calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks

# AI Engineer Notebooks

[](LICENSE)

[](https://colab.research.google.com/github/calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks/blob/main/00-setup/00-environment.ipynb)

[](https://github.com/calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks/stargazers)

**Learn the applied-LLM stack the way you'll actually be interviewed on it:

framework-free, on a free API, from prompting all the way to serving, fine-tuning,

and a red-team benchmark.**

Runnable Colab notebooks for the AI Engineer / Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

skill set. You build working systems on top of foundation models (model APIs, RAG,

evals, agents, adaptation, serving) using raw APIs, not frameworks.

### What makes this different

raw API calls first, so you understand what LangChain/LlamaIndex actually do

before you reach for them (and can judge when not to). Patterns are durable;

wrappers churn.

returns in every section. It's the habit that separates an engineer who shipped

a system from one who built a demo.

[Groq](https://console.groq.com/) API** (no credit card). The two topics Groq

can't host, LoRA fine-tuning (06) and self-hosted serving (09), are

concept-first with optional, fenced Colab-GPU appendices that were **verified on

a real Colab T4**.

[case studies](12-case-studies-and-capstone/) show the skills combined under

real constraints: a support assistant debugged in production, a

pipeline-vs-agent cost showdown, and a red-team robustness benchmark.

and (with small changes) Anthropic. Swap the base URL and the skills carry over.

Built as the hands-on companion to

[Plan: Transitioning to Forward Deployed Engineer / AI Engineer](https://www.calm.rocks/resources/career-development/transition-fde-ai-engineer/).

The plan explains what to learn and why; these notebooks are where you run it.

## Who this is for

Backend or full-stack engineers moving into AI Engineer, FDE, Applied AI,

or Solutions Engineer (AI) roles. Different titles, largely the same job.

You can ship production code; you want the applied-model layer on top.

## Learning order

Work top to bottom. Each notebook is self-contained (installs its own

dependencies, reads API keys from Colab secrets) and ends with exercises.

### 00 — Setup

| [Environment & cost hygiene](00-setup/00-environment.ipynb)

[](https://colab.research.google.com/github/calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks/blob/main/00-setup/00-environment.ipynb) | API keys via Colab secrets, spend guards, model picking |

### 01 — Model APIs

| [Prompting fundamentals](01-model-apis/00-prompting-basics.ipynb)

[](https://colab.research.google.com/github/calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks/blob/main/01-model-apis/00-prompting-basics.ipynb) | Clear instructions, few-shot, output-format specs, step-by-step reasoning: the cheapest lever, each shown moving a number |

| [Structured output](01-model-apis/01-structured-output.ipynb)

[](https://colab.research.google.com/github/calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks/blob/main/01-model-apis/01-structured-output.ipynb) | Getting reliable JSON out of a model, and where it breaks |

| [Tool calling](01-model-apis/02-tool-calling.ipynb)

[](https://colab.research.google.com/github/calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks/blob/main/01-model-apis/02-tool-calling.ipynb) | Function/tool calling end to end, error paths included |

| [Streaming](01-model-apis/03-streaming.ipynb)

[](https://colab.research.google.com/github/calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks/blob/main/01-model-apis/03-streaming.ipynb) | Streaming responses and what UIs need from them |

| [Context & caching](01-model-apis/04-context-and-caching.ipynb)

[](https://colab.research.google.com/github/calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks/blob/main/01-model-apis/04-context-and-caching.ipynb) | Context-window budgeting, prompt caching, batch vs real-time pricing |

### 02 — Evals I: measuring outputs

| [Measuring outputs](02-evals-basics/01-measuring-outputs.ipynb)

[](https://colab.research.google.com/github/calmrocks/ai-engineer-notebooks/blob/main/02-evals-basics/01-measuring-outputs.ipynb) | Golden sets and metrics on the section-01 task; install the "measure before you tune" habit before building anything you'd need to tune. Evals is the spine; it returns in every section after this |

### 03 — RAG

| [What is RAG?](03-rag/00-what-is-rag.ipynb)