Compute AI Assistant

Feature overview

Compute AI Assistant provides several features, including Intelligent Q&A, Global Search, Troubleshooting, Purchase Consulting, Guided Operations, Command Explanation, and Text Definition.

Risks

As an AI-based tool, the responses from Compute AI Assistant can be limited by its understanding of context or the completeness of your input and may not always match your exact needs. For specific operations, such as starting or stopping instances, adjusting instance configurations, and optimizing security group rules, the assistant performs these actions only after you confirm them.

To ensure safety and accuracy, review all outputs carefully before you adopt recommendations or run suggested operations.

Prerequisites

• You have logged on to the ECS Management Console.

• If you are a RAM user and need to use the Global Search feature of Compute AI Assistant, ask the Alibaba Cloud account owner to grant you the following policies. For more information, see Control access to ECS resources by using RAM users.

  • Access policy for a RAM user to use the AI search assistant

    Required for AI chat, action invocation, and resource search features of the AI search assistant.

    {
        "Version": "1",
        "Statement": [
            {
                "Action": "ecs:*",
                "Resource": "*",
                "Effect": "Allow"
            },
            {
                "Action": [
                    "agent:ChatMessages",
                    "agent:ModifyConversationsName",
                    "agent:ChatMessagesTaskStop",
                    "agent:GetConversations",
                    "agent:DeleteConversations",
                    "agent:GetMessages",
                    "agent:ModifyMessagesFeedbacks",
                    "agent:GetMessagesSuggested"
                ],
                "Resource": "*",
                "Effect": "Allow"
            }
        ]
    }

  • Access policy for a RAM user to perform a global search using the AI search assistant

    Required for global resource search via the AI search assistant. This policy allows querying all Alibaba Cloud resources under the account, including ECS, Elastic Block Storage, Server Load Balancer, virtual private cloud (VPC), and Elastic IP Addresses. See Cloud services and resource types supported by Resource Center for supported resources.

    {
      "Version": "1",
      "Statement": [
        {
          "Action": "resourcecenter:*",
          "Resource": "*",
          "Effect": "Allow"
        },
        {
          "Action": "resourcecenter:GenerateSQLQueryByAI",
          "Resource": "*",
          "Effect": "Allow"
        }
      ]
    }

Execution modes

Compute AI Assistant supports two interaction modes:

• Agent mode: In this mode, Compute AI Assistant uses a large language model to intelligently plan tasks. It understands user requests, automatically selects the appropriate tools, and safely executes resource operations after you confirm them. The entire process is completed on a single page, helping you efficiently complete O&M tasks such as starting or stopping instances, adjusting configurations, and optimizing security groups. This creates a "conversation-as-operation" experience.

• Chat mode: This mode focuses on providing knowledge-based Q&A. It offers instant answers to questions about ECS product features, usage, best practices, and common issues, helping you quickly find the information you need and improve efficiency.

You can switch between modes based on your needs. Use Agent mode to perform operations and Chat mode to get accurate answers.

Intelligent Q&A

The Intelligent Q&A feature of Compute AI Assistant can perform the following actions:

• It provides comprehensive knowledge about Alibaba Cloud ECS, including product features and use cases.

• It supports natural language interaction to understand your questions and provide accurate answers.

• It can handle complex questions and provide solutions.

Global Search

The Global Search feature of Compute AI Assistant can perform the following actions:

• It helps you quickly locate resources, operations, and documentation.

• It supports global search and semantic understanding to improve search efficiency.

• It allows you to quickly initiate common operations by entering the operation name.

Troubleshooting

The troubleshooting feature of Compute AI Assistant can perform the following actions:

• It intelligently diagnoses issues with running ECS instances and analyzes possible causes.

• It provides troubleshooting steps and recommended fixes.

• It supports real-time analysis of monitoring data to help you quickly identify issues.

Purchase consulting

The Purchase Consulting feature of Compute AI Assistant can perform the following actions:

• It recommends suitable ECS instance types and configurations based on your needs.

• It provides price estimates and discount information to help you optimize costs.

• It supports customized solution design to meet the needs of different business scenarios.

Guided operations

The Guided Operations feature of Compute AI Assistant can perform the following actions:

• It guides you through the creation, configuration, management, and maintenance of relevant resources.

• It provides detailed operating procedures and important notes.

• It supports the generation of automated scripts to simplify complex operations.

Commands

In the Workbench or Cloud Assistant command line, the Command Explanation feature of Compute AI Assistant can perform the following actions:

• It provides queries and explanations for common commands to help you quickly understand their meaning and usage.

• It can generate specific command-line instructions based on your needs.

• It helps you optimize commands or scripts.

Text definition

On the instance purchase page or image build page, you can use Compute AI Assistant to define selected text. This feature can perform the following actions:

• It explains technical terms, parameters, and options on the page when you select them.

• It provides instant definitions, purposes, and related links.

• It helps you quickly understand complex concepts, configuration items, or features.

Resource operations

Compute AI Assistant supports Agent capabilities that allow you to configure and manage resources without navigating to different pages. This includes instance-related control operations such as starting, stopping, restarting, releasing an instance, resetting the instance password, changing the operating system, editing instance attributes, and replacing the public IP address.

Procedure

Example prompts

Resource query

Compute AI Assistant provides resource query capabilities. It currently supports eight resource types: instances, images, security groups, cloud disks, snapshots, Elastic IP Addresses, VPCs, and vSwitches.

Procedure

Example prompts

Monitoring and analysis

Compute AI Assistant can query and visualize over 10 core ECS metrics, analyze metric anomalies, and provide system optimization suggestions.

Procedure

Example prompts

Remote command

In Agent mode, the assistant can execute remote commands on an ECS instance over a secure channel. After you confirm, the assistant can run commands for tasks like software installation, environment configuration, or log collection, enabling flexible and controlled remote operations on your servers.

Remote commands execute only after your confirmation. Using its large language model, the assistant generates safe command scripts and guides you to confirm key steps, balancing automation efficiency with operational security.

Procedure

Example prompts