Labs Curriculum

Hands-on labs for learning AI agent orchestration from scratch.

Learning Path

BEGINNER (01-03) → INTERMEDIATE (04-07) → ADVANCED (08-12) → INTEGRATION (13-15)

Beginner Labs

Master the fundamentals.

Lab 01: Your First Loop

Build a basic loop that reads tasks, calls Claude, and saves results.

Time: 30 minutes
Prerequisites: Python basics, API key

Lab 02: External State

Track progress between runs with external state management.

Time: 45 minutes
Prerequisites: Lab 01

Lab 03: Simple Verification

Verify AI outputs before accepting them.

Time: 45 minutes
Prerequisites: Lab 02

Intermediate Labs

Build production-quality loops.

Lab 04: JSON Task Management

Structure tasks with JSON and metadata.

Time: 1 hour
Prerequisites: Labs 01-03

Lab 05: Tool Calling

Use Claude’s tool calling for structured output.

Time: 1 hour
Prerequisites: Lab 04

Lab 06: Circuit Breakers

Prevent infinite loops with safety limits.

Time: 45 minutes
Prerequisites: Lab 05

Lab 07: Confidence Retry

Use AI confidence for smart retry decisions.

Time: 1 hour
Prerequisites: Lab 06

Advanced Labs

Master sophisticated patterns.

Lab 08: Orchestrator

Build a complete orchestrator class.

Time: 2 hours
Prerequisites: Labs 01-07

Lab 09: Multi-Agent

Coordinate multiple specialized agents.

Time: 2 hours
Prerequisites: Lab 08

Lab 10: Gating

Implement pre/post-condition enforcement.

Time: 1.5 hours
Prerequisites: Lab 09

Lab 11: Self-Play

Internal debate for quality assurance.

Time: 2 hours
Prerequisites: Lab 10

Lab 12: Memory

Integrate Minna Memory for persistence.

Time: 1.5 hours
Prerequisites: Lab 11

Integration Labs

Connect everything together.

Lab 13: MCP Server

Deploy your orchestrator as an MCP server.

Time: 2 hours
Prerequisites: Labs 01-12

Lab 14: Claude Code Skill

Create a custom Claude Code skill.

Time: 1.5 hours
Prerequisites: Lab 13

Lab 15: End-to-End

Build a complete production system.

Time: 3 hours
Prerequisites: All previous labs

Get the Code

All lab code is available in the 8me repository:

Tier 0: src/tier0-hello-world/ - Basic loop
Tier 1: src/tier1-ralph-loop/ - Full CLI
Tier 2: src/tier2-ralph-skill/ - Claude Code skill
Tier 3: src/tier3-mcp-server/ - MCP server

Start Lab 01 →