# Introduction

> What Tango is, how its vaults and app fit together, and where to start reading, whether you create strategies, back them or ask an AI about them.

Source: https://docs.tango.fun/

Tango is the marketplace for tokenized trading strategies. **Creators** turn their strategies into onchain vaults. **Backers** choose the strategies they have conviction in and deposit USDC. Good ideas deserve backing.

These docs explain how that works. They cover the smart contracts underneath every strategy, and the choices the Tango app makes on top of them.

> **Key points**
>
> - Every strategy on Tango is a vault: a set of smart contracts that holds the backers' USDC and enforces the strategy's rules.
> - Backers deposit USDC and receive shares. Withdrawals are requests, settled at NAV per share.
> - The contracts set what is possible. The Tango app uses narrower settings, and sets what Tango users do today.
> - Strategies are created by their creators, not by Tango. Read a strategy's Risks tab and these docs before you deposit.

## How it fits together

The diagram follows a strategy from the creator's idea to a backer's deposit and withdrawal.

```text
Creator -> Tango app: builds a strategy (assets, lending, liquidity, perps, fees)
Tango app -> Vault factory: deploys a Tango vault with fixed limits
Backer -> Vault: deposits USDC, receives shares
Vault -> Tracked sub-account: tokens, tokenized stocks, Morpho lending, Uniswap liquidity, valued by onchain price feeds (oracles)
Vault -> Attested sub-account: perps on Hyperliquid, valued by a posted figure that must stay within strict limits
Backer -> Vault: requests a withdrawal, settled at NAV per share
```

NAV (net asset value) is the total value of everything the vault holds, in USDC. NAV per share is that value divided by the number of shares. [Key concepts](https://docs.tango.fun/concepts.md) explains these and the other terms these docs use.

## Start here

| If you want to | Read |
| --- | --- |
| See what makes Tango different | [What makes Tango different](https://docs.tango.fun/why-tango.md) |
| Understand the vocabulary | [Key concepts](https://docs.tango.fun/concepts.md) |
| Know why Tango built its own vault | [Why a custom vault](https://docs.tango.fun/vaults/why-custom.md) |
| See the whole system on one page | [Architecture overview](https://docs.tango.fun/vaults/architecture.md) |
| Create a strategy | [Create a strategy](https://docs.tango.fun/app/create-a-strategy.md) |
| Deposit or withdraw | [Deposits in the app](https://docs.tango.fun/app/deposits.md) and [Withdrawals in the app](https://docs.tango.fun/app/withdrawals.md) |
| Trade perps | [Perps on Hyperliquid](https://docs.tango.fun/app/venues/hyperliquid.md) |
| Hold tokenized stocks | [Tokenized stocks](https://docs.tango.fun/app/tokenized-stocks.md) |
| Check who can change what | [Roles and profiles](https://docs.tango.fun/vaults/roles.md) and [Timelocks](https://docs.tango.fun/vaults/timelocks.md) |

## Two layers

Tango has two layers: the contracts that hold the money, and the app people use to build and back strategies.

**Tango vaults** are the contracts. They enforce the rules for every strategy: which assets it can hold, how it is valued, and how money comes in and goes out. They also decide who can change what, and how long each change takes. The [Tango vaults](https://docs.tango.fun/vaults/why-custom.md) section describes them.

**The Tango app** at [app.tango.fun](https://app.tango.fun) is where creators build and run strategies, and where backers deposit. The app deploys vaults with narrower settings than the contracts allow. For example, it fixes a strategy's assets for life. The [Tango app](https://docs.tango.fun/app/overview.md) section describes those choices.

When the two differ, the contracts set what is possible, and the app sets what Tango users do today.

## For AI assistants

Every page is available as Markdown at its own URL with `.md` added. The full index is at [/llms.txt](https://docs.tango.fun/llms.txt), and the whole site is one file at [/llms-full.txt](https://docs.tango.fun/llms-full.txt). See [For AI assistants](https://docs.tango.fun/reference/for-ai-assistants.md).

## Before you deposit

Strategies are created by their creators, not by Tango. Permissions, limits and timelocks constrain what can happen; they do not guarantee returns or protect against every loss. Smart contracts, oracles, venues and bridges can fail. Withdrawals are requests with no fixed settlement time. Read a strategy's Risks tab and these docs, and decide for yourself. Nothing here is investment advice.