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Sandbox quickstart

RAGFlow's CodeExec agent component needs a sandbox provider to run Python and JavaScript code.

The simplest setup flow is:

  1. Start the required sandbox services.
  2. Open the RAGFlow admin page.
  3. Go to Admin > Sandbox Settings.
  4. Choose a provider and save the configuration.
  5. Test the connection in the same page.

Admin page

Configure sandbox providers from the admin page:

  • self_managed: Uses the executor manager service.
  • local: Runs code on the current machine.
  • ssh: Runs code on a remote machine over SSH.
  • aliyun_codeinterpreter and e2b: Cloud providers.
admin-sandbox-settings

Provider options

RAGFlow supports multiple sandbox providers. Configure the active provider in Admin > Sandbox Settings after the services are up.

  • self_managed: Runs code inside Docker-managed sandbox containers. This is the default provider.
  • local: Runs code as local Python or Node.js subprocesses. Use this only in trusted development environments.
  • ssh: Runs code on a remote machine over SSH.
  • aliyun_codeinterpreter and e2b: Cloud-hosted providers that remain available in the admin provider list.

Prerequisites

  • Linux distribution compatible with gVisor.
  • gVisor installed and configured.
  • Docker version 25.0 or higher (API 1.44+). Ensure your executor manager image ships with Docker CLI 29.1.0 or higher to stay compatible with the latest Docker daemons.
  • Docker Compose version 2.26.1 or higher (similar to RAGFlow requirements).
  • uv package and project manager installed.
  • (Optional) GNU Make for simplified command-line management.
NOTE

The error message client version 1.43 is too old. Minimum supported API version is 1.44 indicates that your executor manager image's built-in Docker CLI version is lower than 29.1.0 required by the Docker daemon in use.

Build Docker base images

The sandbox uses isolated base images for secure containerized execution environments.

Option 1: Build from source

Build the runtime base images:

docker build -t sandbox-base-python:latest ./sandbox_base_image/python
docker build -t sandbox-base-nodejs:latest ./sandbox_base_image/nodejs

Alternatively, build all base images at once using the Makefile:

make build

Build the executor manager image:

docker build -t sandbox-executor-manager:latest ./executor_manager

Option 2: Pull base images from Docker Hub

If you do not need to customize runtime dependencies, pull the published base images and tag them with the names used by standalone Docker Compose:

docker pull infiniflow/sandbox-base-python:latest
docker pull infiniflow/sandbox-base-nodejs:latest

docker tag infiniflow/sandbox-base-python:latest sandbox-base-python:latest
docker tag infiniflow/sandbox-base-nodejs:latest sandbox-base-nodejs:latest

Then restart the standalone sandbox services:

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml down
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d

Running with RAGFlow

  1. Verify that gVisor is properly installed and operational.

  2. Configure the .env file located at docker/.env:

  • Set SANDBOX_ENABLED=1.
  • Include sandbox in COMPOSE_PROFILES if you want the default self_managed executor-manager service.
  • Keep the self-managed deployment defaults in .env if you need to change the sandbox-executor-manager image, pool size, base images, seccomp, memory, or timeout.

  1. Add the following entry to your /etc/hosts file to resolve the executor manager service:

    127.0.0.1 es01 infinity mysql minio redis sandbox-executor-manager

  2. Start the RAGFlow service as usual.

  3. Open Admin > Sandbox Settings.

  4. Select a provider.

  5. Fill in the required fields.

  6. Click Save.

  7. Click Test Connection if needed.

Environment variables

The variables in docker/.env are grouped by scope.

System-level variables

These variables apply to sandbox support in general:

  • SANDBOX_ENABLED: Enables sandbox support in RAGFlow.
  • COMPOSE_PROFILES: Include sandbox to start the default self-managed executor-manager service.
  • SANDBOX_ARTIFACT_BUCKET: MinIO bucket used for files generated by sandbox code.
  • SANDBOX_ARTIFACT_EXPIRE_DAYS: Number of days before sandbox artifacts expire.

Self-managed deployment defaults

These variables are shown in Admin as deployment defaults for self_managed. Changing them requires restarting sandbox-executor-manager.

  • SANDBOX_EXECUTOR_MANAGER_IMAGE: Docker image for the executor manager service.
  • SANDBOX_EXECUTOR_MANAGER_POOL_SIZE: Number of Python and Node.js sandbox containers kept in the pool.
  • SANDBOX_BASE_PYTHON_IMAGE: Python runtime image used by executor-managed containers.
  • SANDBOX_BASE_NODEJS_IMAGE: Node.js runtime image used by executor-managed containers.
  • SANDBOX_EXECUTOR_MANAGER_PORT: Host port exposed by the executor manager.
  • SANDBOX_ENABLE_SECCOMP: Enables the optional seccomp profile for sandbox containers.
  • SANDBOX_MAX_MEMORY: Memory limit for each sandbox runtime container.
  • SANDBOX_TIMEOUT: Default execution timeout.

Admin-managed runtime settings

Provider selection and runtime settings are configured in Admin > Sandbox Settings.

Examples:

  • Choose the active provider
  • Configure self_managed runtime settings
  • Configure all local settings
  • Configure all ssh settings

For self_managed:

  • Runtime settings are editable in Admin
  • Deployment defaults come from .env and are shown as read-only values

Running standalone

Manual setup

  1. Initialize the environment variables:

    cp .env.example .env

  2. Launch the sandbox services with Docker Compose:

    docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up

  3. Test the sandbox setup:

    source .venv/bin/activate
    export PYTHONPATH=$(pwd)
    uv pip install -r executor_manager/requirements.txt
    uv run tests/sandbox_security_tests_full.py

Using Makefile

Run all setup, build, launch, and tests with a single command:

make

Monitoring

To follow logs of the executor manager container:

docker logs -f sandbox-executor-manager

Or use the Makefile shortcut:

make logs