---
title: Key ideas
description: Learn the four parts VIABLE is made of, the ways to reach them, and who does what, so you know where to start.
updated: 2026-10-29
---

> All VIABLE docs, for people and their agents: https://developers.viablelab.org/llms.txt

# Key ideas

VIABLE sits between AI models and learners. It turns what a teacher or researcher intends into what the AI does with each learner, and keeps the evidence, for K-12 classes, university courses, adult learning, and libraries, museums and websites.

::: figure key-ideas

## The four parts

### 1. Agent: how the AI works

An **agent** is an AI made of steps: it can search a knowledge base, check its reply with a **VETTING** step, then answer. Each publish is a numbered version, and learners always meet the published one. [Your first agent](/docs/build/first-agent)

### 2. Activity: what learners do

A **course** is one link a class opens all term. Each **activity** in it puts the work, such as **Writing** or **Questions**, beside the AI, and **How the AI helps** says what it is for and how far the AI may go. A library can put an agent on a **chat page** instead, with no sign-in. [Your first class](/docs/teach/first-class)

### 3. Study: what a study decides

A **study** sits over courses or a chat page. It asks for consent, decides who gets which version, and pins each agent's version while it runs. [Your first study](/docs/research/first-study)

### 4. Evidence: what is recorded

Every **run** keeps each step and VETTING round. Learners' messages and the replies are **turns**, kept beside their **work**. Researchers code them and download one documented export, by learner code. [The research export](/docs/research/export)

## Who does what

| Who | What they do | Where they work |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Teacher, librarian, workshop lead | Runs classes, follows progress | **Teach**: Courses, Question sets, Learners |
| Researcher | Runs studies and their data | **Research**: Studies, Coding, Export |
| Builder, learning designer | Makes and tests agents | **Build**: Agents, Knowledge |
| App developer | Connects an app | **Build → Apps**, and the API |
| Owner | Members, keys and costs | **Operate**, **Account** |

Learners need no account: they open one link.

> [!NOTE]
> These are jobs, not permissions. A member's project role decides what they can change, and a course can be shared with one teacher. See [Members and roles](/docs/project/members-and-roles).

::: cards
- [Your first class](/docs/teach/first-class): make a course and share its link.
- [Your first agent](/docs/build/first-agent): make, try and publish an agent.
- [Your first study](/docs/research/first-study): set up a study until it can open.
- [Your first run](/docs/connect/first-run): run an agent from your own server.
:::