Important Cost Information
This course requires the use of cloud-based large language models (LLMs) to power the agent that students build throughout the activities. Cloud LLMs usually have a cost associated with their usage. The rationale for using these services instead of local models is explained in the instructor manual, but the key point is that each student will need access to an application programming interface (API) provided by OpenAI.

Ultimately, you and your students will be charged by the provider for using the LLM. As long as you choose a low-cost LLM from the provider's offerings, the costs will be manageable. We developed and tested this course using OpenAI's GPT-5 mini, and the total costs ended up being less than $5. So, prepare for this to be the maximum price per student for each run of the course. However, we cannot guarantee that you or your students will not exceed this figure. Thankfully, there are ways to mitigate these costs, as explained in the instructor manual.

Course-Specific Technical Requirements
Hardware
For this course, you will need one computer for each student and one for the instructor. Each computer will need the following minimum hardware configurations:

• A modern processor.
  • Hardware virtualization must be enabled in the computer's UEFI/BIOS if you're using Docker Desktop (see software requirements).
• 8 gigabytes (GB) of random-access memory (RAM).
• 10 GB of available storage space.
• Mouse, keyboard, and monitor.
• High-speed, stable Internet connection.
• For the instructor's computer, a method to project and/or share the screen as needed for local and remote class participants.

Software

• Docker
  • There are two main options for installing Docker®: Docker Engine and Docker Desktop. Docker Engine is the core software layer that also provides a command-line interface (CLI) for interacting with containers. Docker Desktop is a graphical user interface (GUI) that is powered by Docker Engine. The choice of either two comes down to the operating system (OS) you plan to use, as well as whether your system supports hardware virtualization. Support for hardware virtualization is required for Docker Desktop, but not Docker Engine.
  • Windows® or macOS® : You must install Docker Desktop, as Docker Engine by itself is not supported on either OS. Alternatively, you could create a Linux virtual machine (VM) and run Docker Engine on that.
  • Linux® : You can install either Docker Desktop or Docker Engine.
• Visual Studio® Code
  • VS Code is available for all three major operating systems.
• If necessary, software for viewing the course slides. (Instructor machine only.)
   

For reference, this course was developed and tested on both Windows 11 and Linux operating systems using x86-64 CPU architectures. The course was not tested on macOS or Arm-based architectures, but since both Docker and VS Code support macOS and Arm, we are confident that the technical environment will still work as intended.

NOTE: Docker Engine is open-source software. Docker Desktop and VS Code are free (as in cost), but not technically open source.