Getting Started with Ora
Prerequisites
- Configure a profile — Open Settings → Ora (the Ora tab).
- The Profile Configuration section manages one or more LLM profiles.
- When you are signed in, a managed Aethrix profile (Managed by your subscription) is added automatically — no API key needed; it uses your license quota.
- To use your own provider, click Add Profile, choose a provider (for example OpenAI, Anthropic, or a custom endpoint), then enter a Base URL and API key. A custom endpoint speaks either the OpenAI-compatible or the Anthropic Messages protocol, so a server running on your own machine — Ollama is the usual example — works exactly like a hosted provider. Nothing about that conversation is metered or billed by Aethrix; the only copy of your prompts is at the endpoint you chose, so that endpoint is where your data goes.
- Save the Settings. The AI session picks up the active profile the next time you open or reset the Ora panel.
The active profile is chosen from the model picker inside the Ora panel, not from Settings. If more than one profile is configured, the picker is a two-level flyout (provider → model).
Quota and Credits
Ora usage through the managed Aethrix profile is measured in credits. Each request draws credits based on the model behind it and the work it does — the gateway prices the tokens the request actually used (input, output and the cached portions) at the rates in effect when it happens; nothing token-based is shown to users. Usage counts against the allowance included with your license — a monthly (or, where configured, lifetime) allowance, with an optional weekly and an optional daily ceiling on top; the shipped defaults set a weekly ceiling and no daily one, and every window resets in UTC. The quota chip in the Ora panel shows where you stand — see Usage & Quota.
A profile that carries your own Base URL and API key talks to your provider directly, spends no Aethrix credits, and is billed by your provider instead.
Budgets are enforced by the gateway: when a window's limit is reached, requests are refused until it resets. The default allowances per license tier (and how administrators can raise them per user, organization or tier) are described in Usage & Quota. The separate AI credit balance shown in My Account and the tutorial reward is a preview figure — gateway metering does not debit it yet.
Opening the AI Panel
Click the Ora button in the navigation pane, or press:
- Keyboard shortcut:
Ctrl+Shift+K(alsoCmd+Shift+Kon macOS)
The panel opens as a sidebar on the right.
Your First Conversation
- Type your request in the input box (watermark: "Ask Ora… (Enter to send, Shift+Enter for new line)", up to 4,000 characters).
- Press Enter to send, or Shift+Enter for a new line.
- Ora processes your request — the Thinking indicator and the active agent badge show what is happening.
- Responses appear as Markdown-formatted messages with a role-colored accent bar.
Example First Prompts
These mirror the sample prompts Ora suggests on its onboarding card, depending on the active view:
| View | Example prompt |
|---|---|
| API Playground | "Generate a GET request for the Petstore /pet/{petId} operation" |
| API Playground | "Add an assertion that the response status is 200 and the body has a 'name' field" |
| Test Automation | "Show me the test structure of the current project" |
| Test Automation | "Run all tests in the current suite and summarise the failures" |
| Service Simulation | "Start a mock server for the current service on port 8080" |
| Home | "Help me import an OpenAPI specification" |
Conversation Controls
| Control | Action |
|---|---|
| Conversations | Open the conversations drawer to browse and resume past conversations |
| New conversation | Start a fresh conversation |
| More options (…) | Copy conversation, Copy (debug), or Export JSON |
| Open in window | Detach Ora to a separate window |
| Close | Collapse the AI panel |
Tool Confirmation
By default, Ora asks for confirmation before executing actions in Aethrix Studio (modifying requests, creating tests, etc.). A card appears with:
- Approve — execute the action
- Deny — reject the action
- Always allow this — auto-approve this specific tool for the rest of the conversation
- Allow all in session — auto-approve all tools (disables confirmation for this session)
The "Always allow this" / "Allow all in session" shortcuts are hidden for destructive (Dangerous) tools — those actions must always be approved individually.
Some confirmation cards use custom button labels. For example, when a specialist task reaches its iteration budget, the card shows Continue (resume with a fresh budget) and Pause (stop the loop) instead of Approve/Deny, and the allow-list shortcuts are hidden because there is no tool to remember.
You can disable confirmation entirely in Settings → Ora → Behavior → Require Tool Confirmation (toggle to Auto-execute).