How the Oda web interface connects

When DataMind Oda serves its interface to a browser on this computer, the page and the DataMind Oda that serves it stay in contact through one layer: the page sends its calls through it, and Oda serves the page, checks which requests may reach it, and answers the calls. This page is the overview of that layer: what it offers the page, how its connections are carried and replaced, and what a generation is. Opening and signing in are covered in The Oda web app and Sign in to the Oda web app; the calls themselves are on The Oda web transport.

What the connection offers the page

Everything the page asks of Oda goes through its connection. The connection also offers the page a small surface:

• Whether the page counts as local. The connection reports this for the page: it is true on the local addresses, and also when the page has no browser address of its own or when the service it talks to is the one running the page. Local access and trusted hosts lists the addresses and the checks.
• The current generation. The connection publishes one when it becomes ready; the section below explains what a generation is.
• The state and the retry action. The connection reports its current state, and the retry action starts a fresh attempt at once instead of waiting for the next step; Connection states and recovery describes both.
• Its way of sending requests. The function the page uses for its calls; The Oda web transport describes the calls themselves.

How the calls are carried

• Ordinary requests, under one prefix. In a browser, everything the page asks for as data travels as ordinary requests under the interface's own address, all under one prefix; The Oda web transport is their reference.
• An address for a page with no connection. A page that has no live connection of its own is given the address of the service that owns it when it is served, and uses it for its calls; Connection settings and defaults covers what else a served page is given.
• Not only a browser. The interface can run outside a browser, and a program that runs it can carry the calls its own way: a link inside its own process that hands them over already decoded, which replaces the browser's requests entirely; a stream opener for a worker script, usable only under the interface's own prefix; or its own loader for the interface's bundles.

Generations

Each successful connection has a generation: its own snapshot of that link.

• What it carries. A generation carries an id for the connection and the home folder of the Oda it reached.
• Published once. A connection publishes its generation once, when it first becomes ready: the state turns connected and the retry sequence resets, as Connection states and recovery describes.
• Retracted when it ends. When the connection stops, its generation is retracted: while the page is reconnecting, there is no current generation.
• A fresh generation is a reset. When a new connection becomes ready, the page treats it as a reset: anything the page had cached from the old connection is fetched again rather than carried over.
• One at a time. The page keeps a single connection: one part of the interface provides it and one takes its updates, and a replacement starts only after the previous connection has stopped and settled.

Who the connection speaks for

The connection serves one party only: the person at this computer. Every request it admits speaks for that same party, there are no other identities to serve, and everything the connection announces is scoped to that party alone. Who the web app serves, and the checks a request passes before it is admitted, are covered in Local access and trusted hosts.

What reaches the browser

• Not a place for secrets. Everything that reaches the browser, including the values the interface's code reads for itself, is public by design; nothing secret belongs in what the browser receives.
• A fallback for the unfamiliar. Tool output the page does not recognise, or that arrives malformed, falls back to the generic form; how a step's record is shown in a chat is on Step cards in chat.

Transport only

The connection is a carrier, not a participant. It moves calls and answers between the page and Oda and adds nothing of its own to what Oda's AI reads or remembers. Its concern is delivery: while the connection is down, calls cannot go through, and the connection brings itself back on its own, as Connection states and recovery describes.

Questions, answered

What is a connection generation?

The connection's snapshot of a link that came up: a connection publishes one when it becomes ready, carrying an id for it and the home folder of the Oda it reached.

What happens to a generation when its connection ends?

It is retracted. When the connection stops, the page holds no current generation; a fresh one arrives the next time a connection becomes ready.

When the connection comes back, is anything fetched again?

Yes. A newly ready connection counts as a reset: whatever the page had cached from the old connection is fetched again rather than carried over.

Can two parts of the interface keep their own connections?

No. The page keeps one connection: one part of the interface provides it and one takes its updates, and a replacement starts only after the previous connection has stopped and settled.

Do all pages carry their calls the same way?

No. In a browser, the page's calls travel as ordinary requests under one prefix of the interface's address; a page that has no live connection of its own is given the address of the service that owns it; and a program that runs the interface outside a browser can carry the calls its own way, for example over a link inside its own process that hands them over already decoded.

Can the interface tell whether it is running on this computer?

Yes. The connection reports whether the page counts as local: it is true on the local addresses, and also when the page has no browser address of its own or when the service it talks to is the one running the page. Local access and trusted hosts lists the addresses.

Who does the connection speak for?

One party only: the person at this computer. Every request it admits speaks for that same party, and everything the connection announces is scoped to that party alone. Local access and trusted hosts covers who the web app serves.

Does anything secret reach the browser?

No. Everything that reaches the browser, including the values the interface's code reads for itself, is public by design; nothing secret belongs in what the browser receives.

What happens to tool output the page does not recognise?

Tool output the page does not recognise, or that arrives malformed, falls back to the generic form. How a step's record is shown in a chat is on Step cards in chat.

Does this layer change what Oda's AI sees?

No. The connection is transport: it carries calls and answers between the page and Oda, and it adds nothing of its own to what Oda's AI reads or remembers.