Tools and Platforms

All exercises in this playbook work with any AI chat tool. You don't need a specific platform — use whatever you're comfortable with. This page lists options by category for reference.

AI Chat Tools

These are the tools you'll use for most exercises. Any one of them is sufficient.

Tool	Best For	Notes
ChatGPT (OpenAI)	General-purpose exercises, wide model selection	Free tier available. GPT-4o recommended for more complex exercises.
Claude (Anthropic)	Long-form analysis, nuanced reasoning	Strong at synthesis and following complex instructions.
Gemini (Google)	Integration with Google Workspace, multimodal tasks	Good for exercises involving documents or data in Google ecosystem.
Copilot (Microsoft)	Integration with Microsoft 365	Useful if your workflow lives in Outlook, Word, and Teams.

Agent Frameworks

Referenced in the advanced Agent Collaboration exercises. Not required for any exercise — the playbook teaches agent thinking through manual prompting first.

Framework	What It Does	When to Explore
CrewAI	Python framework for orchestrating multiple AI agents with defined roles	After completing AC-Advanced-01 — when you want to automate the handoffs you did manually
AutoGen (Microsoft)	Framework for building multi-agent conversations	When you want agents that can talk to each other without manual copy-pasting
LangGraph (LangChain)	Framework for building stateful agent workflows with graph-based logic	When you need complex conditional logic in your agent pipelines

Automation Tools

Relevant to the Workflow Automation pillar, especially at the advanced level.

Tool	What It Does	When to Explore
n8n	Open-source workflow automation with AI integration nodes	After completing WA-Advanced-01 — when you want to automate your prompt chains
Make (formerly Integromat)	Visual workflow builder with AI steps	Good for non-technical users who want to automate without code
Zapier	Simple automation connectors between apps, with AI actions	Best for straightforward automations: trigger → AI step → action

Productivity Integrations

Tools that embed AI into existing workflows.

Tool	What It Does
Notion AI	AI writing and analysis built into Notion workspace
Obsidian + Smart Connections	AI-powered linking and search within an Obsidian vault
Raycast AI	Quick AI access from any application on macOS
Google Workspace AI	AI features embedded in Docs, Sheets, Gmail