From Zero to Productive with AI-Assisted Development
Welcome! This repository contains everything you need for the 2-hour hands-on AI Agents for Coding workshop. Whether you're new to AI coding assistants or exploring advanced patterns, this workshop has something for you.
| File / Folder | Description |
|---|---|
| WORKSHOP-GUIDE.md | 🎯 Main guide to follow during the 120-minute workshop session |
| DAY-AGENDA.md | ⏱️ Timeline and section breakdown for the workshop |
| PARTICIPANT-CHECKLIST-MESSAGE.md | ✅ Pre-workshop setup (takes ~10 minutes) |
| exercise-agents-md-template.md | 📝 Template for the hands-on AGENTS.md exercise |
| sample-project/ | 🚀 TaskAPI sample project with 6 progressive exercises |
Click the Fork button at the top right of GitHub. This gives you your own copy to work with.
Read PARTICIPANT-CHECKLIST-MESSAGE.md and verify you have:
- ✅ VS Code installed (latest stable)
- ✅ GitHub Copilot extensions installed and activated
- ✅ GitHub account set up and signed into VS Code
- ✅ Copilot license verified on GitHub.com
Takes about 10 minutes. If you get stuck, come 10 minutes early to the workshop!
During the workshop, follow WORKSHOP-GUIDE.md step-by-step. It covers:
- The AI coding landscape and tools
- Prompt engineering for better results
- Writing custom AGENTS.md instructions
- Terminal-based agents and advanced patterns
TaskAPI is a minimal REST API for managing tasks. It's intentionally imperfect — great for practicing AI-assisted coding.
# 1. Install dependencies
pip install -r sample-project/requirements.txt
# 2. Run the server
python sample-project/app.py
# 3. Test it (in another terminal)
curl http://localhost:5000/health💡 pip not found? Many modern Macs don't ship with
pip. You can use uv instead — it's fast and easy to install:# Install uv (one-time) curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh # Or: brew install uv # Then use it in place of pip uv pip install -r sample-project/requirements.txt
The sample project contains 6 progressive exercises:
- AGENTS.md Exercise — Write custom AI agent instructions for the TaskAPI project
- Input Validation — Use AI to add validation to the POST endpoints
- Error Handling — Improve error messages and status codes
- Test Coverage — Expand the test suite with more test cases
- Environment Variables — Move hardcoded config values to
.env - Logging — Add logging to track API calls and errors
Each exercise has TODOs in the code marking where improvements are needed.
2 hours — Designed to fit a typical workshop slot with time for hands-on practice.
- ✅ How to write effective prompts for AI coding assistants
- ✅ How to define custom instructions using AGENTS.md
- ✅ Hands-on practice creating and testing your first AGENTS.md
- ✅ Patterns for reusable skills and extensions
- ✅ How to use AI agents beyond the IDE — in the terminal and automation
- 👨💻 Developers of all levels (beginners welcome!)
- 🤖 Anyone curious about AI-assisted development
- 🛠️ Teams looking to adopt AI tools into their workflow
- 💻 Your laptop (macOS, Windows, or Linux)
- ⚡ A charged battery
- 🧠 Your curiosity and questions!
The main presenter's guide with:
- Pre-workshop checklist and troubleshooting
- Detailed agenda with timing for each section
- Presentation notes and discussion points
- Hands-on exercise instructions
- Q&A and next steps
A quick reference timeline showing:
- Each section's duration and mode (presentation vs. hands-on)
- What you'll learn in each section
- Practical logistics and what to bring
A friendly setup checklist to make sure everyone is ready before the workshop. Covers:
- VS Code installation
- Copilot extensions
- Account sign-in verification
- Quick troubleshooting tips
A template you'll fill in during the workshop to create your first AGENTS.md file. Includes sections for:
- Project overview and tech stack
- Coding conventions
- Architecture and design decisions
- Security requirements
- Testing and validation guidelines
- Common tasks and "Do NOT" boundaries
sample-project/
├── app.py # Flask REST API (intentionally has gaps)
├── models.py # Task data model
├── database.py # In-memory database
├── config.py # Configuration (hardcoded — fix this!)
├── tests_app.py # Pytest tests (incomplete)
├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies
├── Dockerfile # Container definition
├── .env.example # Example environment variables
├── README.md # Project README
├── AGENTS.md # Your first exercise! (empty template)
└── FILES-MANIFEST.txt # File listing and exercise guide
cd sample-project
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Or with uv: uv pip install -r requirements.txtpython app.pyThe server runs at http://localhost:5000.
# Health check
curl http://localhost:5000/health
# Create a task
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/tasks \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"title": "Buy milk", "description": "2% milk", "due_date": "2024-12-25"}'
# Get all tasks
curl http://localhost:5000/taskspytest sample-project/tests_app.py -vTaskAPI is intentionally imperfect. It has:
- ❌ Missing input validation
- ❌ Incomplete error handling
- ❌ Hardcoded configuration
- ❌ Incomplete test coverage
- ❌ No logging
This is by design. You'll practice asking AI to fix these issues — great preparation for real-world work!
MIT — Feel free to use, modify, and share.
Before the workshop:
- Check the Troubleshooting section in WORKSHOP-GUIDE.md
- Ask the organizers if you get stuck on setup
During the workshop:
- No question is too basic — we're all learning together! 🚀
After the workshop:
- Keep practicing with the sample project
- Apply what you learned to your own projects
- Share your AGENTS.md with your team
Ready to get started? Fork this repo, complete the checklist, and see you at the workshop!