Stage 1 · Lesson 1 of 6
What an agent is
An AI is a program where a language model decides the next step, runs it through a tool and looks at the result before deciding again. The model on its own only produces text. Your code gives it tools (functions it may ask you to run), (fetching relevant documents) and memory (facts carried between calls).
This combination is sometimes called an augmented . The agent is the loop around it: call the model, run what it asks, feed back the result, repeat until the task is done. Everything in this roadmap, from frameworks to servers, is a way of building, connecting or controlling that loop.
Common trapthinking the model is the agent, when most of an agent's quality comes from the tools, context and limits your code provides.
A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 2 cheat sheet entries come with the full roadmap. Unlock
Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- CoursePaidGrokking Modern AI Fundamentals
Design Gurus · Beginner · $72 one-time
Chapter 8, Agentic AI, covers reasoning, planning and memory in agents and ends with a small agent project
- CourseFreeHugging Face AI Agents Course
Hugging Face · Beginner
Free: Unit 1 explains the thought, action, observation cycle and builds a first agent step by step