How to Start
Begin with the ecosystem reference, the Start repository, public livestreams, podcasts, and learning groups. The website gives a stable public map, while Discord and recurring events provide synchronous participation.
Learners and researchers looking for structured entry points.
Learning and Research
Textbook groups, videos, podcasts, courses, research resources, implementations, and technical foundations.
On this page
Learning and Research guide
Learning resources point newcomers and experienced participants toward living references, livestreams, Active Inference Insights, textbook groups, readings, code implementations, and domain-specific courses.
Core Readings
Learning pathways include the 2022 textbook by Thomas Parr, Giovanni Pezzulo, and Karl J. Friston; Maxwell Ramstead's 2023 precis; Jared Tumiel's Spinning Up in Active Inference; Beren Millidge's paper repository; and work on Active Inference ontology and teams.
Courses and Groups
Learning surfaces include Fundamentals of Active Inference, Textbook Group, Social Science course, Physics course, RxInfer.jl learning group, Seasonal School, and theoretical neurobiology conversations.
Implementations
Implementation pathways include RxInfer.jl, PyMDP, SPM, symbolic cognitive robotics, and open repositories. These support practical modeling and experimentation.
Tech-tree explorer
Explore the Active Inference learning graph
An interactive map of concepts, methods, and tools across the Active Inference and Free Energy Principle tech trees. Select a node to highlight its neighbors; filter by relationship type.
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Key surfaces
Learning and Research at a glance
Textbook Group
A collaborative path through Active Inference foundations.
Livestreams
Public updates, seminars, model streams, guest streams, and educational recordings.
Active Inference Insights
Conversational podcast material available through public media channels.
Research Resources
References, repositories, papers, ontologies, and implementation links.
Learning Map
A structured path through concepts, methods, and applications.
Implementations
RxInfer.jl, PyMDP, SPM, and symbolic cognitive robotics.
Ideas and methods
Concepts and methods from the learning graph
A compact selection from the Active Inference and Free Energy Principle tech-tree nodes.
| Idea | Type | Maturity | Summary | Tags | Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action as Active Inference | Application | Established | Action as the process of changing the world to fulfill predictions, minimizing free energy by acting on the environment rather than updating beliefs. | action, embodied, motor | Active Inference |
| Learning as Model Update | Application | Established | Learning as the slow update of generative model parameters to minimize long-term free energy, encompassing synaptic plasticity and structure learning. | learning, model-update, plasticity | Active Inference |
| Perception as Inference | Application | Established | Perception understood as Bayesian inference — updating internal generative models to explain away prediction errors from sensory input. | inference, perception, sensory | Active Inference |
| Active Inference | Concept | Established | The process theory derived from the Free Energy Principle: agents act to fulfill predictions and minimize expected free energy through perception and action. | active-inference, process-theory | Active Inference |
| Allostasis | Concept | Advanced | Predictive homeostasis — anticipatory regulation that adjusts setpoints based on expected future demands rather than reacting to deviations. | anticipatory, predictive, regulation | Free Energy Principle |
| Autopoiesis | Concept | Established | Self-producing systems as defined by Maturana and Varela — living systems that continuously produce and maintain themselves. | maturana, self-production, varela | Free Energy Principle |
| Entropy | Concept | Established | A measure of uncertainty or disorder in a probability distribution, connecting information theory to thermodynamics. | disorder, entropy, uncertainty | Free Energy Principle |
| Expected Free Energy | Concept | Established | The objective function for policy selection in active inference, combining epistemic (information-seeking) and pragmatic (goal-seeking) drives. | efe, epistemic, policy-selection, pragmatic | Active Inference |
Related resources
Public links for this page
External links are resolved from the shared registry so visitor-facing destinations stay centralized and checkable.
ActiveInference.org landing page
Audience: Newcomer
Current public landing page for the Institute, including mission, vision, open-science framing, and the Get Started pathway.
officialoverviewmission
Weekly updates
Audience: Newcomer
Recurring public update surface for activity orientation and current work.
communityweekly
Start repository
Audience: Learner
Learning repository for getting started with Active Inference materials and pathways.
learningstart-repo
Ecosystem shortlink
Audience: Researcher
Public ecosystem shortlink for Institute context, projects, activities, and conceptual maps.
researchecosystem
START documentation site
Audience: Learner
Public START documentation site for tailored Active Inference learning and curriculum generation.
start-repolearningcurriculum
YouTube channel
Audience: Newcomer
Public video channel for seminars, streams, educational sessions, and community recordings.
mediayoutube
YouTube handle
Audience: Newcomer
Direct handle for the public YouTube presence.
mediayoutube-handle
Videos and podcasts shortlink
Audience: Newcomer
Public videos and podcasts shortlink for browsing recordings by format and topic.
mediavideo
Podcast feed
Audience: Newcomer
Podcast destination for Active Inference conversations and interviews.
mediapodbean
GitHub organization
Audience: Developer
Public GitHub organization for Institute repositories and open-source work.
projectsgithub-org
Generalized Notation Notation repository
Audience: Developer
Generalized Notation Notation project repository for model communication.
projectsgnn
Active Inference Journal repository
Audience: Researcher
Research and publication-oriented repository for the Active Inference Journal.
researchjournal
Official pages
Official Institute surfaces
ActiveInference.org landing page
Audience: Newcomer
Current public Institute landing page with mission, vision, nonprofit status, community metrics, and Get Started pathway.
officialmissionoverview
Education overview
Audience: Learner
Official education entry point, currently resolving to courses.
officialeducationcourses
Courses
Audience: Learner
Official courses page for learning Active Inference.
officialcourseslearning
Textbook Group
Audience: Learner
Official Textbook Group page.
officialtextbooklearning
Livestreams
Audience: Learner
Official livestreams page.
officiallivestreamsmedia
Research overview
Audience: Researcher
Official research entry point, currently resolving to the research overview.
officialresearch
Research overview page
Audience: Researcher
Official research overview page.
officialresearchoverview
RxInfer
Audience: Developer
Official RxInfer learning page.
officialrxinferimplementation
Repositories
Related open-source repositories
act_inf_metaanalysis
Audience: Researcher
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Active Inference and RxInfer.jl
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Active_Inference_Ontology
Audience: Researcher
Ontology-oriented repository for shared Active Inference concepts and decentralized science knowledge infrastructure.
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Public content repository for the Active Inference Journal and related publication infrastructure.
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Active Entity Ontology for Science
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