AI Agents for Beginners - A Course

AI Agents for Beginners - A Comprehensive Course

Overview

AI Agents for Beginners is an educational course created by Microsoft to introduce learners to the fundamentals of building AI agents. This course is designed for those with some basic knowledge of generative AI, building on concepts from the prerequisite 'Generative AI For Beginners' course. It consists of 12 core lessons, each focusing on a specific aspect of AI agent development, along with upcoming additional topics. The course emphasizes practical learning through Python code samples, short instructional videos, and links to further resources.

Key Features

• Multi-Language Support: The README is automatically translated into over 40 languages, including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (various dialects), French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Spanish, and many more, ensuring accessibility for a global audience.
• Practical Code Examples: Each lesson includes Python code in the code_samples folder, utilizing Azure AI Foundry and GitHub Model Catalogs for language model interactions. The course supports free options via GitHub Models and paid Azure accounts for advanced features.
• Frameworks and Services: Integrates Microsoft tools such as the Microsoft Agent Framework (MAF), Azure AI Agent Service, Semantic Kernel, and AutoGen.
• Community Engagement: Learners can join the Azure AI Foundry Community Discord for support, questions, and networking. Contributions are encouraged via issues, pull requests, and adherence to Microsoft's Contributor License Agreement.

Lesson Structure

The course covers a wide range of topics essential for AI agent development:

1. Intro to AI Agents and Agent Use Cases: Basics and real-world applications (Video).
2. Exploring AI Agentic Frameworks: Overview of key frameworks.
3. Understanding AI Agentic Design Patterns: Core patterns for agent design.
4. Tool Use Design Pattern: Implementing tools in agents.
5. Agentic RAG: Retrieval-Augmented Generation for agents.
6. Building Trustworthy AI Agents: Ensuring reliability and ethics.
7. Planning Design Pattern: Strategies for agent planning.
8. Multi-Agent Design Pattern: Collaborative agent systems.
9. Metacognition Design Pattern: Self-reflective agents.
10. AI Agents in Production: Deployment considerations.
11. Using Agentic Protocols (MCP, A2A, and NLWeb): Communication protocols (Video).
12. Context Engineering for AI Agents: Optimizing context handling (Video).

Additional lessons include Managing Agentic Memory, Exploring Microsoft Agent Framework, and upcoming topics like Building Computer Use Agents (CUA), Deploying Scalable Agents, Creating Local AI Agents, and Securing AI Agents.

Getting Started

To begin, fork the repository and set up your environment as outlined in the Course Setup guide. No prior advanced AI experience is required beyond generative AI basics. Star and fork the repo to access code, and engage with the community for help.

Related Resources

This course is part of Microsoft's broader educational ecosystem, linking to other beginner series like Generative AI for Beginners, ML for Beginners, and more specialized tracks in Edge AI, Model Context Protocol, and others.

Community and Contributions

Thanks to contributors like Shivam Goyal for key code samples. The project follows Microsoft's Open Source Code of Conduct, and feedback is welcomed via the Azure AI Foundry Developer Forum.

This course empowers beginners to transition from theory to building functional AI agents, fostering skills in agentic AI design and implementation.