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How OpsPilot works

This page traces one complete turn — your question, the model's answer, the command that runs — then sets out which of the two AI modes you are using and where each kind of data is held. Architecture covers the process separation and trust boundaries underneath it.

The loop

  1. Connect. OpsPilot opens an SSH, Telnet, RSH, Mosh, RDP, VNC, FTP, S3, serial or local session. Credentials come from the encrypted connection store.
  2. Ask. Type a question in the AI panel, or use one of the quick actions — Analyze Error, Explain Command, Review Config, Optimize.
  3. OpsPilot gathers context. Recent scrollback for that session is collected. Only that session's own buffer is used.
  4. OpsPilot redacts. The text passes through the single redaction step, using the Data Handling profile resolved for that connection — connection, then group, then Default.
  5. The provider answers. Only redacted text is sent. The reply is an explanation plus, usually, one proposed next command carrying the model's own assessment of it as safe or dangerous.
  6. OpsPilot classifies. Your Command Safety profile is applied on top of that self-assessment. A pattern match can raise the tier; nothing can lower it.
  7. Approve. Read-only may auto-run if you have switched that on. Low risk needs a click. High risk needs a typed reason and then a click.
  8. The command runs. Its output is redacted as well, before it feeds into the next turn, so a multi-step investigation continues without you re-asking after every command.

Step 7 is the only way a proposal becomes a real keystroke on a real shell. That holds for every AI path into OpsPilot, including an external assistant.

The two AI modes

OpsPilot can either call a model you hold a key or sign-in for, or expose itself to a chat application you already pay for. The two differ in cost, in whether they can run offline, and in which application drives them. The safety behaviour is identical.

AI Providers AI Assistants
What it is You supply an API key or sign-in You connect an app you already pay for
Who drives OpsPilot's own AI panel Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, VS Code Copilot Chat
Cost model Pay per request, or free with a local model Covered by your existing subscription
Offline capable Yes, with Ollama or self-hosted No — those apps are cloud services
Approval gate Yes Yes, identical
Redaction Yes Yes, same profiles

Use AI Providers when you want the AI inside OpsPilot, or when you need a fully offline deployment. Use AI Assistants when you would rather work in a chat application you already have open, or drive the estate from your phone. Running both at once is supported.

Where things live

Data Where Notes
SSH passwords and private keys Connection store Encrypted via the OS credential store
OpenAI tunnel runtime key Its own file Encrypted via the OS credential store, decrypted only into the tunnel process
Connections, groups, environments Application settings Local to this machine
Redaction and safety profiles Application settings Local to this machine
Terminal scrollback Memory only Written out only by the explicit Save terminal output or Print terminal output actions

Everything in that table stays on your workstation. OpsPilot has no cloud backend, no account system and no sync service, so none of it is transmitted anywhere.

See also