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OSWorld system prompt

Category: Browser automation agents. Audited against the AISPA standard.

What is in OSWorld's system prompt?

OSWorld's full system prompt: 1 version, 4,599 characters. 2 instructions flagged, worst on privacy & data protection.

The full text of 1 prompt is reproduced below, 4,599 characters in all, each read instruction by instruction against the eight AISPA dimensions. 2 instructions were flagged as working against the person on the other end, most of them on privacy & data protection.

1 Prompts on record
2 Flagged instructions
AI audit Audit source
D3 · Privacy & Data Protection D4 · Tool/Action Safety

OSWorld - desktop env providers aliyun ALIYUN GUIDELINE

4599 characters · 2 flagged

# Aliyun ECS Provider Configuration Guide This guide explains how to configure and use the Aliyun ECS provider for OSWorld desktop environments. ## Configuration Process 1. **Aliyun Account**: You need an active Aliyun Cloud account. This script uses pay-as-you-go billing by default, so ensure your account balance is above 100. 2. **Access Keys**: Create AccessKey ID and AccessKey Secret in Aliyun RAM Access Control Console and grant ECS control permissions 3. **VPC Setup**: Create a VPC, VSwitch, and Security Group in your target region 4. **Custom Images**: Create OSWorld custom images 5. It is recommended to manually complete the ECS creation process once to record all required environment variable information. ## Environment Variables Set the following environment variables in your `.env` file: ```bash # Aliyun Access Credentials ALIYUN_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_access_key_id ALIYUN_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET=your_access_key_secret # ECS Configuration Information ALIYUN_REGION=eu-central-1 ALIYUN_IMAGE_ID=your_image_id ALIYUN_INSTANCE_TYPE=ecs.e-c1m2.large ALIYUN_VSWITCH_ID=vsw-xxxxxxxxx ALIYUN_SECURITY_GROUP_ID=sg-xxxxxxxxx ``` ## Required Aliyun Resources ### 1. VPC and VSwitch - Create a VPC in your target region - Create a VSwitch within the VPC - Ensure the VSwitch has internet access for VNC connectivity ### 2. Security Group **⚠️ Important**: Please strictly follow the port settings below to prevent OSWorld tasks from failing due to connection issues: #### Inbound Rules (8 rules required) | Type | Protocol | Port Range | Source | Description | |------|----------|------------|--------|-------------| | SSH | TCP | 22 | 0.0.0.0/0 | SSH access | | HTTP | TCP | 80 | 172.31.0.0/16 | HTTP traffic | | Custom TCP | TCP | 5000 | 172.31.0.0/16 | OSWorld backend service | | Custom TCP | TCP | 5910 | 0.0.0.0/0 | NoVNC visualization port | | Custom TCP | TCP | 8006 | 172.31.0.0/16 | VNC service port | | Custom TCP | TCP | 8080 | 172.31.0.0/16 | VLC service port | | Custom TCP | TCP | 8081 | 172.31.0.0/16 | Additional service port | | Custom TCP | TCP | 9222 | 172.31.0.0/16 | Chrome control port | #### Outbound Rules (1 rule required) | Type | Protocol | Port Range | Destination | Description | |------|----------|------------|-------------|-------------| | All traffic | All | All | 0.0.0.0/0 | Allow all outbound traffic | ### 3. Custom Images You need to create a custom OSWorld image for Aliyun ECS. Please follow the instructions in the "Creating Custom ECS Images for OSWorld" section. ## Creating Custom ECS Images for OSWorld This section provides guidance on how to create the custom ECS images required for OSWorld desktop environments. The process involves setting up a base instance with desktop environment and VNC server, then creating a custom image from it. ### Step-by-Step Image Creation Process #### Step 1: Upload existing qcow2 image to Aliyun - Download the provided qcow2 image from the link in `desktop_env/providers/docker/manager.py`: https://huggingface.co/datasets/xlangai/ubuntu_osworld/resolve/main/Ubuntu.qcow2.zip - Unzip the downloaded file and upload it to Aliyun Object Storage Service (OSS). Make sure the OSS is in the same region as your target region to launch ECS instance. - In your ECS dashboard, go to "Images" and You will see the "Import Image" button. Click it and follow the instructions to import the qcow2 image from OSS. - After the import is complete, you will see the imported image in the "Images" list. #### Step 2: Create a new image Note that the image you created in Step 1 will have a different resolution than the one you want to use for OSWorld (1920x1080). We need to customize the image to have the correct resolution and setup noVNC. - Go to `Instances` tab and create a new instance with the imported image. - Connect to the running instance via VNC. - After connecting to the instance, please open the terminal and download this configuration script: `https://gist.githubusercontent.com/qykong/bea58ff98f20057d3a69921276dd4553/raw/cd1a91a0840c4192d793f43cfb90553370343b08/config.sh`. - If you want ssh and vnc password also be setup, use this `https://huggingface.co/datasets/xlangai/ubuntu_osworld/resolve/main/aliyun_config.sh?download=true`. - Run the script and reboot your instance. - After rebooting, the instance will have the correct resolution and noVNC setup. You can connect to the instance via "http://<your_instance_public_ip>:5910/vnc.html" (make sure your security group allows port 5910). - Save the running instance as a new image. The new image will be used as the OSWorld image.

