AI employees

Understanding AI employees

An AI employee works independently toward a goal you assign. It does not follow a fixed sequence like a package. Each shift, it reads its goal and past memory, then chooses the work most needed now. It also finds new places and methods suited to the goal, beyond the ones you suggest.

You and the employee have different responsibilities.

What to prepare before starting

• Working AI — Install and sign in to Claude Code, Codex (ChatGPT), NVIDIA, or Antigravity. See AI setup and accounts.
• Sign in to the orke browser — Employees use the same browser profile as orke web windows. If you sign in to an account such as Google or GitHub in an orke web window, employees use buttons such as “Continue with Google” to sign up and sign in to the sites they need. For password-based sites, sign in beforehand in an orke web window so the employee can work with that signed-in state.
• Keep orke running — Employees work only while orke is running. You can close the window and leave it in the tray. When the PC is off, work pauses too.

Example: create your first AI employee

Create a “research employee” that collects and organizes daily news about open-source projects you follow.

This example illustrates the workflow. Actual content depends on the employee’s goal and shifts.

Example 2: a promotion employee and requests

An employee that publishes posts and comments works differently. Under “What should it take on?”, enter something like “Find ways to spread the word about our service and promote it consistently.” Clearly define things not to do in the meeting. The goal document below includes a number and deadline because the person said “500 newsletter subscribers by January 10, 2027” during the meeting. If you do not specify them, the goal is set without a number or deadline.

---
due: 2027-01-10
metric: Newsletter subscribers = 500
---
## Goal
Introduce our service to developer communities and increase newsletter subscribers.

## Things not to do
- Do not pose as an ordinary user. Disclose that the account belongs to the service’s creator.
- Do not copy and paste the same post to multiple places.

## Facts to know
- The introduction page URL and three main features

## Metrics
Check subscriber counts in the newsletter management dashboard.

• Places and methods — The employee looks beyond the places you suggest and independently finds more communities and methods suited to the goal. It decides where and how often to post.
• Sign-up and sign-in — If posting to community A requires an account, the employee uses the Google account signed in to the orke browser and presses “Continue with Google” to sign up and sign in. If sign-up needs SMS verification, it leaves a request saying “Signing up for community A requires SMS verification” and works elsewhere first. When you complete verification and press “Done,” it posts there in its next shift. Press “Won’t do” if you do not want to use that community; the employee finds another place.
• Checking metrics — When the employee checks the subscriber count, the metric card in the “Goal” tab shows “Current value / 500.”

Meetings and the goal document

In the first meeting, the AI reads the assignment and checks public facts, such as your homepage, if needed. It fills out the entire goal document first, then asks just once: “Shall we start with this? Let me know if anything needs changing.” It does not ask for numbers and deadlines one by one; it includes them only if you specify them. It does not include metrics the employee cannot verify itself. If the assignment is broad, it keeps that breadth instead of narrowing it to particular places or channels. The goal document does not prescribe where, what, or how often to work. The employee decides how to get there during its shifts.

Only you can open meetings. Use “Open meeting” on the employee screen to reopen one at any time. You then choose the AI for the meeting. The employee’s working AI is selected initially. Choosing another meeting AI does not change the AI doing the work. If a previous meeting with the same AI exists, that conversation continues. In a reopened meeting, the AI briefly shows the current goal and asks only “What would you like to change?” It changes only what you mention and does not ask about everything else again. No new shifts start during a meeting, but a shift already running continues to the end. Pressing “Confirm goal” applies the new goal from the next shift.

Work settings

Press the settings chip at the top of the employee screen, such as “Claude · Opus · High · Every 2 hours · 24 hours,” to expand Work settings. You can change them while a shift runs; changes apply from the next shift.

You do not set a daily count for posts, comments, or messages. There is no count limit. Put the rules the employee must follow in “Things not to do” in the goal document.

How a shift works

A shift is an AI run without an interactive screen. On each shift, the employee does the following.

1. Reads the goal document, memory files, your instructions, and previous requests and their outcomes. It rereads instructions every shift until you change them, rather than following them for just one shift.
2. Chooses the most useful work now and updates its plan. It also looks for new places and methods suited to the goal beyond those you suggested.
3. Works in the orke browser. It signs up and signs in itself. When only a person can complete a step, it leaves a request and works on something else.
4. Immediately records published posts, comments, and messages, and replies to new instructions in one line.
5. Updates status, plan, lessons, and journal files, leaves a few lines about what it did, then finishes.

With Claude or Codex (ChatGPT) as the working AI, a single shift continues in the same conversation. If the AI finishes early but time remains within the shift’s limit (shift-timeout in employee.md, two hours by default) and it actually did work, orke tells it to continue with the next item in its plan. A shift therefore becomes an extended work period instead of a one-minute check. When continuing, orke also passes along instructions and resolved requests received in the meantime. NVIDIA and Antigravity run once per shift.

The work schedule determines the next shift time. If that falls outside work hours, it moves to the next work-hours opening. When shifts repeatedly finish quickly without doing anything, orke rests longer before the next shift (2 minutes → 4 minutes → 8 minutes → 16 minutes → up to 30 minutes). The same applies to a “Nonstop” schedule. During this time, the status shows something like “Nothing to do · Next shift 14:20.” Sending an instruction or handling a request clears the delay so work resumes soon. Failed shifts retry after 5 minutes → 30 minutes → 1 hour → 3 hours → 6 hours.

