Inside a lesson

What a lesson looks like end to end: workspace boot, AI tutor, checkpoints, code challenges, and finish.

The three panes#

A lesson is laid out as three panes: instructions on the left, a VS Code editor in the middle, and a terminal on the right (with the AI tutor pinned to the side).

Instructions. The lesson body, step by step. Each step lands at a checkpoint or a question.
Editor. A real VS Code on a real machine. Files are persisted to the workspace filesystem.
Terminal. A real shell on the same machine. Whatever you run here is what the checkpoint script sees.

The tutor is wired into the same workspace and reads the files you are editing plus the terminal output. Ask it "why is my docker-compose failing?" and it can see the compose file, the error log, and your last few commands.

Privacy

The tutor only reads the lesson workspace, never your other workspaces. The lesson workspace is destroyed when you leave the lesson.

Checkpoints and quizzes#

Most steps end in either:

A checkpoint: a server-side script that inspects the workspace (file contents, a service status, an HTTP response) and either passes or explains what is still missing.
A quiz: a multiple choice question that gates the next step.

Code challenges#

Some lessons end in a code challenge: an intentionally broken environment you have to diagnose and fix. This reuses the same question type as the Interview product's hands-on challenges, which is why your Academy fluency translates one to one to interview readiness.

Finish and cleanup#

When you finish the last step, the lesson is marked complete in your progress, the workspace is shut down, and storage is reclaimed. Your code is not preserved unless you explicitly export it. Next time you open the same lesson, you start from a fresh machine.