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AI engineering
Once you've built one thing, you've crossed the first bridge: you're not just chatting with AI anymore, you're building with it. This section is what comes next.
AI engineering sounds big. Here it means one thing: getting better at managing an AI that does the work. You describe the job clearly, give it what it needs to know, set up the right guardrails, and check the result. Senior developers and complete beginners use the same tools. The difference is mostly knowing what to say, and what to set up so you don't have to say it twice.
The topics are in order. Each builds on the one before:
- Start with the mindset and how to describe work in a paragraph. That skill carries into everything else.
- Then teach your AI about your project, and give it reusable skills.
- Then connect it to your apps, add automatic checks, and let it run on its own.
Do these after the basics and at least one project. Everything here assumes you've used Claude Code on something real.
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9 pages
- From chatting to managingComing soonThe biggest shift isn't technical. You stop asking AI questions and start giving it jobs, like a manager with a very fast new hire.
- Describe the work in a paragraphComing soonThe main thing separating a senior developer from a beginner is knowing what to say. Learn to turn a workflow into one clear paragraph.
- Give your AI a memory of your projectComing soonOne file that tells your AI about your project, your rules, and your preferences, so you don't repeat yourself every session.
- Skills: teach your AI a task onceComing soonPackage a job you do often, like your weekly report, into a skill your AI can pick up and follow on its own.
- Connect your AI to your apps (MCP)Coming soonLet your AI read your calendar, your notes, or your project tracker, safely, using connectors called MCP.
- Hooks: automatic checks on your AIComing soonRules that run by themselves every time your AI does something, like checking its work or blocking a risky action.
- Let AI work while you sleep (Hermes)Coming soonAn AI agent that runs all the time, remembers you, and that you can message from your phone. Set up Hermes step by step.
- Keep your AI on a leashComing soonWhat to let your AI do on its own, what to approve yourself, and how to keep your files, keys, and accounts safe.
- What it costs (and how to avoid surprise bills)Coming soonSubscriptions vs pay-as-you-go API keys, usage limits, and simple ways to keep AI spending predictable.
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