AI Agents for Beginners: Microsoft's AI Agents Course
/ai-agents-for-beginners
AI Agents for Beginners is a free Microsoft course that teaches you to build AI agents through 18 structured lessons, each pairing written content with Python code samples on Microsoft Agent Framework. Reach for it if you want a guided path through agentic design patterns like tool use, planning, and multi-agent systems. Skip it if you can't set up an Azure account, since most code samples run on Microsoft Foundry Agent Service.
What the AI Agents for Beginners course covers
ai-agents-for-beginners is an 18-lesson Microsoft curriculum that teaches fundamentals of building AI agents, starting with agent use cases and agentic frameworks, covering design patterns such as tool use, planning, agentic RAG, multi-agent systems, and metacognition. Later lessons address production concerns including deploying scalable agents, securing agents, managing agent memory, and using agentic protocols like MCP and A2A.
Key features of the course
- ✓18 lessons take you from 'Intro to AI Agents and Agent Use Cases' through agentic design patterns (tool use, planning, multi-agent, metacognition) to production topics like deploying scalable agents and securing agents.
- ✓Each lesson pairs a written README lesson with a short video and Python code samples in the code_samples folder, per the README's own 'Each lesson includes' section.
- ✓Lesson 11 covers agentic protocols by name: MCP, A2A, and NLWeb.
- ✓Lesson 12 covers context engineering and lesson 13 covers agent memory, two topics most beginner courses skip entirely.
- ✓The README states the repository includes 50+ language translations, kept current through an automated GitHub Action, with a documented sparse checkout command for cloning without the translation files.
- ✓Code samples run on the Microsoft Agent Framework (MAF) paired with Microsoft Foundry Agent Service V2; some samples also support OpenAI-compatible providers such as MiniMax, which the README notes offers context windows up to 204K tokens.
- ✓A dedicated channel in the Microsoft Foundry Discord is where the README sends learners who get stuck.
Who should take this course?
AI Agents for Beginners suits developers who already write code and want a structured path into agent development instead of piecing tutorials together from scattered blog posts. It's a good fit if you're already inside the Microsoft or Azure ecosystem, since the code samples default to Microsoft Agent Framework and Microsoft Foundry Agent Service V2. If you've never touched generative AI models before, the README itself points you to Generative AI For Beginners first. And if you wanted a framework-agnostic tour of agent building rather than one centered on Microsoft's own stack, this course narrows that scope rather than broadening it.
Strengths
- ✓18 lessons span the full arc from agent basics to production deployment and security, not just an intro that stops at 'hello world.'
- ✓Every lesson bundles a written lesson and runnable Python code samples in a code_samples folder, per the README's own format description.
- ✓Lesson 11 names its agentic protocols explicitly (MCP, A2A, NLWeb) instead of gesturing at 'interoperability.'
- ✓50+ language translations are kept current through an automated GitHub Action rather than a one-time community dump.
- ✓MIT license, so the lessons and code samples are free to reuse.
Prerequisites and framework focus
- △The code samples run on Microsoft Agent Framework with Microsoft Foundry Agent Service V2, and Foundry itself needs an Azure account, so completing the exercises as written means signing up for Azure, not just installing a Python package.
- △Alternative OpenAI-compatible providers like MiniMax are supported in some samples, but the README frames that as a secondary path, not the course's main track.
- △The lesson table shows no video link for lessons 14, 16, 17, and 18, so video coverage thins out toward the end of the course.
- △The README points first-timers to the separate Generative AI For Beginners course before starting here, so this isn't a from-zero introduction to generative AI itself.
- △Course length in hours, a completion certificate, or a pacing schedule aren't mentioned anywhere in the README.
Other learning paths from Microsoft
Common questions about the course
AI Agents for Beginners uses Python for its code samples, and GitHub lists the repository's primary language as Jupyter Notebook.
The course centers on the Microsoft Agent Framework (MAF) paired with Microsoft Foundry Agent Service V2, and some code samples also support OpenAI-compatible providers such as MiniMax, per the README.
An Azure account is required for the hands-on exercises. The README lists Microsoft Foundry as a prerequisite and marks it 'Azure Account Required' for the code samples.
AI Agents for Beginners includes 18 lessons, running from an introduction to agent use cases through securing AI agents in production, per the repository's own lesson table.
AI Agents for Beginners is available in English plus 50+ translated languages, kept current through an automated GitHub Action, according to the README's multi-language support section.
AI Agents for Beginners directs learners with questions to a dedicated channel in the Microsoft Foundry Discord, as described in the README's 'Meet Other Learners' section.
Best use cases
- •Reading a single design-pattern lesson in isolation, such as Tool Use or Agentic RAG, since the README says each lesson stands on its own topic.
- •Working through the intro-to-production arc end to end if you're new to agents and want lessons 1 through 18 to build on each other.
- •Studying lesson 11's rundown of agentic protocols (MCP, A2A, NLWeb) if you already build agents but haven't touched those specifically.
- •Reading the course in a non-English language, given the README's 50+ translated versions kept current via GitHub Action.
- •Watching the short lesson videos alongside the written material instead of relying on the README text alone.
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