> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developer.gaianet.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developer.gaianet.ai/welcome-to-gaia.md).

# Welcome to Gaia

## What is Gaia?

GaiaNet is revolutionizing AI by offering a decentralized computing infrastructure that empowers individuals and businesses to create, deploy, scale, and monetize their own AI services using proprietary data. Our mission is to unlock living knowledge systems, ensuring these AI services reflect the unique styles, values, knowledge, and expertise of their creators.

### What do we do?

We enable individuals and businesses alike to create and customize AI agents based on their individual needs and expertise.&#x20;

### What is this handbook?

This is your guide to everything GaiaNet.&#x20;

Communities, especially ones like ours, can be perplexing and overwhelming, so we aim for this handbook to make it easy to understand and find your way in Gaia.

We’re excited that you’re here, let’s make sure we stay in touch!

* Join us on [Discord](https://discord.com/invite/gaianet-ai)
* Join our Developer [Telegram](https://t.me/+a0bJInD5lsYxNDJl)
* Follow us on [X](https://x.com/Gaianet_AI)
* Follow us on [Medium](https://medium.com/@Gaianet.ai)

Now that you're staying in touch, you're ready to take your [First Steps](#first-steps)...


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter:

```
GET https://developer.gaianet.ai/welcome-to-gaia.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
