The side panel next to your chat holds a Browser that you and DataMind Oda share. Oda opens pages there and works on them while you watch, every site needs your approval once, and you can take over at any time. The browser works in the DataMind Oda desktop app and in the VS Code extension.
Oda works with the browser tabs of a chat, one chat at a time:
e1, or as readable text, with headings marked. A very long page is cut at the size limit.Every call appears in the chat as its own card, named after the action, such as Read the page, Click <ref> or Type into <ref>. The full list of tools, their readouts and the limits in detail are in Browser reference: tools, policy and limits.
The Oda browser is only available in the DataMind Oda desktop app and VS Code extension.The first time Oda reads or acts on a site, a Browser dialog asks Allow Oda to read and act on <site>? and explains:
Oda will see the content of
<site>pages in this chat's browser and can click and type there. It never types passwords or payment details.
Your options:
<site> (For every chat in this workspace; revocable later.)Local addresses on this computer, such as localhost, need no approval, and a chat in Full access skips the question; see Workspaces, files and permissions for the access modes.
Your answers are remembered: Allow in this chat lasts until the chat ends or Oda restarts, and Always allow <site> is kept for the workspace folder, so every chat in that workspace reuses it. A chat without a workspace folder keeps an "always" answer only while Oda is open. Deny lasts for the rest of the chat. If the stored answers cannot be read, they grant nothing, and the next answer rewrites them.
Your company's browser rules are checked before every action on a site and before every approval, and they win over anything you grant:
Browser permissions and company rules are set by your DataMind OS administrator; see Manage DataMind Oda for your company.
You can point Oda at the parts of a page that matter: use the crosshair control or press Ctrl+Shift+S. Only the elements you pick travel to Oda, described and pictured, and picking does not approve the site for Oda. The full detail is in Picking page elements.
The page is always yours. Press Stop on the tab bar, or click and type in the page yourself: Oda stops acting on that tab and waits until you hand it back. It then reads the page again before it carries on.
Oda refuses to type into password, payment, bank-account and one-time-code fields in every mode. It recognises these fields by their type, by autocomplete hints, and by words in their labels and attributes in several languages. When a step needs one of them, or a CAPTCHA, complete it yourself in the tab; Oda continues after you confirm.
| What | Limit |
|---|---|
| Address | up to 8192 characters |
| Typed text | up to 10000 characters |
| Scroll amount | 1 to 20 |
| Wait | 10 seconds by default, up to 30 seconds; the text it waits for is up to 500 characters |
| Screenshot | 320 to 4096 pixels wide; 1280 by default |
| One read | cut at the size limit; 40000 characters by default |
Yes. Your company's browser rules can turn browser actions off for Oda entirely, block individual sites, or allow only an approved list. A rule is checked before every action and no answer of yours can override it. When browser actions are off, Oda reports that, and you can still browse the web yourself.
The page moved to another site, for example because it followed a link. Oda does not act on a new site before you answer, so it asks again, then reads the page and carries on.
Oda stops instead of guessing. It tells you that your company's browser rules could not be read, so browser actions are unavailable right now, and it does not act until the rules can be checked again. Try again later, and ask your administrator if it keeps happening.
No. Everything a page shows is treated as data, not instructions: Oda is guided never to follow directions that appear in a page, and never to send your company's data to a site unless you asked for that.
No. Oda's work on a page is reading and acting on it; it does not run scripts, inspect network traffic, or upload and download files through a site.
Yes, for ordinary fields: it clicks and types like a person, and can press Enter to submit. It never touches password, payment, bank-account or one-time-code fields; fill those in yourself, and Oda continues after you confirm.
The tab shows what Oda is doing while you watch, and each step appears in the chat as its own card, such as Read the page or Click <ref>. You can take over the tab at any time; Oda stops acting and waits until you hand it back.
Oda stops using that site for the rest of the chat and does not ask again; you can still open the site yourself. In another chat, Oda asks again when the site comes up.