Offline mode blocks outbound connections to public network addresses while preserving loopback and private-network access. Local inference, installed backends, the WebUI, and private LAN clients can continue to work. Features that require a public provider, download, update, web request, or remote synchronization return an explicit error.
Prepare and enable offline operation
- Install SoAI and start it once so the managed runtime and required bootstrap artifacts are present.
- Install every local inference backend you need. Download or manually place the required models and test each one.
- Exercise any feature that needs a managed browser, Java document parser, file-search binary, tokenizer tables, or optional feature asset so its required download is present.
- Create a verified backup and keep the installer, signed release metadata, model files, backend packages, and recovery material required by your environment.
A complete Core release archive does not contain the managed Python environment or every runtime artifact that first start provisions. It is therefore not, by itself, a zero-network first-install bundle. If policy forbids temporary public access, stage and verify every dependency through your organization's approved artifact process before the first launch.
Enable offline mode in the SoAI WebUI
The Advanced control appears only to an Administrator with
Configuration changes (CONFIG_PATCH).
- Select the Settings button at the right of the header, then Settings.
- Select Advanced in the page header and open System > Runtime.
- Enable
SYSTEM.RUNTIME.STAY_OFFLINEand select Save.
The network policy reloads live and does not require an application restart. Existing and later operations are checked at their outbound boundary. Treat a blocked request as a policy result, not a transient provider outage.
Operate and maintain the offline host
- Local backends and models whose files and dependencies are already installed.
- The WebUI and compatible APIs on loopback or private addresses.
- Private-network inference providers and MCP servers that pass SoAI's local-only URL validation, subject to their own configuration and permissions.
- Local files, conversations, prompts, knowledge collections, logs, backups, and hardware monitoring.
What public-network blocking affects
- Mail and calendar network operations are unavailable, and messaging gateway inventory and delivery workers pause while offline mode is enabled, regardless of endpoint location. Public-address inference, search, image, and other provider requests are also blocked.
- Model, plugin-backend, runtime-artifact, and application-update downloads.
- Browser navigation and general web requests to public addresses.
- Explicit online licensing operations and remote synchronization.
Offline mode is not a substitute for firewall rules, network segmentation, or provider removal. It is an application policy enforced by SoAI. Use both host controls and Network and TLS for a deployment that must satisfy a network-isolation policy.
Maintain an offline deployment
Prepare the updated installation's runtime before taking it offline. On Linux and macOS, startup stops if the installed runtime needs a required security update. The message explains what needs preparation. If your policy permits, disable offline mode and start SoAI once online to complete the download, then enable offline mode again. Otherwise, prepare the required packages through your approved artifact process before starting the updated installation.
On a separate trusted machine, download the complete signed release set and verify it with Download and verify SoAI releases. Transfer the verified artifacts through your approved channel. Disable offline mode only if an in-application operation must contact a public address and policy permits that temporary change; otherwise use the platform's supported manual installation path.