Choose a primitive

Pick the smallest primitive that matches the work. This keeps project structure clear and prevents overlapping agents, workflows, runs, and integrations.

Quick choice

Goal	Use	Start with
Receive browser, HTTP, or webhook traffic	App route or API route	Pages and routing
Answer users with model reasoning, tools, memory, or skills	Agent	Agents
Give an agent one typed capability	Tool	Tools
Package reusable agent behavior	Skill	Skills
Reuse assistant instructions	Prompt	MCP server
Expose readable context to assistants	Resource	MCP server
Define project-owned background work	Task	Tasks
Coordinate multiple steps, branches, approvals, or retries	Workflow	Workflows
Run durable background work now or on a schedule	Run or schedule	Runs
Connect agents to third-party services	Integration with OAuth	Integrations
Expose project capabilities to assistants over a protocol	MCP server	MCP server
Run isolated commands or file operations	Sandbox	Sandbox
Add reusable runtime capabilities	Extension	Extensions

Decision rules

Primitive	Use for	Do not use for
App route	A browser, HTTP client, or webhook needs an entry point.	The work should outlive the request or be reused outside routing.
Agent	The model must decide, explain, call tools, use memory, or stream a response.	The work is deterministic and can be a function, task, or workflow step.
Tool	An agent needs a typed operation such as search, lookup, write, or transform.	The operation has multiple long-running states or human approval steps.
Skill	An agent needs reusable instructions, references, scripts, and tool policy.	The work is deterministic or needs durable process state.
Prompt	An assistant needs reusable instruction text.	The project needs to execute code or read data.
Resource	An assistant needs readable project context.	The operation changes state or starts work.
Task	You own a reusable background function in `tasks/`.	The user needs conversational reasoning or streaming output.
Workflow	The process has ordered steps, parallel branches, retries, or human review.	A single agent response or one background function is enough.
Run	You need durable execution, scheduling, batch status, or run history.	The work can finish inside a request without durability.
Integration	You need provider metadata, OAuth, tokens, or remote integration tools.	A local custom API call is enough and no shared connector behavior is needed.
MCP server	External assistants or MCP clients need tools, prompts, or resources.	The capability is only used inside one Veryfront app route.
Sandbox	Code or shell work needs isolation from the app process.	The code can run safely in your own trusted runtime.
Extension	A capability should be packaged and reused across projects.	The code belongs to one app and can stay local.

Common pairings

Goal	Typical shape
Chat with company data	Agent + tools + memory + chat UI
Human-approved content pipeline	Workflow + agents + approval step
Nightly sync from an external API	Task + schedule + optional integration credentials
Assistant help with a repeatable task	Agent + skill + optional tools
Assistant reads project context	MCP server + resources
Observable invoice processing	Workflow + agents + task runs
User-authorized GitHub automation	Integration + OAuth + tools
Assistant-accessible project commands	MCP server + tools
Isolated repo inspection or code edits	Agent + sandbox + tools
Reusable Redis cache support	Extension + CacheStore contract

Verify it worked

Before building, write down the primitive and why it owns the work. Then check the matching guide:

If the guide’s first example solves your shape, continue there.
If you need two or more primitives, start with the one that owns the triggering event.
When choosing between Task and Run, remember that a task defines the work and a run executes it durably.

Run the guide’s example or validation command before adding another primitive.

Getting Started

Concepts

Guides

API Reference

Choose a primitive

Quick choice

Decision rules

Common pairings

Verify it worked

​Quick choice

​Decision rules

​Common pairings

​Verify it worked

Quick choice

Decision rules

Common pairings

Verify it worked