Day 1 — Monday, July 20, 2026
Course kickoff and how LLMs and agents work
9:00–9:30 AM
Course Introduction
30 min- Welcome and introductions
- Course objectives
- Course timeline
- Projects and project structure
- Logistics, accounts, and access
9:30–9:45 AM
Setting Up the AI Course Assistant (Aca)
15 min- Meet Aca — a course-aware assistant that coaches you, not one that does the work for you
- Confirm your Claude account and that the Aca skill is provisioned
- Run `Aca init` to build your personal profile
- Where to learn more and get help during the course
9:50–10:40 AM
How LLMs Work
50 min- A working mental model of large language models
- Tokens, context windows, and sampling
- Capabilities and failure modes
10:45–11:35 AM
From Models to Agents
50 min- What makes a system “agentic”
- Tools, loops, and environments
- Respecting Agent capabilities, boundaries, and constraints
11:40 AM–12:00 PM
Introduction to Context Engineering
20 min- What do you know that the agent needs to know
- Structuring context for better results
- Best practices for effective prompting
1:00–2:00 PM
Team Project Time & Office Hours
60 min- Team project work time
- Office hours — get your questions answered
- Mentoring and hands-on practice
Day 2 — Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Working with Claude
9:00–9:30 AM
Introduction to Context Engineering (continued)
30 min- What do you know that the agent needs to know
- Structuring context for better results
- Best practices for effective prompting
9:40–10:30 AM
Meet the Claude Family
50 min- Introduction to the Claude Model Family
- Introduction to Harnesses: Claude, Claude Cowork, Claude Design, and Claude Code
- When to use each
- Managing local and remote workflows
10:40–11:30 AM
Context Engineering with Claude & Claude Cowork
50 min- Getting information into the system
- Structuring context and prompts for better results
- Modes and Models, Oh My!
- Retaining and using artifacts effectively
11:40 AM–12:00 PM
Hands-On: Produce a Project Report
20 min- Guided exercise: a polished report with Claude Cowork
- Iterating and refining results
- Validating and editing the output
1:00–2:00 PM
Team Project Time & Office Hours
60 min- Team project work time
- Office hours — get your questions answered
- Mentoring and hands-on practice
Day 3 — Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Supercharging your Agents: Skills, Tools, Subagents, and Workflows
9:00–9:30 AM
Context Engineering with Claude & Claude Cowork (continued)
30 min- Getting information into the system
- Structuring context and prompts for better results
- Modes and Models, Oh My!
- Retaining and using artifacts effectively
9:40–10:30 AM
Using Skills and Tools
50 min- Introduction to Skills, tools, workflows, subagents, and MCP
- When to use each
- Assessing quality, safety, and reliability
10:40–11:30 AM
Building Skills
50 min- Building Skills with Skills
- Packaging, shipping, and sharing
- Build and share your own skill
11:40 AM–12:00 PM
Deep Research
20 min- Deep research agents
- Strategies and techniques for effective deep research
- Leveraging research results
1:00–2:00 PM
Team Project Time & Office Hours
60 min- Team project work time
- Office hours — get your questions answered
- Mentoring and hands-on practice
Day 4 — Thursday, July 23, 2026
Scaling up: Claude Code
9:00–9:30 AM
Deep Research (recap)
30 min- Deep research agents
- Strategies and techniques for effective deep research
- Leveraging research results
9:40–10:10 AM
Skill Exercise: Building & Sharing Simple Skills
30 min- Build a simple skill
- Package and share it
- Try out a classmate's skill
10:20–10:50 AM
Getting to Know Claude Code
30 min- Agents in the terminal
- Workspace structure and CLAUDE.md
- Slash commands, skills, and hooks
- Choosing models and managing resource use
11:00–11:30 AM
The Biology of LLMs
30 min- Evolution of large language models
- Coevolution of models, tools, and the humans who use them
- Emergent behavior in these systems
11:30 AM–12:00 PM
Ethics, Quality & Failure Modes
30 min- Ethical considerations in AI-assisted research
- Ensuring scientific quality and reproducibility
- Failure modes in software engineering, data analysis, and writing/research
- Preempting, diagnosing, and managing failures
- Discernment and critical evaluation of AI-generated content
1:00–2:00 PM
Team Project Time & Office Hours
60 min- Team project work time
- Office hours — get your questions answered
- Mentoring and hands-on practice
Day 5 — Friday, July 24, 2026
Claude Code and wrapping up Week 1
9:00–10:20 AM
Getting Comfortable with Claude Code
80 min- Agents in the terminal
- Workspace structure
- Context and Claude.md
- Multi-agent coordination and communication
- Leveraging Claude Code Slash Commands, Skills, and Hooks
- Monitoring resource use
- Choosing models and approaches for effective and efficient resource use
- Managing and monitoring parallel sessions and agents
10:30–11:20 AM
Team Working with Claude
50 min- Applying Claude across your team's workflow
- Collaboration patterns and handoffs
- Hands-on team session with instructors on hand
Daily rhythm. Morning sessions run 50 minutes with 10-minute breaks between them; all times are Eastern. Each day closes with a 1:00–2:00 PM team project time and office hours session — time for teams to work together, for questions, and for mentoring and practice. It is open to everyone whether or not you are on a team; team participation is optional.