infra webhook -- git push to your orca-infra repo triggers git pull + redeploy. Full GitOps.
• Single-service deploys -- orca deploy <service-name> and orca redeploy <service> for force pull + restart.
• CLI auto-connects -- on agent nodes, all commands work without --api.
• Smart reconciler -- compares unresolved env templates so OAuth token refreshes don't cause unnecessary restarts.
• Webhook persistence -- webhooks survive restarts (~/.orca/webhooks.json).

See CHANGELOG.md for the full history.

Features

Single Binary, Batteries Included

One static executable is the agent, control plane, CLI, and reverse proxy. scp it to a server and you have a production-ready orchestrator with auto-TLS, secrets, health checks, and Prometheus metrics.

Dual Runtime

Run Docker containers and WebAssembly modules side by side. Containers for existing images and databases (~3s cold start). Wasm for edge functions and API handlers (~5ms cold start, ~1-5MB memory).

Multi-Node Clustering

Raft consensus via openraft with embedded redb storage — no etcd. Bin-packing scheduler with GPU awareness. Nodes can span multiple cloud providers via NetBird WireGuard mesh.

Self-Healing

Watchdog restarts crashed containers in ~30s. Health checks with configurable thresholds. Stale route cleanup. Agent reconnection with exponential backoff. Services survive server restarts.

AI Operations

orca ask "why is the API slow?" — diagnoses issues using cluster context. Works with any OpenAI-compatible API (Ollama, LiteLLM, vLLM, OpenAI). Conversational alerts, config generation, and optional auto-remediation.

Developer Experience

TOML config that fits on one screen. TUI dashboard with k9s-style navigation. Git push deploy via webhooks. One-click database creation. RBAC with admin/deployer/viewer roles.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│         CLI / TUI / API             │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────┘
               │
┌──────────────▼──────────────────────┐
│         Control Plane               │
│  Raft consensus (openraft + redb)   │
│  Scheduler (bin-packing + GPU)      │
│  API server (axum)                  │
│  Health checker + AI monitor        │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────┘
               │ WebSocket
    ┌──────────┼──────────┐
    ▼          ▼          ▼
┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐
│ Node 1 │ │ Node 2 │ │ Node 3 │
│ Docker │ │ Docker │ │ Docker │
│ Wasm   │ │ Wasm   │ │ Wasm   │
│ Proxy  │ │ Proxy  │ │ Proxy  │
└────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘

8 Rust crates | ~28k lines | ~120 tests | all files under 250 lines

Documentation

Full documentation at mighty840.github.io/orca:

• Getting Started — install, first cluster, first deploy
• Configuration — cluster.toml and service.toml reference
• CLI Reference — every command with examples
• REST API — full endpoint reference
• Architecture — crate map, runtime trait, design principles

Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup instructions and guidelines.

Key areas where help is wanted:

• ACME/Let's Encrypt automation
• Nixpacks integration for auto-detect builds
• Service templates (WordPress, Supabase, etc.)
• Preview environments (PR-based deploys)

License

AGPL-3.0. See LICENSE.