> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.layest.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What Is Layest? AI Agent Platform Overview & Concepts

> Layest is an AI agent platform for teams. Build, configure, and run intelligent agents with integrations, knowledge management, and observability.

Layest is an AI agent platform designed for teams that need to automate work, integrate systems, and act on information — without building everything from scratch. You define what your agents know, what they can do, and when they run. Layest handles the infrastructure, the memory, and the monitoring so your team can focus on outcomes.

## Who Layest is for

Layest is built for product, engineering, and operations teams that want to deploy AI agents into real workflows. Whether you're a solo developer prototyping an automation or an enterprise team rolling out agents across departments, Layest scales with you.

<Note>
  You don't need machine learning expertise to build agents on Layest. The platform is designed for teams who understand their domain and want AI to work within it — not the other way around.
</Note>

## Key concepts

Understanding these core concepts will help you navigate the platform and get the most out of every agent you build.

### Agents

An agent is the central building block in Layest. Each agent has a set of instructions, a role, access to capabilities, and optionally a knowledge base. Agents can respond to triggers, call external services, and hand off tasks to other agents.

### Workflows

Workflows define how an agent — or a chain of agents — moves through a series of steps to complete a task. You can build linear workflows or branch on conditions, loop over data, and handle errors gracefully.

### Capabilities

Capabilities extend what an agent can do. The three main capability types are:

* **Integrations** — Connect agents to external systems like Slack, Salesforce, PostgreSQL, or any REST API.
* **Triggers** — Define when an agent runs: on a schedule, via webhook, on a form submission, or manually.
* **Knowledge** — Attach documents, embeddings, and memory stores so agents always have relevant context at their fingertips.

### AI Assistant

The AI Assistant is a conversational interface built directly into your Layest workspace. Use it to query your data, run ad-hoc agent tasks, or explore your collections — all through natural language.

### Data & Views

Collections are structured data stores that live inside your workspace. Views let you slice, filter, and display that data in ways that make sense for your team. Agents can read from and write to collections as part of any workflow.

### Observability

Every agent run is recorded. Observability gives you full trace logs, step-by-step execution history, latency metrics, and error reporting — so you can debug confidently and improve over time.

<Tip>
  Start with the Quickstart guide to see all these concepts in action within a single, end-to-end walkthrough.
</Tip>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Workspace Setup" icon="gear" href="/get-started/workspace-setup">
    Create your account, configure your workspace, and invite your team — ready in minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="bolt" href="/get-started/quickstart">
    Go from a blank workspace to a running agent workflow in under five minutes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>