---
title: "Foundations - From Zero to Your First Shipped App"
description: "Build and deploy a real website with AI"
type: "course"
locale: "en"
canonical: "https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations"
---

# Foundations - From Zero to Your First Shipped App

- Level: einsteiger
- Lessons: 7
- Canonical URL: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations
- Locale: en

> Build and deploy a real website with AI

The complete starting point. Understand how LLMs and coding agents actually work, install Claude Code and Codex, prompt them like a pro, then scaffold, build and ship a real website to the public internet.

## Lessons

### 1.1 How LLMs Actually Work: Tokens, Context Windows and the Performance Cliff

- Canonical URL: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/how-llms-actually-work-tokens-context-windows-and-the-performance-cliff
- Markdown: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/how-llms-actually-work-tokens-context-windows-and-the-performance-cliff.md

Build a correct mental model of tokens, context windows and why long prompts get worse, so you can drive any model well

### 1.2 Choosing Your Model: Haiku vs Sonnet vs Opus, GPT, Gemini and Benchmarks

- Canonical URL: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/choosing-your-model-haiku-vs-sonnet-vs-opus-gpt-gemini-and-benchmarks
- Markdown: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/choosing-your-model-haiku-vs-sonnet-vs-opus-gpt-gemini-and-benchmarks.md

Pick the right model tier for any task and know where to get strong models cheaply or free

### 1.3 What Is a Harness? Claude Code vs Codex vs Pi vs OpenCode

- Canonical URL: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/what-is-a-harness-claude-code-vs-codex-vs-pi-vs-opencode
- Markdown: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/what-is-a-harness-claude-code-vs-codex-vs-pi-vs-opencode.md

Understand what an agent harness is and choose between Claude Code, Codex, Pi and OpenCode for a given job

### 1.4 Installing and Running Claude Code and Codex

- Canonical URL: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/installing-and-running-claude-code-and-codex
- Markdown: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/installing-and-running-claude-code-and-codex.md

Get Claude Code and Codex installed and running, choose the right plan, and protect your work and IP

### 1.5 Talking to Agents: Prompt Engineering That Actually Works

- Canonical URL: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/talking-to-agents-prompt-engineering-that-actually-works
- Markdown: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/talking-to-agents-prompt-engineering-that-actually-works.md

Brief a coding agent so it delivers great work the first time, using axioms, framing, pushback and spec sheets

### 1.6 Your First Project: Scaffolding, Dev Server, Git and GitHub

- Canonical URL: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/your-first-project-scaffolding-dev-server-git-and-github
- Markdown: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/your-first-project-scaffolding-dev-server-git-and-github.md

Scaffold a real project, run it locally in the browser, and put it safely under version control on a private GitHub repo

### 1.7 Ship It: Deploy to Vercel, Connect a Domain, DNS and Cloudflare

- Canonical URL: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/ship-it-deploy-to-vercel-connect-a-domain-dns-and-cloudflare
- Markdown: https://agenticschool.dev/courses/foundations/ship-it-deploy-to-vercel-connect-a-domain-dns-and-cloudflare.md

Deploy your project to the public internet on Vercel and connect a real custom domain through DNS and Cloudflare