On install, downloads the matching prebuilt orbit binary from GitHub Releases, authenticates the signed orbit-checksums.txt with the package-pinned release trust set, verifies the archive SHA-256, and exposes it as the orbit command.

Usage

# Install globally
npm install -g @orbit-tools/cli
orbit --version
orbit init  # on Linux, also prepares and verifies Bubblewrap for this user

# One-shot via npx
npx -y @orbit-tools/cli mcp serve

All arguments are forwarded to the native orbit binary. The npm install lifecycle never requests administrator privileges. On Linux, orbit init is the explicit onboarding step that prepares the host when needed; a denied or unsupported host receives a precise readiness error.

Supported platforms

macOS arm64 / x64
Linux arm64 / x64

Windows is not currently published. Use WSL or build from source.

Environment variables

Variable	Effect
`ORBIT_BINARY`	Path to a local `orbit` binary; bypasses download and trusts that path as the binary source.
`ORBIT_RELEASE_PUBLIC_KEY_FILE`	Deprecated in favor of `ORBIT_RELEASE_TRUSTED_KEYS_FILE`. Single-key override for the trusted checksum-signing public key; requires `ORBIT_RELEASE_PUBLIC_KEY_FILE_ACKNOWLEDGE_TRUST_CHANGE=1`, logs a deprecation notice when active.
`ORBIT_RELEASE_PUBLIC_KEY_FILE_ACKNOWLEDGE_TRUST_CHANGE=1`	Required acknowledgement that `ORBIT_RELEASE_PUBLIC_KEY_FILE` replaces the release authenticity trust root.
`ORBIT_RELEASE_TRUSTED_KEYS_FILE`	Preferred test/operations override for the full trusted signing-key set, including key IDs, `not_after`, and `revoked_at`; requires `ORBIT_RELEASE_TRUSTED_KEYS_FILE_ACKNOWLEDGE_TRUST_CHANGE=1` and logs when active.
`ORBIT_RELEASE_TRUSTED_KEYS_FILE_ACKNOWLEDGE_TRUST_CHANGE=1`	Required acknowledgement that `ORBIT_RELEASE_TRUSTED_KEYS_FILE` replaces the release authenticity trust root.
`ORBIT_SKIP_DOWNLOAD=1`	Skip postinstall download (lazy install on first run still works).