How it works
Short steps, a live demo, your own code, a real check
A course is a sequence of sessions; a session is five or six mini steps of five to twelve minutes; every step has the same five beats. The AI tutor runs the beats with you in a VS Code seat in your browser, with the language's real toolchain already installed and no internet needed.
The five beats of a step
Predict
One question, three or four buttons, before the idea is taught. Being wrong here is the point: it makes the lesson land.
Lesson
The idea in two or three plain sentences, in the language's own terms, with the one fact that prevents the common bug.
Demo
The tutor builds a small example live in its own demo file in your seat and narrates what you see on screen.
Hands-on
You build your version in your own file. The tutor may hint and ask questions; it never types in your hands-on file while you are working.
Check and explain
The machine runs, tests or inspects your code and quotes the first failing line in plain words. After a pass you explain the idea back in one sentence.
What the badge on a step means
| Badge | Meaning | How the engine knows |
|---|---|---|
| tutored · T0 | You said you are done. | Your confirmation; used for reading and discussion steps. |
| checked · T3 | The step's check passed over your own files. | A run, a test report, a build, a lint or a code-shape rule evaluated in your seat. |
| proven · T4 | The check also passed on inputs you did not see. | Hidden tests or run arguments the grader supplies at check time; used for every capstone and some labs. |
Tiers T1 (activity) and T2 (artefact exists) are recorded too but not shown on course pages.
The seat
A VS Code seat in your browser with the stacks pre-installed and working offline: Java 25 with Maven and JUnit, Python 3.13 with pytest, .NET 10 with xUnit, Node 22 with TypeScript, Angular 22 and Vitest, Rust with cargo and clippy, and a PostgreSQL 17 database. Your files stay in your seat; the tutor's demo files live apart from yours.
Certificates
Beginner, intermediate and advanced courses define a certificate with gates: the lab steps that must be checked or proven, plus a short reading quiz. Certificates are issued from the engine's own record of your checks once the check runner is live; kids courses have a completion card for the guardian instead.
Start now at codingtutor.agilesystemsoftware.com: new accounts start free with Java from zero (JV050).