# Guides

Task-oriented guides for editor users, game programmers, and engine contributors. Start with the guide matching your work; implementation-heavy guides are not prerequisites for editing a scene.

| Guide | Covers |
|-------|--------|
| [Working in the editor](/docs/guides/editor-workflow.md) | Artists and designers: open, place, edit, test, and save without code |
| [Development](/docs/guides/development.md) | Change seams, validation, `hikari_std` |
| [Gameplay API](/docs/guides/gameplay-api.md) | Actors, components, callbacks, typed fields |
| [Component lifecycle](/docs/guides/component-lifecycle.md) | Callback order, activation, and teardown |
| [Concurrency](/docs/guides/concurrency.md) | Threads, worker jobs, and gameplay routines |
| [Gameplay AI tasks](/docs/guides/ai-tasks.md) | Typed gameplay actions, cancellation, editor authoring and door encounter |
| [Game AI](/docs/guides/game-ai.md) | Hearing, vision, navigation, and the sample guard |
| [Brain assets](/docs/guides/brain-assets.md) | Author reusable AI programs and inspect live decisions |
| [Swarm AI](/docs/guides/swarm-ai.md) | Run Brain programs over `defineSwarm` populations with budgeted sensing |
| [Localization](/docs/guides/localization.md) | Translation editor, catalogs, and text APIs |
| [Game cursors](/docs/guides/ui-cursors.md) | Cursor artwork and native/software rendering |
| [Component storage](/docs/guides/component-storage.md) | Attachable, embedded, and swarm: strengths, limits, examples |
| [Build and packaging](/docs/guides/build-and-packaging.md) | Kaji products and outputs |
| [Project file](/docs/guides/project-file.md) | Identity, `configs/`, version axes |
| [Plugins](/docs/guides/plugins.md) | Source-composed packages |
| [Plugin API](/docs/guides/plugin-api.md) | Author-facing editor / gameplay / render contracts |
| [Data, JSON, and modding](/docs/guides/data-and-modding.md) | Content refs and loose data |
| [Scripting with Kawa](/docs/guides/scripting-kawa.md) | Engine integration for scripts |
| [Shader authoring](/docs/guides/shaders.md) | Packages, layouts, product pipeline |
| [Choosing and scaling shadows](/docs/guides/shadows.md) | VSM, Hybrid and RT decisions, independent quality controls, profiling |
| [Time of day](/docs/guides/time-of-day.md) | Astronomical clock, atmosphere, sun/moon lights |
| [User interface](/docs/guides/user-interface.md) | Game UI hub |
| [UI layout](/docs/guides/ui-layout.md) | Coordinates, stacks, scroll |
| [UI widgets](/docs/guides/ui-widgets.md) | Controls, focus, modals, identity |
| [Migration](/docs/guides/migration.md) | Unity / Unreal vocabulary map |

Onboarding walkthroughs: [tutorials/](/docs/tutorials.md).  
Engine behaviour: [systems/](/docs/systems.md).