Week 6 (AI track): Low-scaffolding build#

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Goal#

Tool use and agents at a beginner level. Instructions give the goal and point to documentation, not step-by-step directions. This is deliberate.

Scope#

• The model calls at least two functions the learner wrote, chained: the output of one can decide whether the other gets called.
• Handle a tool call that fails or returns something unexpected, without crashing or fabricating a result.
• A few small, standalone exercises practicing tool-definition syntax and the tool_use/tool_result message shape on a throwaway scenario, before applying either for real.
• Optional stretch goal: a third tool, chained in through a trigger condition genuinely different from the required pair's.

The project: Notes Assistant, continued#

This week extends the exact same Notes Assistant project started in Week 5, not a new app. The Week 5 keyword-search-and-answer logic becomes something Claude itself decides to invoke, through real tool calls, and a second tool gets chained onto the first.

Do this in order#

Steps 1-2 are required. Steps 3-4 are optional; skipping them leaves no gap in what Week 7 assumes you know.

1. notes/01-tool-use-mechanics.md through 03-organizing-as-it-grows.md, in order.
2. project/README.md's goal: extend notes_assistant.py with two chained tools and real failure handling. No numbered steps, on purpose.
3. Optional, before step 2, if the mechanics feel shaky: exercises/01_tool_schema_practice.py, 02_tiny_tool_roundtrip.py, 03_parallel_tool_calls.py, cheap throwaway reps unrelated to Notes Assistant. All three need a real API call.
4. Optional, after step 2: project/README.md's stretch goal, a third, differently-triggered tool.

Status#