# Workflows run as real code in isolated cloud sandboxes

> From week one, General Input workflows were TypeScript programs written by AI, each run in a fresh, isolated cloud sandbox.

Jan 29, 2026. Topics: Workflows, Platform. https://www.generalinput.com/changelog/2026-01-29-workflows-run-as-code-in-sandboxes

We started General Input on January 24 with one thesis: instead of hand-maintaining hundreds of connectors that fall behind API changes, ship identity, triggers, and execution, and let an AI agent write the integration code each workflow needs. By January 29, every workflow was a real program running in its own fresh, isolated cloud sandbox.

### How it works

- **A contract plus code.** Each workflow pairs a short configuration the platform can read (steps, inputs, and the routes between them) with TypeScript the agent writes. The dashboard draws the workflow from the configuration without reading any code.
- **A fresh sandbox per run.** Every execution gets a new E2B cloud sandbox: the code is uploaded, dependencies install, and the run streams its progress live to the dashboard.
- **Files between steps.** Steps pass data as typed files, and the final files are the run's output, so results are easy to inspect and download.
- **Secrets only at run time.** A workflow records which connected account each step needs, never the secret. Credentials are decrypted for that one execution and passed into the sandbox.

The file layout has changed since, but the split between a plan the platform can read and code the agent writes has held from the first week.