# Choose where to work > Choose Studio for visual creation, Core for applications and AI clients, or the CLI for local work, then find the right starting point for your task. Source: https://kaitoi.io/docs/start/overview/ Section: Start here / Getting started Written for: Anyone deciding how to start creating or building with Kaitoi. Last reviewed: 2026-10-24 --- Start with **Kaitoi Studio** when you want to make and refine content in your browser. Choose **Kaitoi Core** when another application or AI client should work with Kaitoi. Choose the **Kaitoi CLI** when your task centers on files, code, or services on your computer. Penny is available in Lab and Graph. Ask it to develop an idea in Lab, or work with it in Graph to build workflows and create custom nodes. You do not have to start in Lab to ask for help. ## Pick your starting point **Kaitoi Studio — create in your browser.** Choose a starting point for the work you want to do: - [Lab](/docs/studio/lab/): explore a brief and create through conversation. - [Graph](/docs/studio/graphs/): connect nodes and inspect each step. - [Blocks](/docs/studio/blocks/): arrange supported operations as blocks. - [Story](/docs/studio/storyboards/): plan scenes and shots in a storyboard. - [Timeline](/docs/studio/timeline/): arrange clips and sound. - [Stations](/docs/stations/using/): run a published workflow through its controls. The Studio overview shows the observed desktop layout: floating toolbar near the top, view dock at the bottom center, and Penny's input near the bottom center above the dock. Stations is a separate starting point, not a dock tab. **Kaitoi Core — connect an app or AI client.** Use the [REST API](/docs/core/quickstart/) to integrate projects, files, and runs into your application. Use [MCP](/docs/core/mcp/) to give a compatible AI client tools for Kaitoi. **Kaitoi CLI — work from your computer.** Use [Kaitoi Code](/docs/cli/code/) to work with files in a trusted local folder, [Crew](/docs/cli/crew/) for a longer coding task you can follow and control, or [local services and recipes](/docs/cli/recipes/) to connect supported local services to Kaitoi and run local AI models from recipes. Begin with [Install the CLI](/docs/cli/install/). The conceptual terminal illustration shows `kaitoi code`, which starts Code. The CLI also includes Runtime for recipes and Connect for supported local services. The illustration does not execute a command or open an app session. Penny works across Studio, including Lab and the graph, and powers Kaitoi Code in the terminal. Choose the place that fits your task. *Figure: Three ways to work with Kaitoi: Studio in your browser, Core through REST or MCP, and the CLI on your computer.* Available views, integrations, and authoring tools depend on your account and installation. [Plans and availability](/docs/reference/plans/) explains the access requirements. ## Create in Studio Use **Lab** to explore a brief, discuss references, and generate variations through conversation. Use **Graph** when you want to see the operations, connections, and intermediate results that make a repeatable workflow. Penny works in both. In Lab it helps you explore and create on the canvas. In Graph it can build or change workflows and write custom nodes, where your account permits it. If you ask for graph work in Lab, Penny can offer to open a fresh Graph conversation after you confirm. That conversation does not include the Lab chat. **Blocks** works with the same underlying node graph and presents supported operations as blocks. Choose the view that gives you the controls you need; switching views does not make a second copy of the workflow. For scene planning, open **Story**, the storyboard view. For arranging clips and sound over time, open **Timeline**. Open a **Station** when you want to run a tool that someone has already packaged with chosen inputs and outputs. Lab conversations and their canvas items are separate from the graph. Use the send and import actions to move supported results between them. Sending a Lab result to Graph creates a node that loads that result; it does not automatically rebuild the workflow that generated it. ## Connect an application or AI client Use the **REST API** when you are writing an application that needs to discover nodes, manage projects and files, or submit and inspect runs. Start with the [Core quickstart](/docs/core/quickstart/) and [API authentication](/docs/core/authentication/). Use **MCP** when you want an AI client to discover and use Kaitoi tools through conversation. Start with [Connect an AI client](/docs/core/mcp/). An MCP client does not automatically control the Studio tab you have open. Live Studio control requires a server with Studio attachment support, **Agent access** enabled for that tab, and the client explicitly attached to it. Otherwise, its working graph is separate from the open canvas. ## Work from your computer **Kaitoi Code** brings Penny into your terminal to read and edit files in a trusted folder, work with Kaitoi projects and graphs, and run local commands under its permission controls. It can also use local models and tools. Run `kaitoi code` to start Code. For a larger coding task, **Crew** provides a durable run you can inspect and control. Start one from Kaitoi Code or with `kaitoi crew run`, then follow it from any terminal. **Kaitoi Connect** connects supported local services to Kaitoi; **Kaitoi Runtime** manages recipes for running local AI models. Start with [Install the CLI](/docs/cli/install/), then [your first Kaitoi Code session](/docs/cli/code/). Choose where you work separately from where Kaitoi is hosted. The CLI provides local tools; [Kaitoi Studio and Kaitoi Open Source](/docs/concepts/studio-and-open-source/) covers the choice of running the platform yourself and its availability. ## Keep useful work reusable Save an editable graph as a **project** before expanding or sharing it. Then choose the form that fits the next person or task: | Reuse | What it provides | | ------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Template](/docs/studio/templates/) | A reusable starting graph for another project. | | [Skill](/docs/studio/skills/) | An executable workflow Penny can call in Lab. | | [Playbook](/docs/studio/playbooks/) | Written guidance for how Penny should approach a conversation. | | [Station](/docs/stations/creating/) | A runnable tool with chosen inputs and outputs for visitors. | | [Workflow API endpoint](/docs/core/workflow-endpoints/) | A workflow interface another application can call. | You can start with one small result and decide how to package it later. [Your first project](/docs/start/first-project/) takes you through that first graph and save.