MentorMind Varro eduKG
Learner path

First contact

Read Varro as a chain, not a vocabulary list.

Start with a real source statement: someone has written a requirement, policy, diagram, or code rule. Varro turns the checkable part of that source material into VSL so a tool can reject wrong structure. Helios comes later, after the contract checks, to build and run surfaces from it.

Plain meanings used here

Specification
A statement of what a system, product, or workflow is meant to be or do. It may include prose, diagrams, code, policies, examples, and checkable contract structure.
Authoritative sources
The prose requirements, diagrams, source code, policies, and standards that own the truth. Varro should reflect these sources, not replace them.
Source of truth
The artifact that wins when two surfaces disagree. In this course, source artifacts outrank Varro pages, agent answers, and caller preferences.
Varro
The governed specification layer that turns source-backed system structure into a checkable VSL contract.
VSL
Varro Specification Language: the language used to describe systems, types, fields, enums, actions, workflows, routes, context, and runtime settings.
Checkable contract
A specification structure that a tool can validate and reject. The point is not more prose; the point is a contract that can fail when it is wrong.
Helios
The build and run engine that ingests the checked contract, generates operational surfaces, and hosts governed runtime services.

Follow one example through the diagram

  1. 1Source says the rule

    A course policy says every tutor answer must cite the source it used.

  2. 2Varro captures the checkable shape

    The source-backed rule becomes a VSL contract with the entities, allowed states, and actions the checker can reject.

  3. 3Helios builds from the checked contract

    Only after the contract checks does the build/run layer generate routes, services, and runtime surfaces.

  4. 4The live system follows the guardrails

    The running service uses the checked structure when it answers requests and handles state.

  5. 5Agents and learners use governed surfaces

    A tutor, dashboard, CLI, or web page can use the system, but it still cites sources rather than becoming the source of truth.

Learner path

Start with source authority, then move toward running systems.

The reference modules are organised by construct. This path is organised by what a new reader needs to know first: where authority lives, what Varro checks, what Helios does with the checked contract, and how live systems and agents sit on top.

1Authority foundationSources are the truth
2Varro / VSLSpecification that can fail
3HeliosBuild and run engine
4Live systemGoverned runtime
5Agents & surfacesPeople and agents use it

The teachable sequence

01 · Authoritative sources

Start with one real source.

Before the reference modules, identify the source artifact and ask which part can be checked. Varro is the governed specification layer; VSL is the language for the checkable contract.

Terms introduced

Specification
A statement of what a system, product, or workflow is meant to be or do. It may include prose, diagrams, code, policies, examples, and checkable contract structure.
Authoritative sources
The prose requirements, diagrams, source code, policies, and standards that own the truth. Varro should reflect these sources, not replace them.
Source of truth
The artifact that wins when two surfaces disagree. In this course, source artifacts outrank Varro pages, agent answers, and caller preferences.
Varro
The governed specification layer that turns source-backed system structure into a checkable VSL contract.
VSL
Varro Specification Language: the language used to describe systems, types, fields, enums, actions, workflows, routes, context, and runtime settings.
Checkable contract
A specification structure that a tool can validate and reject. The point is not more prose; the point is a contract that can fail when it is wrong.
Authority stack
The ordering rule for disagreements: authoritative sources first, Varro as the window, callers and agents last.

Concepts to read next

  • Varro
  • VSL
  • Authority Stack

You are ready to continue when you can

  • point to the source artifact behind a Varro claim
  • state what Varro is not allowed to replace
  • explain what it means for one part of a specification to be checkable

Reference pages

02 · Varro: VSL -> checkable contract

Learn the VSL core contract shape.

The first concrete Varro idea is not the command verbs. It is the structure of a checked contract: a system with types, fields, and closed enums.

Assumed terms

Terms introduced

Varro
The governed specification layer that turns source-backed system structure into a checkable VSL contract.
VSL
Varro Specification Language: the language used to describe systems, types, fields, enums, actions, workflows, routes, context, and runtime settings.
System
The top-level VSL container for a governed domain. It names the mission, authority, maturity, context, type model, behavior, and surfaces.
Type
A named record shape made of typed fields. In VSL, types describe data shape and do not own behavior.
Field
A named value inside a type, with a kind and a required or optional presence rule.
Enum
A closed set of allowed values. New values are not silently accepted at use sites.

