CLI reference

The orion command starts Orion locally, manages Jupyter, and maintains cached data under your Orion home directory.

Install via Install Orion (orion-notebook on npm and PyPI).

Orion home directory

Default location:

• macOS / Linux: ~/.orion
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.orion

Override with environment variable ORION_HOME_DIR.

Common paths inside:

Path	Purpose
runtime/venv	Managed Python + Jupyter + orion-ui
runtime/jupyter-connection.json	Auto-connect handoff from CLI
app/<version>	Downloaded app bundle (pip installs)
orion.db	Local chat history
settings.json	User settings (no API keys)

Main command

orion [options]

Starts the Orion app, starts Jupyter (unless --app-only), opens the browser, and connects automatically.

Options

Option	Description
-y, --yes	Approve managed setup prompts (venv, downloads) without asking
--no-browser	Start services without opening a browser
--here	Use current directory as Jupyter root instead of home
--app-only	Start Orion only; connect to existing Jupyter in the UI
--pick-python	Show Python selection menu (npm CLI only)
-V, --version	Print CLI version and exit

Environment variables

Variable	Purpose
ORION_HOME_DIR	Override Orion data directory
ORION_PORT	Port for local Orion app server
ORION_NO_BROWSER	Same as --no-browser when set
ORION_APP_BUNDLE_URL	Custom app bundle URL (advanced)
ORION_VERSION	Pin version for install script

orion config

npm CLI only. Manage CLI runtime preferences under ~/.orion/runtime.

orion config show
orion config python show
orion config python pick
orion config python reset

Use python pick when Orion should use a specific Python installation for Jupyter instead of the managed venv.

The pip launcher does not include config or --pick-python; it falls back to managed Jupyter when system Jupyter is incompatible.

orion uninstall

Remove cached Orion data before uninstalling the package:

orion uninstall --yes
orion uninstall --all --yes

Flag	Effect
(default)	Remove app bundle cache for current version
--all	Remove entire ~/.orion directory (venv, portable Node, all caches)
-y, --yes	Skip confirmation prompts

Then remove the package:

npm uninstall -g orion-notebook
# or
pip uninstall orion-notebook

npm vs pip

Feature	npm	pip
Ships full app bundle	Yes	Downloads on first run
orion config	Yes	No
--pick-python	Yes	No
Managed Jupyter + orion-ui sync	Yes	Yes

Related

• Install Orion
• Connect to an external Jupyter server
• Kernel and Python selection

---

Last updated May 2026.