> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gradial.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is Gradial ACI?

> A governed content foundation for building, reviewing, personalizing, and publishing content-driven websites.

Gradial ACI (Agentic Content Infrastructure) is a governed content foundation for content-driven websites. It connects structured content to your frontend components, validates each release, and gives teams a clear path from draft to live.

<Info>
  Access: Must be enabled for your organization. Contact your Gradial team to get access.
</Info>

## What ACI provides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Structured, versioned content" icon="code-branch">
    Pages, shared fragments, site configuration, and personalization overlays use a consistent file-based model with a reviewable history.
  </Card>

  <Card title="A contract with your frontend" icon="file-contract">
    Component and layout contracts define which content your site accepts. ACI validates content against those contracts before release.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Safe review workflows" icon="eye">
    Branches isolate work in progress. Each branch can be previewed with its linked code before changes are approved.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Controlled delivery" icon="rocket">
    Approved changes are promoted deliberately, staged as a release, and activated as one consistent site version.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

ACI supports both standard site content and personalized experiences. It compiles a base experience and any configured variants before delivery. At request time, ACI selects an eligible variant at the edge and falls back to the base experience when no variant applies.

## How ACI fits into your stack

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
    A["Content teams<br/>and Gradial"] --> C["Gradial ACI"]
    B["Frontend repository<br/>Astro or Next.js"] --> C
    C --> D["Validate and compile"]
    D --> E["Preview"]
    D --> F["Release"]
    F --> G["Your hosting"]

    style C fill:#6366f1,color:#fff
    style D fill:#8b5cf6,color:#fff
```

Your frontend remains in your repository and continues to use your design system. ACI connects content to that code through a small project configuration and typed component and layout contracts.

Current starter projects support:

* **Astro** for the standard ACI site setup
* **Next.js** when your site needs the Next.js ecosystem or ACI's supported server-rendered delivery mode

## One workflow, regardless of where work starts

A change may begin with a content team in Gradial, a developer editing project files, or a compatible coding agent. The path to live stays the same:

1. Make the change on an isolated branch.
2. Validate it against the site's contracts.
3. Preview the branch with the intended code build.
4. Land approved work on `main`.
5. Promote selected content to `live`.
6. Stage and activate a release.

This separation lets teams iterate without changing the live site and makes approval distinct from publication.

## ACI and the Gradial platform

ACI provides content structure, validation, preview, personalization, and delivery. Gradial is the marketing execution platform that works through those capabilities to help your team plan and complete content operations.

The same content model and validation rules apply whether a person, Gradial, or developer tooling makes the change. That keeps governance attached to the work instead of the interface used to create it.

***

*Next: [Why Gradial ACI →](/aci/getting-started/why-aci)*


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