Use VizChat locally

VizChat's assistant on the web, and VizChat inside hosted chat apps, run in a deliberately restricted cloud environment. Code runs in a sandbox with only the Python standard library, numpy and pandas; there is no shell, no Node.js, no network access from code, no access to your computer or your company network, and each run stops after 20 seconds.

That limit is about where the work runs, not about what VizChat can do. Your workspace can live on your own computer as a normal folder, where your local tools — and a local coding agent with the VizChat plugin — have a full environment. Anything you produce there syncs back to the same workspace, so boards on the web can use it right away.

When the assistant hits one of these limits it says so and points you here; the steps below depend on what you already have.

If you use a local coding agent

Coding agents that run on your computer (Claude Code, Codex and similar) can use VizChat through its plugin, which bundles the VizChat skills and the cloud connection.

1. Install the CLI — it needs Node.js:

   npm install -g vizchat
   vizchat auth login

   auth login opens a browser page where you approve the sign-in.

2. Install the VizChat plugin in your agent from its plugin directory, and connect your VizChat account when it asks.

3. Pull the workspace into a folder:

   vizchat workspace ls
   vizchat workspace clone <workspace> my-workspace
   cd my-workspace

   workspace ls lists the workspaces you can sync. The target folder must be empty or not exist yet.

4. Do the work in that folder with the agent — it has your shell, full Python and Node.js, and can install whatever it needs.

5. Sync the results back:

   vizchat workspace sync

   Run vizchat workspace sync --watch instead to keep the folder in sync while you work.

If you have the desktop app

The desktop app keeps a workspace in sync with a folder on your computer. Pick a local agent (Claude Code, Codex or the built-in Pi) in the app's chat panel to work in that folder, or open it in a terminal and run the job there; whatever you save in the folder syncs up in the background.

If you have neither

Install Node.js, then follow the steps under If you use a local coding agent. The plugin is optional: without an agent you can still clone the workspace, run your own scripts in the folder, and sync the results.

Getting results back into your boards

Files you produce locally — a cleaned dataset, a chart image, a generated report — become ordinary documents in the workspace once synced. Reference them from a board like any uploaded file, keep working on the web, or ask the assistant to build on them. Local and cloud are the same workspace; nothing needs to be uploaded by hand.

See Local workspace CLI for the full command reference.