Master the craft of communicating with AI — from techniques to API calls
By the end of this session, you'll have both conceptual understanding and hands-on experience with the foundations of AI.
Learn core techniques: zero-shot, few-shot, chain-of-thought, role prompting, and structured outputs.
Use Context, Role, Action, Format, and Tone to write prompts that get consistent, high-quality results.
Understand how APIs work and connect to Claude programmatically using Python.
Create a working AI-powered application — email analyzer, meeting summarizer, or product description generator.
A carefully crafted progression from concepts to hands-on building.
Why prompt clarity matters. Transform vague requests into precise instructions.
A memorable system for writing effective prompts every time.
Analyze your own AI conversations and discover your prompting patterns.
Stretch, grab coffee, let the concepts settle.
From chat interface to code — how to build AI into real applications.
Hands-on Google Colab workshop — build a real AI-powered tool.
Competition time! Who can craft the best prompt for a given task?
Key takeaways, homework, and what's coming next.
Everything you need to explore, experiment, and build.
Print-ready one-page reference with CRAFT framework, techniques, Quick Wins, and API basics. Keep it next to your computer!
Open cheat sheetHands-on notebook for building your first AI application. Includes Email Analyzer, Meeting Summarizer, and Product Description Generator.
Open in ColabOfficial documentation for Claude API. The source of truth for building with Claude.
Read docsGet your API key, monitor usage, and manage billing for Claude API access.
Get API keyComprehensive resource covering all prompt engineering techniques with examples and research.
Learn moreCode examples and recipes for common Claude use cases. Perfect for reference.
View examplesThree interactive challenges to build your intuition.
Paste your real AI conversation logs into the AI Collaboration Analyzer and discover your prompting patterns:
From claude.ai, ChatGPT, or any LLM. Copy the full chat (your prompts + AI responses).
Copy the AI Collaboration Analyzer prompt (in class materials) into a new chat session and paste your logs.
Receive scores across 6 dimensions and your level: Novice, Developing, Skilled, or Master.
Discuss: What surprised you? What's your biggest strength? What will you change?
Take weak prompts and transform them using the CRAFT framework:
"Help me with a presentation" or "Write me an email"
Add Context, Role, Action, Format, and Tone systematically.
Run both prompts and see the dramatic difference in quality.
Use Google Colab to make real API calls and build a working AI-powered tool:
Pre-configured with everything you need to get started.
Use class-provided credits or your own Anthropic API key.
Email Tone Analyzer, Meeting Summarizer, Product Description Generator, or your own idea!
Refine your prompts until the output is production-quality.
Competition time! Given a task, who can craft the prompt that produces the best output?
Write a prompt that generates a compelling LinkedIn post announcing a new AI feature at your (fictional) company. Requirements: - Professional yet engaging tone - Under 200 words - Includes a call-to-action Judging: Clarity of prompt structure, quality of output, creativity, and adherence to constraints.
Clarity beats cleverness. Explicit instructions outperform vague requests every single time.
CRAFT is your friend. Context, Role, Action, Format, Tone — a framework for consistent results.
Iterate, iterate, iterate. Great prompts are refined through experimentation, not written perfectly the first time.
APIs unlock applications. Move from chat to building real products with AI.
Complete these tasks before our next class to prepare for prompt engineering.
Take your skills further: chain prompts together, give Claude access to tools, and build AI systems that take action in the real world.