Orb backend: self-hosted AI that proactively messages your phone

Orb positions itself as a direct counterpoint to cloud-hosted AI assistants by moving the intelligence and data retention entirely onto user-controlled hardware. The architecture separates concerns cleanly: the iOS app is closed-source and serves as the user interface, while the backend (where the actual work happens—voice transcription via Whisper, decision-making, tool invocation, and proactive scheduling) is fully open-source and auditable. This split allows users to trust the backend without exposing the app's code, and to customize or replace the app entirely by building their own client against the documented HTTP and WebSocket API.

The design stances—local-first data, bring-your-own credentials, structural safety (approval gates rather than discouraged practices), and treating silence as a feature—reflect a philosophy that opposes both the notification-spam defaults of many assistants and the data-collection practices of cloud platforms. By requiring users to supply their own API credentials (Claude Code CLI token, Apple APNs key, Gmail password), Orb ensures no central service holds the keys to the user's integrations. The approval-gated proposal system and comprehensive logging address a key concern in autonomous AI: that the system should never act on the world without explicit human consent, and every action should be observable.