Hands-on workshop · Dr. Britton Leggett

From Chatbot to Coworker: Your First AI Agent

You've used AI that answers. Now try AI that does the work: it reads your files, builds tools, sorts an inbox, and fixes its own mistakes, right on your own computer. No programming required.

Starter folder for the fictional Crawdad Junction Catering: instructions for the AI, business rules, 40 customer emails, sales data, and a buggy tool to fix.

Download the starter folder

What's different about an agent?

Chatbot (generative AI)You ask; it writes an answer. You copy, paste, and do the work.
Agent (agentic AI)You give it a goal; it makes a plan, opens files, creates real files, runs them, checks its work, and fixes mistakes.

1Unzip the folder

Find the downloaded zip, right-click → Extract All → Extract. Mac: double-click the zip. Work from the extracted folder.

Don't skip this. If you open the folder inside the zip, the AI can't save anything.

2Install one agent app

Codex (OpenAI)

Works with a free ChatGPT account

  1. Go to chatgpt.com/download and choose Download for Windows (or macOS). Install the app named ChatGPT, not "ChatGPT Classic."
  2. Sign in. A free account works. You may be asked to verify a phone number.
  3. From the top-left menu, choose Codex, then open the extracted folder.
  4. If asked about permissions, keep the default, or choose the option that limits it to this folder. Never pick Full Access.

Claude Code (Anthropic)

Needs a paid Claude plan (Pro or higher)

  1. Install the Claude desktop app from claude.com/download.
  2. Sign in.
  3. Open the Code tab and choose the extracted folder.

No terminal, no programming tools, no admin rights. Windows or Mac laptop required; Chromebooks and phones won't run the desktop apps. A personal laptop works better than a locked-down work laptop.

Open the extracted folder itself: not the zip, and not your Downloads folder. Otherwise the agent won't see its instructions.

3Say hello

Paste this as your first message:

First promptWhat's in this folder, and what instructions were you given?

If it describes Crawdad Junction Catering, you're set up. If it says the folder is empty, you opened the wrong folder; go back to Step 1. Do Steps 1-3 before the workshop, so the session is all about Step 4.

4Put it to work

Try these in order. Each one is bigger than the last.

Build a toolBuild a catering quote calculator from business_rules.md that I can open in my browser.
Do a choreGo through every email in the inbox. Sort them into folders by type, draft a reply to each one that follows our rules, flag anything a manager must see, and make a summary spreadsheet.
Analyze dataTurn data/sales.csv into a one-page dashboard. What are the three most important things the owner should know?
Fix the intern's workCheck tools/deposit_calculator.html against business_rules.md. Find every mistake, explain each in plain English, and save a fixed version.
Surprise meMake me something useful for this business that I didn't ask for.

What's in the folder

FileWhat it is
AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.mdThe AI's standing instructions, in plain English (one per app, same text). Read one: this is how you "program" an agent.
business_rules.mdPrices and policies.
inbox/40 customer emails, with a few traps.
data/sales.csv21 months of weekly sales.
tools/deposit_calculator.htmlA tool the "last intern" built. Is it right?

Three habits of people who use agents well

  1. Read before you approve. When the agent asks permission to do something, read what it is.
  2. Check one number. Agents sound confident even when they're wrong. (To open a tool the agent built, double-click the .html file in File Explorer or Finder.)
  3. Never use real data in practice. No real customer information, passwords, or company files.

Want more? Add GitHub (optional)

GitHub gives your project a version history: every change saved, labeled, and reversible. It's how professionals keep AI-built work safe and share it. Use this instead of the zip download.

  1. Create a free account at github.com and install GitHub Desktop. Sign in to GitHub Desktop with that account.
  2. Open the workshop template, click the green Use this template button → Create a new repository. Name it, choose Private, and click Create repository.
  3. On your new repository, click Code → Open with GitHub Desktop → Clone. GitHub Desktop shows where it saved the folder (usually Documents\GitHub).
  4. Open that folder in Codex or Claude Code, and do Steps 3 and 4 above.
  5. After each change you like, switch to GitHub Desktop. You'll see the changed files. Type a short summary (e.g., "Fixed deposit bug"), click Commit to main, then Push origin. That's one saved version.
  6. Optional, a live link: ask the agent to save your favorite tool as index.html at the top of the folder, then commit and push. On GitHub, make the repository Public (Settings → General → Danger Zone → Change visibility), then go to Settings → Pages, choose Deploy from a branch → main, and save. After a minute or two, your tool is live at yourname.github.io/your-repo-name.

Free accounts can only publish a live link from a public repository. That's fine here, because everything is fictional. Never make a repository public if it holds real data.