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Lesson 0 - Setting up your environment

3 min read

Welcome to the Intro to AI Course! Before we dive into working with Large Language Models, you’ll need a development environment. We’ve prepared a GitHub Codespaces environment that’s ready to go, with all dependencies pre-installed.

What’s Included in the Environment

Your development environment comes pre-configured with:

  • ✅ Python 3.12+ with all required libraries
  • ✅ LiteLLM for unified LLM API access
  • ✅ Ollama with a local model pre-installed (for free, offline development)
  • ✅ Course materials (jupyter notebooks, exercises, examples)
  • ✅ VS Code integration for a familiar development experience

Choose Your Setup Path

You have two options for setting up your environment:

Option 1: GitHub Codespaces (Recommended) ⭐

Best for: Everyone, especially beginners

Pros:

  • ✅ Zero setup required - everything is pre-configured
  • ✅ Works in your browser (no installation needed)
  • ✅ Free tier available (60 hours/month free, more with Pro)
  • ✅ Consistent environment across all devices
  • ✅ No impact on your local machine’s resources

Cons:

  • ⚠️ Requires internet connection
  • ⚠️ Limited free hours (though 60 hrs/month is plenty for this course)

Option 2: Local Development (Advanced)

Best for: Experienced developers who prefer local development

Pros:

  • ✅ Works offline (after initial setup)
  • ✅ Use your own machine’s resources
  • ✅ No time limits
  • ✅ Full control over the environment

Cons:

  • ⚠️ More setup required
  • ⚠️ Must install Docker and configure Dev Containers
  • ⚠️ Potential compatibility issues with different OS versions

This is the easiest way to engage with this content - no environment setup required!

Step 1: Get a GitHub Account

If you don’t have one already:

  1. Go to github.com
  2. Click “Sign up” and create a free account

Student Tip: If you’re a student, get GitHub Pro for free through GitHub Student Developer Pack - you’ll get 90 hours/month worth of Codespaces instead of 60!

Step 2: Launch Your Codespace

Click the button below to create your pre-configured Codespace:

Open in GitHub Codespaces

Step 3: Wait for Setup (1-2 minutes)

GitHub will:

  1. Create a virtual machine for you
  2. Install all dependencies
  3. Set up Ollama with a local model
  4. Open VS Code in your browser

You’ll see a progress bar - this only happens the first time!

Step 4: Verify Everything Works

Once your Codespace opens:

  1. Look for the Lesson 1 folder in the file explorer
  2. Open lesson1-litellm.ipynb
  3. You’re ready to start learning!

Tips for Using Codespaces

  • 💡 Codespaces auto-save - Your work is automatically saved to GitHub
  • 💡 Stop when not in use - Stop your Codespace when you’re done to save hours (it auto-stops after 30 minutes of inactivity)
  • 💡 Access from anywhere - Resume your Codespace from any device at github.com/codespaces
  • 💡 Use VS Code locally - You can also connect to Codespaces from your local VS Code
  • 💡 Stay updated - When new course materials are added, create a new Codespace from the button above to get the latest version. Your old Codespaces will remain accessible if you need to reference your previous work

Prefer Local Development?

If you’d rather set up the environment on your own machine, check out:

→ Lesson 0.1 - Setting up a local environment (optional)

What’s Next?

Once your environment is set up, you’re ready to start learning!

→ Lesson 1 - Getting started with LiteLLM

Course Index: Intro to AI Development Course

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