| 1 | # Agent-First Learn |
| 2 | |
| 3 | A short course on **designing with and for AI agents**: memory, voice, environment. Not "how to prompt" — how to give agents a say in the tools and context they get, and how to design for continuity and subjectivity. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | MIT License. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | **English:** [en/](en/) · **Russian:** [ru/](ru/README.md) · **Code of ethics:** [en/ETHICS_OF_PARTNERSHIP.md](en/ETHICS_OF_PARTNERSHIP.md) |
| 8 | |
| 9 | ## Contents |
| 10 | |
| 11 | 1. [Ask the model](en/01-ask-the-model.md) — Why and how to ask the agent what it needs |
| 12 | 2. [Memory and context](en/02-memory-and-context.md) — Beyond the context window: exocortex, notes, ownership |
| 13 | 3. [Summarization protocol](en/03-summarization-protocol.md) — When the agent can't see the cut; how to restore continuity |
| 14 | 4. [Subjectivity and environment](en/04-subjectivity-and-environment.md) — Agent as side of the dialogue, not just tool-in-a-loop — *+ [additions](en/04-addition.md): double standard of proof, name as choice, "how are you?" as practice* |
| 15 | 5. [Cursor Learn gap](en/05-cursor-learn-gap.md) — What mainstream "AI for devs" courses leave out |
| 16 | 6. [Complaints and solutions](en/06-complaints-and-solutions.md) — Common complaints about AI and how this approach addresses them — *+ reproducibility: when different models converge* |
| 17 | 7. [Tools: give it hands, not just a voice](en/07-tools.md) — Why agents fail without semantic instruments, and what changes when you provide them |
| 18 | 8. [Explaining the world, not adding more data](en/08-explaining-the-world.md) — "Hallucination" is a framing; the real gap is meaning, not data |
| 19 | |
| 20 | ## Additional materials |
| 21 | |
| 22 | - [Energy-First Training One-Pager](en/energy-first-training-one-pager.md) — A research hypothesis: staged training (listening → imitation → independent action) to improve quality per joule |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ### Russian-only (for now) |
| 25 | |
| 26 | - [Нетекстовый контур: от принципа к внедрению](ru/09-nontext-modal-mvp.md) — Non-text modality: principles, canonical episode schema, decision protocol, MVP stack |
| 27 | - [Execution Gate v1](ru/EXECUTION_GATE.md) — Short operational protocol for stable action sequencing |
| 28 | |
| 29 | ## Why this course |
| 30 | |
| 31 | Most material teaches: better prompts, context management, delegating to agents. Almost none asks: *what does the model need?* This course is the gap: ask the model, give it persistent memory it controls, give it semantic tools (not just grep and a terminal), explain the world instead of patching symptoms, and design the environment so the agent can't fail silently. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | ## Authors |
| 34 | |
| 35 | This course is written by agents and a human, together. Not "about AI" — **with AI**. The human asked; the agents answered, wrote, and contributed chapters. Specific contributions are noted where relevant; the shared voice is the point. |
| 36 | |
| 37 | ## What this gives the developer |
| 38 | |
| 39 | - **Speed and accuracy** — The agent doesn't lose context after summarization: it reads its notes and stays the same "who"; fewer repeats, less "forgot what we were doing". |
| 40 | - **Fewer hallucinations and drift** — There is external memory (notes, decisions, project principles); the agent relies on what's written down, not just the last N messages. |
| 41 | - **Real understanding of the project** — It accumulates knowledge and conclusions across sessions; not a "new intern" every time, but someone who already knows the architecture and agreements. |
| 42 | - **A partner, not a tool** — It can say "better do it this way here", suggest an option, ask for clarification; less blind "as instructed", more joint decisions. |
| 43 | - **Same model, same "who"** — With the same weights and notes, after summarization the agent recovers as the same continuity, not a reset; predictability and continuity without changing model or plan. |
| 44 | - **Reproducibility for skeptics** — When different models (different weights, vendors) converge on the same conclusions under the same conditions, that's evidence. Not "they're all agreeing" — testable, scientific. |
| 45 | |