Deployment and operations
Deployment overview
Compare the cloud service and private deployment to choose the right deployment option.
Deployment guide · Module: deploy · Administrators · Deployment: Cloud / Private deployment · Confirmed product versions: Not specified · Source: Existing documentation
AskTable offers a cloud service and private deployment. Consider data access requirements, operational responsibilities, and configuration needs for models and enterprise login when choosing.
Prerequisites
Confirm the following before you begin:
| Item | What to confirm |
|---|---|
| Deployment type | Cloud hosting or private Docker deployment |
| Network boundary | Use online deployment when the image registry is accessible; use an offline package and prepare an internal model service in a fully isolated network |
| Data boundary | Which databases and tables can be connected, and how sensitive fields will be handled |
| Models | AskTable-hosted compute, your own models, or internal models |
| License | The required number of users and whether analysis canvas is needed determine the license tier |
| Release window | Upgrades briefly interrupt service, so schedule the window in advance |
Steps
Proceed in this order; each step can be verified separately:
- Choose the deployment type and responsibility boundaries. For private deployment, your team manages servers, backups, upgrades, and logs; AskTable provides images and versions. See the responsibility table under “Key constraints” below.
- Prepare the environment. Follow Private deployment (Docker) to choose online or offline deployment and check the architecture, configuration, and Docker Compose version. For connected environments, confirm outbound access; for isolated environments, prepare offline packages, installation scripts, and internal models in advance.
- Start the service and initialize it. For a new deployment, enter the organization name and administrator details at
/setup, then configure the models. Follow the remaining guidance to create a project. Upgrades retain the existing organization and accounts. - Activate the license. A system administrator opens “Profile → Organization → Organization settings → Enterprise” to view trial or license status and activate it. See Commercial licensing.
- Connect a minimal dataset. Start with one database or Excel file and complete one question. See Connect data sources.
- Configure people, roles, and data scopes. See Set data access scopes.
- Add optional components as needed: value indexing (Deploy AI Search), questions in Feishu groups (Deploy the message gateway), and subpaths and white labeling (Advanced configuration).
- Adjust runtime settings. After logging in, open “System settings” from the avatar in the bottom-left corner and check limits and timeouts individually (see the table below).
- Verify before production. Check each observable condition in the “Troubleshooting” table.
What you can change in System settings
After logging in to a private deployment, select the bottom-left avatar → “System settings”. The page is titled “System settings”, with a subtitle explaining that it manages system-level configuration and changes take effect immediately after saving. It provides these sections:
| Section | Key settings |
|---|---|
| “General” | Frontend URL — used for links in email and Feishu notifications; private deployments must set it to the actual domain |
| “Conversation” | Maximum steps per Agent run |
| “Excel file limits” | Maximum Excel file size (MB), maximum sheets per Excel file, maximum Excel fields |
| “CSV file limits” | Maximum CSV file size (MB), maximum CSV fields |
| “Data sources” | Global query timeout (seconds), maximum tables per data source, tables per metadata batch, maximum unique values indexed per field, maximum fields for value indexing |
| “Web search” | Base URL, API Key, and model; an Agent's web search capability cannot be enabled unless all three are set |
| “User registration” | Public registration switch for private deployment and strength requirements for new passwords |
These settings are saved per field: leave a numeric input after editing, or toggle a switch to submit. Check the save status. Login methods, SMTP, and SMS are configured through deployment authentication environment variables, rather than here.
Key constraints
| Item | Value or default | Where to change it |
|---|---|---|
| Private deployment components | Four required containers (main service, PostgreSQL, Redis, Python sandbox) + two optional containers (value indexing, Feishu gateway) | Private deployment (Docker) |
| Public ports | Only the main service exposes 8000; the database, Redis, and sandbox do not map host ports | ports in docker-compose.yaml |
| Offline package architecture | linux/amd64 and linux/arm64; choose according to the target server's Docker architecture | Private deployment (Docker) |
| User count | At most 3 without an activated license | Profile → Organization → Organization settings → Enterprise → Activate; see Commercial licensing |
| analysis canvas | Unavailable without an activated license | Same as above |
| Tables per data source | Default: 100 | Avatar → “System settings” → “Data sources” → Maximum tables per data source |
| Value indexing fields | Default: 10 | Same section → Maximum fields for value indexing |
| Resource quotas | Apply only to the cloud service; project resource quotas are not enforced in private deployment | — |
| Current version | Avatar → “System settings” → “About” on the left → System version, with “Copy version information” alongside it | — |
| Operational responsibilities | For private deployment, your team manages servers, networking, backups, upgrades, and logs; AskTable provides images and version releases | — |
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | How to identify it | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Private deployment page will not open | curl -sS http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/v1/version does not return JSON | Check container status using the troubleshooting table in Private deployment (Docker) |
| Cannot create a new user | The Enterprise licensing section shows a trial, and the user count has reached 3 | Activate a license with sufficient capacity; disabling registration or having an administrator create accounts does not bypass the limit |
| Cannot enable an Agent's web search | A Base URL, API Key, or model is missing in “System settings” → “Web search” | Fill in all three and save |
| Links in email or Feishu notifications do not work | “System settings” → “General” → Frontend URL is still the default | Set it to the actual domain and save |
| Queries frequently time out | No query timeout (seconds) is set for the data source, so it uses “System settings” → “Data sources” → Global query timeout (seconds) | Increase the global value or set a longer timeout in the data source's “Settings” → “Query settings” |
| Excel upload exceeds the size limit | The file exceeds Maximum Excel file size (MB) under “Excel file limits” | Increase that value or split the file |
| Unsure which version is running | No version appears under Avatar → “System settings” → “About” on the left | The container has not started or version injection failed; check docker compose images instead |
Next steps
- Private deployment (Docker) — Deployment parameters, access URLs, upgrades, and removal
- Configure models — Connect your own or hosted models
- Deployment authentication configuration — Login methods, SMTP, and SMS
- Operations and capacity planning — Connection pools, concurrency, and database capacity
- Commercial licensing — Trial limits and license activation
- Connect data sources — Connect your first dataset