Concepts to read next

  • system
  • type
  • field
  • enum

You are ready to continue when you can

  • identify a VSL system as the top-level contract container
  • explain why a type is a data shape rather than a class with methods
  • explain why closed enums make invalid states fail

Reference pages

03 · Varro behavior

Add behavior without losing governance.

After the data shape, learn how the contract describes governed operations, read-only queries, and ordered workflows.

Assumed terms

Terms introduced

Action
A governed operation that can change state. It carries inputs, risk, and lowering information, and is run under preview-by-default.
Query
A read contract that declares what information can be asked for and which authority it reads from. A query does not mutate state.
Workflow
An ordered sequence of governed steps. The order is part of the contract.
Preview-by-default
The safety principle that governed actions describe their effects before committing them. Execution is explicit rather than accidental.

Concepts to read next

  • action
  • query
  • workflow
  • preview-by-default

You are ready to continue when you can

  • distinguish a mutating action from a read-only query
  • explain why workflow order is load-bearing
  • state why preview-by-default is safer than direct mutation

Reference pages

04 · Helios: build and run engine

See what happens after the contract checks.

A checked contract becomes operational only when it can be lowered, built, and run. This is where compile targets, routes, views, context, runtime, and Helios enter the story.

Assumed terms

Terms introduced

Helios
The build and run engine that ingests the checked contract, generates operational surfaces, and hosts governed runtime services.
Compile
The VSL lowering step that produces a typed downstream artifact for a named target.
Route
A named address in the governed Helios resource space. It is not just an HTTP endpoint label.
View
A declared way to render or project a selected part of system state.
Context
The governed resource root that anchors how routes, views, and runtime surfaces are resolved.
Runtime
The configured execution environment and settings that govern how a checked contract is hosted and operated.

Concepts to read next

  • compile
  • route
  • view
  • context
  • runtime

You are ready to continue when you can

  • describe Helios as the build/run layer rather than the source of truth
  • explain why a route is a governed address, not just an HTTP endpoint
  • explain how context and runtime anchor generated surfaces

Reference pages

05 · Live system and agents

Use the running system through governed surfaces.

Only after the contract and build/run path are clear should the reader learn the interaction verbs and the agent/product surfaces that consume the live system.

Assumed terms

Terms introduced

Live system
The running governed system after a checked contract has been built, deployed, and connected to services and data.
Agent surface
A product, API, tutor, dashboard, CLI, or AI-agent interface that consumes the governed system without becoming the source of truth.

Concepts to read next

  • ask
  • show
  • check
  • run
  • create
  • agent
  • Varro

You are ready to continue when you can

  • explain what each of the five verbs does at the surface
  • distinguish a product or agent surface from the source of truth
  • describe how an agent can cite sources without becoming authoritative

Reference pages

06 · Hardening and proof

Place maturity and crystallisation last.

The maturity ladder and crystallisation phases are useful after the reader knows what is being hardened. They describe how intent moves from draft to checked, bound, hardened, and eventually toward proof-oriented artifacts.

Assumed terms

Terms introduced

Maturity
A rung in the specification lifecycle, such as draft, checked, bound, or hardened.
Crystallisation
The hardening path from loose intent to more formal and checked artifacts, described here with phases such as Plasma, Gas, Liquid, Solid, and Crystal.
Lean
A theorem-proving environment used in the broader hardening story. In this course it appears as part of the Crystal/proof end of the model, not as a prerequisite for starting Varro.

Concepts to read next

  • draft
  • checked
  • bound
  • hardened
  • Plasma
  • Gas
  • Liquid
  • Solid
  • Crystal

You are ready to continue when you can

  • explain why checked does not yet mean hardened
  • place Plasma, Gas, Liquid, Solid, and Crystal in increasing formalisation order
  • state why proof tooling belongs at the hardening end, not at the first learner step

Reference pages