Start Here
Start Here
A practical path from AI demos to production-ready systems.
AI Tool Stack is a curriculum and library for builders who want more than demos: start with the foundation beliefs, use System Layer essays to understand the production architecture, then study projects that apply the patterns in real workflows.
How to use this site
Read the Foundations
Build your base with essential concepts, patterns, and mental models for AI engineering.
Study a Project
Dive into complete systems with architecture, code, decisions, and lessons.
Apply System Layers
Use evidence, evaluation, review, reliability, and cost patterns before production pressure arrives.
Apply what you read
Score a real AI workflow before you add more technology.
The free AI Workflow Readiness Checklist turns the site principles into 32 practical decisions across workflow, input reality, evidence, evaluation, human authority, operations, and cost.
Your learning path
Foundations
Core concepts, system thinking, prompting, data, evaluation.
System Layers
Ingestion, orchestration, evidence, evaluation, runtime, and efficiency.
Project Systems
End-to-end walkthroughs of real AI systems.
Production Reality
Validation, monitoring, deployment, cost, security, and operations.
Recommended first project
PolicyTrace
A Document AI system for multi-PDF UK insurance packs: golden record extraction with validation, arbitration, PII masking, and a human-in-the-loop review UI.
Handles complex, multi-document insurance packs.
Validation, conflict detection, PII masking, and audit trail.
FastAPI backend, React UI, and review workflow.
Curated reading
Start with one real workflow.
Score it, study a working project, then use the Blog to strengthen the weakest system layer.