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The Code Interpreter action lets your Agents write and run Python code to complete tasks such as calculations, data analysis, and chart generation. The code runs in the open-source python-sandbox service, not in the Onyx API server.

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Capabilities

  • Calculations: Run large or complex mathematical operations with exact results
  • Data analysis: Analyze files the user attaches to the chat (for example, CSVs and spreadsheets)
  • File generation: Create files such as reports, modified datasets, or exports. Users download them from the chat.
  • Visualizations: Generate charts and graphs that render directly in the Chat UI
The LLM decides when to run code based on the user’s request. Users do not need to invoke it explicitly. Each code run is independent. Variables from one run are not available in the next run unless the model writes them to a file.

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Availability

Code Interpreter is available on all editions. Onyx Cloud has it ready to use. Self-hosted deployments run the code in a separate code-interpreter container that ships with the standard Docker Compose and Helm deployments, including the Onyx Lite overlays. The Onyx API server never runs the code itself. To use a Code Interpreter service you run yourself, point CODE_INTERPRETER_BASE_URL at it.

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Connect or disconnect the Code Interpreter

Open Admin Panel → Code Interpreter. The card shows the connection status of the Code Interpreter service. The status refreshes every 30 seconds. Code Interpreter page in the Onyx Admin Panel Click Disconnect to turn Code Interpreter off for the whole deployment. Onyx removes the action from every chat without changing any Agent configuration. Running sessions stop. No data is removed from the runtime.

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Enable Code Interpreter for Agents

  • Default Chat: Go to Admin Panel > Chat Preferences > Actions & Tools and turn on Code Interpreter.
  • Custom Agents: In the Agent editor, open Actions and turn on Code Interpreter.
If the Code Interpreter service is disconnected or unhealthy, the action does not appear in chat, even when an Agent has it turned on.

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Configuration

The following environment variables control the self-hosted Code Interpreter. All of them are optional. The Coding Agent action runs in the same Code Interpreter service.