# The Octave sandbox — needed by `matlab_run`

**Nothing to set up** beyond building the image, which `docker compose up -d --build` does.
This page explains what it is, because the tool is named for MATLAB and does not contain
any.

## What it is

`matlab_run` executes code in **GNU Octave**, in a container with `network_mode: "none"` —
no interfaces, no DNS, no route anywhere. Jobs reach it through a file drop on a shared
tmpfs, not over a socket, so there is nothing listening to reach.

The tool reports three distinct verdicts, and the distinction is the point:

- it ran, and here is the output;
- it is **not valid MATLAB** (the linter caught a construct Octave accepts and MATLAB does
  not, such as `endfor` or `!=`);
- it failed for a reason that is not the code's fault.

The second one exists because the assistant is often asked about MATLAB by people who do
not have it. Silently accepting Octave-only syntax would teach them something untrue.

## Limits

Set in `configs/owuitools.env`:

| Setting | Default | What it bounds |
|---|---|---|
| `OWUITOOLS_OCTAVE_TIMEOUT` | 25 s | one run |
| `OWUITOOLS_OCTAVE_MAX_TIMEOUT` | 60 s | the most a caller may ask for |

## Checking it

```sh
./tests/try-tool.sh matlab_run '{"code": "x = linspace(0,1,5);\ndisp(sum(x))"}'
```

Expect `MATLAB run OK`. Then try `for i=1:2\n printf(\"%d\",i);\nendfor` and expect
`NOT VALID MATLAB`.

## Plots

A figure comes back as a `data:image/png` URI. Open WebUI hands those to the *model* as a
vision input and never shows them to you — so the `inline_tool_images` filter exists to put
the picture in the chat as well. See [../filters.md](../filters.md).