Concepts

Orion keeps a graph of what you're working on. The app draws it as a canvas, and the orion CLI and its MCP server read and change the same data.

Cards and notes

A card is a piece of work someone will do. It has a label, a recorded status, and optionally references to outside work such as a pull request or a Jira issue. A gate is a card that's done once everything it waits on is, such as a release or a sign-off.

A note holds context: a decision, a reminder, or a pointer. Notes never count as work, and blocking passes straight through them.

Links

A link from one card to another means the second waits on the first. A related link connects two cards without blocking either.

Status

Each card records one of todo, active, review, blocked, deferred, or done. Orion also derives a status from the graph: a todo card shows as ready once nothing it waits on is open, and as blocked while something is. Record blocked or deferred only for reasons the graph can't show.

Groups

A group holds cards, notes, and other groups, and shows its progress. Group by outcome, not by repository. A group either arranges itself by dependency or keeps cards where you put them.

Sources

A source connects Orion to outside work: GitHub repositories, a Jira project, or local branches through hop. Ingesting a source files new cards in an Unsorted group and updates the ones already on the canvas.

Canvases

A canvas is one board with its own data folder. Commands work on the active canvas unless you pass --canvas <name>.