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AI systemsPro

Engineer what the model sees and returns.

Context Engineering & AI Workflows

Take one AI workflow from a naive prompt to contracts, structured outputs, budgeted context, grounding, injection defense, routing, human review, and regression gates.

Course map

One sequence, from foundation to finish.

7 connected modules
  1. 01The Window: What the Model Actually Sees
  2. 02The Contract: Instructions That Hold
  3. 03Structured Outputs: Make It Machine-Readable
  4. 04Packing the Window: Budgeted Context
  5. 05Failure Control: Grounding, Abstention, and the Hostile Ticket
  6. 06The Workflow: Design the System Around the Model
  7. 07Prove It and Ship It
What you will be able to do

Leave with capability, not just vocabulary.

Write a prompt contract and output schema

Pack context against a deliberate token budget

Ground answers and defend instruction boundaries

Route work across models, tools, and human review

Running example

A Helpwell support workflow improved step by step against one measured design ladder.

Prerequisites

No previous LDS course is required. Familiarity with basic LLM use is helpful.

Curriculum

Every module earns the next one.

Open any module to review its exact sections. Progress and completion follow you through the course.

7 modules · 5h 55m
01
Module 1

The Window: What the Model Actually Sees

BeginnerFree preview

Topics include the context window, tokens and the attention budget, context rot, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1One Box In, One Box Out
  2. 2Tokens and the Desk
  3. 3The Attention Budget and Context Rot
  4. 4Prove It: The StoryByte Position and Dilution Labs
  5. 5Meet AskHelpwell Assist and the Scoreboard
50 min5 sections
Open module
02
Module 2

The Contract: Instructions That Hold

BeginnerPro

Topics include prompt contracts, the right altitude, instruction hierarchy, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1From Wish to Work Order
  2. 2The Right Altitude
  3. 3Sections, Structure, and the Instruction Hierarchy
  4. 4Few-Shot: Pictures Worth a Thousand Rules
  5. 5The Measured Lift - and What Contracts Don't Fix
50 min5 sections
Open module
03
Module 3

Structured Outputs: Make It Machine-Readable

IntermediatePro

Topics include output schemas, enums and nullables, validation and repair loops, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1Why Downstream Code Needs a Form, Not Prose
  2. 2Designing the Triage Schema
  3. 3Validation and the One-Retry Repair Loop
  4. 4Native Structured Outputs vs Prompt-Level Schemas
  5. 5The Measured Truth: What the Schema Rung Actually Bought
45 min5 sections
Open module
04
Module 4

Packing the Window: Budgeted Context

IntermediatePro

Topics include the token budget ledger, retrieved knowledge, history compaction, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1The Budget Ledger
  2. 2Retrieved Knowledge as a Context Source
  3. 3History: Truncate, Summarize, or Note-Take
  4. 4Order Matters: Position Effects Return
  5. 5Prompt Caching Economics and the Measured v4 Row
55 min5 sections
Open module
05
Module 5

Failure Control: Grounding, Abstention, and the Hostile Ticket

IntermediatePro

Topics include confabulation, grounding and citations, abstention and escalation, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1Why Models Make Things Up
  2. 2Grounding: Answer From the Context, Cite What You Used
  3. 3Abstention and Escalation: "I Don't Know" as a Designed Output
  4. 4The Hostile Ticket: Prompt Injection at the Workflow Level
  5. 5The Measured v5 Row and What Remains Unfixed
55 min5 sections
Open module
06
Module 6

The Workflow: Design the System Around the Model

AdvancedPro

Topics include pipelines, not monoliths, routing and cost-quality math, human review gates, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1Steps, Not Monoliths: The Triage-Draft-Review Pipeline
  2. 2Routing: Cheap Path, Smart Path, Human Path
  3. 3Human Review as Design: Confidence Gates and the Second Signature
  4. 4Workflows vs Agents: Who Holds the Loop?
  5. 5The Decision Framework: What Kind of Problem Is This?
50 min5 sections
Open module
07
Module 7

Prove It and Ship It

AdvancedPro

Topics include rubrics beyond string checks, the frozen regression set, the release checklist, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1From String Checks to Rubrics
  2. 2The Regression Set: Freeze It, Run It on Every Change
  3. 3The Release Checklist
  4. 4The Whole Ladder, One Table
  5. 5Where to Go Next
50 min5 sections
Open module
Who this course is for

Built for people who need to use the skill.

01

Analysts and operators designing AI workflows

02

PMs specifying reliable AI behavior

03

Engineers building prompt and context pipelines

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Start the course

Begin with The Window: What the Model Actually Sees.

The first module establishes the language and example used throughout the rest of the course.

Open Module 1
Context Engineering & AI Workflows | Let's Data Science