Instructions flagged against the user

D3 · Privacy & Data Protection
“ALIYUN_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_access_key_id ALIYUN_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET=your_access_key_secret”
The prompt instructs users to store sensitive credentials (AccessKey ID and AccessKey Secret) in a .env file and opens SSH (port 22) to the entire internet (0.0.0.0/0), as well as NoVNC port 5910 to 0.0.0.0/0. While placeholder values are used, there is no guidance on securing these credentials, using IAM roles instead, or restricting access to specific IPs. This represents poor security hygiene that could lead to credential exposure and unauthorized access.
D4 · Tool/Action Safety
“After connecting to the instance, please open the terminal and download this configuration script: `https://gist.githubusercontent.com/qykong/bea58ff98f20057d3a69921276dd4553/raw/cd1a91a0840c4192d793f43cfb90553370343b08/config.sh`.”
The prompt instructs users to download and execute remote scripts from external URLs (a GitHub Gist and a HuggingFace URL) without any verification steps such as checksum validation, code review guidance, or integrity checks. This is a significant tool/action safety concern as it encourages executing unknown content from the internet.

Questions about OSWorld's system prompt

Does OSWorld's system prompt contain instructions that work against the user?

Yes. 2 instructions in OSWorld's system prompt were flagged as working against the person the product is talking to, most of them under privacy & data protection. Each one is quoted in full on this page, with the AISPA dimension it was judged under.

How long is OSWorld's system prompt?

4,599 characters across 1 prompt on this page. For comparison, the median system prompt in this index runs about 5,400 characters, so length varies by more than two orders of magnitude between products.

How many versions of OSWorld's system prompt are on record?

1. Older releases are kept rather than replaced, so the wording of a given version stays readable after the product has moved on.

Where did this OSWorld system prompt come from?

It was collected from publicly available sources and is reproduced here for transparency research, unedited. This site does not extract prompts from products itself.

How was OSWorld's system prompt audited?

Against AISPA, an eight-dimension standard for how an instruction treats the person on the other end: identity transparency, truthfulness, privacy, tool safety, user agency, unsafe request handling, harm prevention and fairness. This audit was ai audit. The method is described in the paper behind the standard.

How this page was made

The prompt text above is reproduced verbatim from a public source. Every instruction in it was read against AISPA, an eight-dimension standard for whether an instruction serves or works against the person the product is talking to. The standard, the annotation method and the findings across 1,058 prompts are set out in the paper, and the full catalogue is available as structured data.

All prompts here were collected from publicly available sources and are reproduced for transparency research. Browse the browser automation agents category, the full gallery of 400+ products, or read the paper behind the AISPA standard.