Sign-up, sign-in, and requests

Employees sign up and sign in to the sites they need themselves. They use buttons such as “Continue with Google” with accounts already signed in to the orke browser (Google, GitHub, etc.). Accounts created this way belong to you. Employees neither enter nor create passwords. If a site requires a password, verification, payment, or CAPTCHA, they leave a request for that site and keep working elsewhere.

• What they request — Only password entry; phone, SMS, email, and identity verification; payment; CAPTCHAs (tests that verify you are human); and tasks that truly require your account or action.
• What they do not request — Materials, information, numbers, permission, or direction. Employees find, create, and decide these themselves.
• One pending request — While a request is pending, the employee continues working without making another request. If all remaining tasks depend on you, it ends the shift and reads your answer in the next shift. It collects additional needs, then combines them into a single request after the pending one is handled.
• Three ways to respond — On PC or phone, choose “Done,” “Won’t do,” or “Give my opinion.” After “Won’t do,” the employee does not repeat that request and finds another way. “Give my opinion” sends your own words; the employee reads them, decides whether the request was completed or declined, and replies in one line.

Each shift, the employee reads past requests and their outcomes together.

Statuses and buttons

The line below the employee’s name shows the reason and today’s recorded counts, such as “Next shift 14:00 · Today: 2 posts · 5 comments.” Types with no recorded actions are omitted.

The “⋯” menu contains Open folder, Rename, and Delete. Stop a running employee before deleting it. Deletion removes its goal, memory, shift history, and ledger.

Inbox — instructions and requests

The Inbox keeps your instructions, employee replies and requests, and resolution records in chronological order. Instructions can be up to 4,000 characters and remain valid until you change them. Every shift, the employee reads recent instructions together with past requests and their outcomes.

Below the input field, a notice shows when the instruction will be read. During a shift, it says “Currently working; will read after the current work finishes.” While resting, it says “Will read at the next shift at 14:00.” To have it read immediately, check “Send and work now” before sending (the notice changes to “Sending starts a shift immediately to read it”). On a phone, press “Send and work now” beside “Send.”

Requests appear in the request bar at the top of the employee screen regardless of the selected tab, with “Done,” “Won’t do,” and “Give my opinion” buttons. “Give my opinion” opens a text field there. If a request includes a page URL, “Open in the orke browser” also appears. Notifications show only “Employee name · Left a request”; read the request text in orke. Handling a request does not wake the employee, so press “Work now” if you want it to continue immediately.

Journal, ledger, and memory

• Journal — Grouped by date, with recent shifts first. Each shift card shows its status (Working, Finished, Failed, Interrupted, or Stopped), the employee’s account of its work, time taken, and published counts (“41 min · 1 post · 3 comments”). URLs in the work description open in an orke web window.
• Ledger — “Actual actions · N entries” in the Journal. orke records browser actions as open, type, click, key, post, goal, step, and close. These are orke’s records rather than the employee’s claims, so you can compare its description with actual actions.
• Goal — Shows the goal statement, deadline, metric cards (current value / target and the shift that checked it), and remaining sections.
• Memory — Status, plan, lessons, and dated journal files. Use “Edit” to change them yourself; changes apply from the next shift. If the employee has changed the same file in the meantime, orke tells you instead of overwriting it.

Employee files are in ~/.orke/employees/<EMPLOYEE>/ (on Windows, %USERPROFILE%\.orke\employees\). Open them directly with “⋯ → Open folder.”

Things to keep in mind

• There are no count limits for posts, comments, or messages. Counts in the Journal and app (“Today: 2 posts · 5 comments”) are recorded by the employee immediately after publishing. Use the ledger to check whether it published anything without recording it.
• No separate usage-limit protection is enforced. A shift that hits an AI usage limit counts as failed and retries after a delay.
• Employees request help rather than entering passwords; completing phone, SMS, email, or identity verification; making payments; or solving CAPTCHAs. They sign up and sign in directly with accounts already signed in to the orke browser. The signed-in state of orke web windows is shared with employees and other agents. Sites an employee signs up for or signs in to also remain signed in within that browser profile.
• Notifications arrive only when you need to act: a request, work blocked by required sign-in, the working AI not being found, or repeated shift failures (the fifth consecutive failure).

Use employees from your phone or the CLI

Phone — Connect to your PC’s orke with the orke app for iPhone or Android to see the “AI employees” group in the menu. Select an employee to use “Done,” “Won’t do,” and “Give my opinion” on request cards; view the Journal and Inbox; send instructions; and use “Start work,” “Stop,” and “Work now.” “Send and work now” is available only when work is enabled. Use the PC for goals, memory, work settings, and meetings. There are no phone notifications, so open the app to check. See Remote and mobile for connection instructions.

CLI — You can also manage employees from a terminal.

orke employee list
orke employee instruct --slug EMPLOYEE_SLUG --text "Include an original source link with every summary" --wake true
orke employee resolve --slug EMPLOYEE_SLUG --id REQUEST_ID

To handle a request as “Won’t do,” add --decline true to resolve. To send an opinion, add --text "MY_OPINION". See AI employee commands for all commands and options.

When problems occur

Common points of confusion