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Map

The whole technique graph, at a glance

Every concept page is one node, in the level it belongs to. Level 7 is at the top and level 0 at the bottom, the same order as the climb curve on the home page. Below them, five short rows hold the topics that cut across every level, one row per topic. The taxonomy's typed relations connect them: what to read first, when to climb, what is commonly used together, and what solves the same problem a different way.

Explore the connections. Pinch to zoom, or choose a concept for readable details.

54 pages34 across the eight levels20 under the five topics140 relations
The graph

Every technique, where it sits and what it connects to

Requires and Upgrades to draw by default, with overlapping pairs drawn once. Hover or select a concept to reveal its supporting topics too.

Filters & reading tips

Relations to draw

13 prerequisite connections also have an upgrade path, so they draw once as Upgrades to. Turn off Upgrades to to see those Requires lines. Hover, tab, or choose a concept to reveal all its connections, including supporting topics such as guardrails and evaluation.

Combines with and Alternative to start off to keep the overview readable. Topics apply across levels; the map highlights useful direct connections, not every possible combination. An upgrade is a next step when needed, not a universal prerequisite.

Hover to explore. Click a concept to lock its connections, then open its page in the selection panel.

Line meaningsRequiresUpgrades toCombines withAlternative to

What each line means

Hover or focus to trace connections. Click or press Enter to lock a selection; read why each concept connects in the selection panel. Crossing lines are not joined. Select a concept to see the direction and explanation of each connection.

Requires
A foundation to understand first; not always a runtime dependency.
Upgrades to
A next approach when the simpler one reaches a specific limit.
Combines with
Used together: each contributes a different part of the solution.
Alternative to
Different approaches to compare for the same need.
07Always-on agents
06Teams of Agents
05Agent loops
04Tool use
03Workflows
02Added context
01Direct prompting
00Conventional software
Topics
The technique graph54 techniques across eight levels and five wrapped topic rows, connected by 140 relations. Select a concept to read its relationships in the panel below.Long-running tasksOrganizations of agentsAlways-on assistantsRobots and machinesLead agent and workersAgent graphsReview and debateCoding agentsSingle agentAgentic RAG and deep researchThe agent harnessSkillsVoice agentsFunction callingCode executionModel Context ProtocolComputer and browser usePrompt chainingRoutingParallel callsWrite and checkWorkflow graphsHuman approvalRetrieval-augmented generation (RAG)Context engineeringEmbeddings and searchKnowledge graphs and GraphRAGMemoryChatPrompt engineeringStructured outputReasoning at answer timeImages, audio and videoWhen not to use a modelEvalsEvaluation frameworksChanging the modelFine-tuning and adaptersDistillationSynthetic dataPrompt optimizationSafety, privacy and governanceGuardrailsRed teamingOperationsObservabilityAI gatewaysCost optimizationRunning models locallyWorking with a modelBriefing: saying what you wantReviewing work you did not doDeciding what to hand overCalibrating trust