noun · software concept
Sandbox
also called isolated environment
A play area with walls. The AI can run things inside it, but whatever happens stays in there.
A restricted execution environment that limits what code, including AI-generated code, can read, write and connect to.
An isolated environment, such as a container or restricted process, that limits which files, network and system calls running code can reach. The harness runs the model's requested commands inside it instead of on your real machine.
Real-life example
You ask an assistant to try a script it just wrote. If it ran on your laptop, a bug could wipe a folder. Instead it runs in a sandbox that can only see a copy of the project and has no internet. The script breaks, the sandbox shows the error, and your real files are untouched.
Where the analogy breaks
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A sandbox is not perfect. It lowers the risk, but a misconfigured one, or one with too much access, can still be escaped or misused.
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It limits what the AI can do. If it needs the network or a real database to be useful, you have to decide how much of that to allow.
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It does not make the AI's decisions good. It limits the damage of a bad one inside the walls, and what you copy out afterward still needs a look.