Execution Sandbox

The "Execution Sandbox" ability allows Alan to run commands in an isolated environment, the sandbox. Alan writes the commands independently, runs them, and uses the results for the answer. This feature is only available if this function has been enabled for your organization. Please contact the Alan sales team for this.

In the sandbox, Alan works with your data directly. Alan analyzes tables, searches files completely, and creates new files that you can then download. The results are produced by actually running the commands and not by the language model alone.

The sandbox only contains the files that are made available to the respective chat and the files Alan has created there. The sandbox has no access to your other data in Alan.

Tools of the Ability

The ability contains two tools:

• Run command: Runs a command in the sandbox that Alan has written independently.
• Provide download link: Provides a file selected by Alan from the sandbox as a download in the chat history.

For more extensive tasks, Alan calls these tools repeatedly, checks the intermediate result after each step, and adjusts the approach if needed.

What Is Available in the Sandbox

Commands and Programs

In the sandbox, Alan can use a bash environment with the common Unix tools, among them:

• text tools such as cat, grep, sed, awk, find, sort, and uniq
• file and system tools such as ls, cp, mv, rm, mkdir, tar, zip, and unzip
• tools for comparing and changing files such as diff and patch

Python

Python is also available, with a predefined selection of packages. It covers the most common tasks around data and documents:

• numpy and pandas for calculations and tabular data
• openpyxl and xlsxwriter for Excel files
• python-pptx for PowerPoint presentations
• pdfminer for extracting text from PDF files
• mammoth and lxml for Word and XML files
• PIL for processing images
• requests for HTTP requests

You can ask Alan at any time which packages are installed in which version. Alan reads this information directly in the sandbox.

Files and Storage

The sandbox has a writable storage area in which Alan stores intermediate results and generated files. Files that Alan creates in a chat are kept there and can be reused in the same chat at a later point in time.

In addition, Alan mounts files as read-only:

• files from the knowledge bases selected in the chat, both as extracted text and as the original file
• files you have copied into the chat via Chatting with Files

Alan can read, copy, and analyze these files, but cannot change them. Your knowledge bases and the files you provide remain unchanged.

Note

In the sandbox, Alan reads files from knowledge bases in full, whereas searching knowledge bases only returns the most relevant excerpts. This helps when you need every occurrence and not just the best matches.

Downloading Results

Alan can provide a file created in the sandbox for download in the chat history. Ask Alan for it if the file is not offered automatically.

Like all files created by Alan, the file is available only to you and is not shared in chat snapshots.

Approving Commands

Your approval may be required before Alan runs a command. Whether and when this is the case depends on the usage approvals.

When your approval is requested, the chat history shows:

• a short summary in which Alan describes in understandable terms what the command does
• the command itself
• labels such as "Modifies file system", "Accesses internet", or "Potentially dangerous"

Check the summary before you approve. Both the summary and the labels come from Alan. If you are unsure, review the command in detail or ask Alan what the command is meant to achieve.

One Sandbox per Chat

Every chat has exactly one sandbox assigned to it. Other chats cannot access it, not even your own. To continue working with existing results, continue the chat in which they were created.

This results in the following particularities:

• Sharing: A chat snapshot shares the chat history, not the sandbox. Colleagues who continue the snapshot start with an empty sandbox. To pass on a file, download it and share it the usual way.
• Deleting: If you delete a chat, its sandbox is deleted along with all files it contains.
• Automatic cleanup: Sandboxes that are not used for several weeks are deleted automatically. The chat itself is kept, the files in the associated sandbox are not.

Note

Treat the sandbox as a working environment and not as permanent storage. Download results that you need in the long run.

Limits of the Sandbox

• A single command has a limited maximum runtime of currently about one minute. Alan therefore splits extensive tasks into several commands.
• Memory and storage of the sandbox are limited. Very large files can therefore cause a command to be aborted.
• Alan cannot install additional programs or Python packages in the sandbox. Only the preinstalled functionality is available.
• Commands can access the public internet, for example to fetch a file. Such commands are labeled with "Accesses internet". Internal networks and other Alan services cannot be reached from the sandbox.

Use Cases

Analyzing Tables

Alan reads CSV and Excel files, calculates with the values they contain, and explains the result. The results are based on precise calculations and not on estimates by the language model.

• "Analyze the attached sales list, sum up the revenue per region, and name the three strongest months."
• "Check the table for duplicates and for rows with missing values and show me an overview."

Creating and Converting Files

From an analysis, Alan creates a file in the format you want and provides it for download.

• "Summarize the analysis in an Excel file with one sheet per region and give me the file for download."
• "Create a PowerPoint presentation from the results with one slide per key figure."

Searching Large Files

With extensive or long documents, Alan searches the files completely using tools such as grep and therefore finds every occurrence.

• "Search all files of the knowledge base for contract number 4711 and list every occurrence with its file name."
• "In which documents does the term notice period appear? Count the hits per document."

Comparing Documents

Alan compares two versions of a file line by line and compiles the differences.

• "Compare the two attached contract versions and list all differences in content."
• "Which lines were added or removed between the price list from January and the one from July?"

Preparing Text From Documents

Alan extracts text from PDF and Word files and converts it into the format you need.

• "Extract the table on page 12 of the attached PDF and give it to me as a CSV file."
• "Turn the invoices from the knowledge base into an overview with date, amount, and recipient."

Multi-Step Tasks

Because the sandbox storage is kept for the chat, you can work through extensive tasks step by step across several messages.

• "Store the cleaned data in the sandbox, we will continue working with it in a moment."
• "Take the file from the previous step and add a column with the share of total revenue."