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Prerequisites

⏱️ Time to complete: 5 minutes (or done before the workshop)

Before we dive into building our AI chat agent, let's make sure you have everything ready. This phase is a quick check to ensure a smooth workshop experience.

🎒 What You Need

1. A Computer with Terminal Access

OS Terminal
macOS Terminal.app or iTerm2
Windows PowerShell, CMD, or Windows Terminal
Linux Any terminal emulator

2. Python 3.10 or Higher

Check your Python version:

python3 --version
# or on Windows:
python --version

Expected output: Python 3.10.x or higher (3.11, 3.12, 3.13 are all fine)

{% hint style="info" %} Don't have Python?

  • macOS: brew install python@3.12
  • Windows: Download from python.org
  • Linux: sudo apt install python3.12 (Ubuntu/Debian) {% endhint %}

3. Git Installed

git --version

Expected output: git version 2.x.x

4. A Code Editor

We recommend Visual Studio Code with the Python extension, but any editor works.

5. A GitHub Account

You'll need this to access GitHub Models (free LLM API).

👉 No account? Create one at github.com

6. Internet Connection

Required for:

  • Downloading packages
  • Calling GitHub Models API
  • Calling WeatherAPI

📋 Pre-Workshop Checklist

Run through this checklist. You should be able to check all boxes:

  • Python 3.10+ installed and accessible from terminal
  • Git installed
  • GitHub account created and you can log in
  • Code editor ready (VS Code recommended)
  • Stable internet connection

🔑 Accounts to Create (If You Haven't Already)

GitHub Account

If you don't have one:

  1. Go to github.com/signup
  2. Follow the registration process
  3. Verify your email address

WeatherAPI Account (Free)

We'll use this for the tool-calling demo:

  1. Go to weatherapi.com
  2. Click "Sign Up" (top right)
  3. Choose the Free plan
  4. You'll get an API key after email verification

{% hint style="warning" %} Save your WeatherAPI key! You'll need it in Phase 5. {% endhint %}

💻 Optional but Recommended

uv (Fast Python Package Manager)

We'll use uv for faster dependency installation. It's optional but makes things much faster:

# macOS/Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Verify installation:

uv --version

If you don't want to install uv, that's fine - we'll provide pip alternatives for every command.

✅ Checkpoint: Prerequisites Complete

Before moving on, verify:

Check Command Expected
Python python3 --version 3.10+
Git git --version 2.x.x
GitHub Log into github.com Success
WeatherAPI Check email for API key Have the key

🎉 All Green?

Excellent! You're ready for the workshop.

👉 Next up: Phase 1: Environment Setup

❓ Common Issues

"python3: command not found"

  • Windows: Try python instead of python3
  • macOS: Install via brew install python@3.12
  • Make sure Python is in your PATH

"I forgot my WeatherAPI key"

  • Log into weatherapi.com
  • Go to Dashboard → Your API Key
  • You can regenerate it if needed

"I can't create a GitHub account"

  • Ask the workshop facilitator for a shared demo token
  • You can pair with someone who has an account