How ORION Tweaks Works

The short version

ORION is local-first. The desktop app previews tweak intent, queues system-changing jobs, and uses an elevated Worker only for the operations Windows requires. Backup, rollback journal, verification, and revert are part of the safety path, not optional marketing claims.

Worker queue and least privilege

The WPF user interface stays unelevated. Registry, service, power, network, cleanup, scheduled-task, Appx, and similar system-changing operations are compiled into structured worker jobs and sent to the elevated Worker. The Worker accepts defined operation types rather than arbitrary scripts or remote shell commands.

Backup, rollback journal, verification, and revert

• Backup: before a tweak writes, ORION captures the local pre-change value needed to revert that tweak.
• Rollback journal: ORION appends apply/revert results to the local rollback journal so you and support can see what happened and when.
• Verification: after apply, ORION reads the affected state back instead of assuming the write worked.
• Revert: ORION uses the captured backup to restore the original local value rather than guessing a generic Windows default.

Secure delivery and local records

Licensed tweak delivery uses the encrypted account/API channel, then the desktop app decrypts the approved plan locally before the worker applies anything. Tweak backups, raw registry backup data, and the rollback journal are local safety records. They are not Cloud Sync payloads and should be shared with support only when you choose to export or provide diagnostics. Account sign-in, license activation, optional sync, optional benchmark-history submission, support, reviews, and referrals use the API data described in the Privacy Policy.

Payment boundary

Stripe processes checkout and card handling. ORION stores fulfillment records needed to deliver and maintain licenses, such as plan, purchaser email, checkout/subscription identifiers where applicable, generated license key, and device binding. ORION does not store payment card numbers or bank details.

More detail

This public page summarizes the customer-facing safety model. The repository also contains the full technical overview in HOW-IT-WORKS.md, the detailed safety model, the Security Policy, and the data map.