Step 0.1: GitHub Setup

Prerequisite: Complete Step 0 (1Password Setup) first. You'll need your SSH key and a generated password ready before starting here.

Before you start the course, you need a place to save your work. That place is GitHub.

Git is a tool that tracks changes to your files. GitHub is a website that stores your project online so you can access it from anywhere and show your work to others.

Why bother? Every week you'll write code, fill in reflections, and run experiments. Without Git, that work lives on one computer and nowhere else. With Git, it's backed up, versioned, and visible.

Step 1: Create a GitHub account

Go to github.com
Click Sign up
Pick a username (this is public — keep it professional)
Use a real email address you check
Use the generated password you saved in 1Password (Step 0) — do not make one up
Verify your email when GitHub sends you a confirmation

That's it. You have a GitHub account.

Step 1.5: Add your SSH key to GitHub

You generated an SSH key in Step 0. Now tell GitHub about your public key so it can recognize you.

Copy your public key (run this in your terminal):
```
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
```
Go to github.com/settings/keys
Click New SSH key
Title: My Laptop (or whatever machine you're on)
Paste the public key
Click Add SSH key

GitHub will now accept your SSH key instead of asking for your password.

Step 2: Create your course repo from the template

Go to this link: https://github.com/izhaky/ai-learning-course/generate
You'll see a page that says "Create a new repository from ai-learning-course"
Under Repository name, type ai-learning-course (or whatever you want to call it)
Make sure Public is selected
Click the green Create repository button

You now have your own copy of all the course files.

Step 3: Install Git

Git is a command-line tool. You need it on your computer to download and upload your work.

Mac: Open Terminal (search for "Terminal" in Spotlight) and paste:

xcode-select --install

A popup will ask you to install developer tools. Click Install and wait for it to finish.

Windows:

Go to https://git-scm.com/download/win
Download the installer — it's called Git for Windows (sometimes labeled "Git SCM")
Run it — click Next on every screen (the defaults are fine)
When it's done, search your Start menu for Git Bash and open it. This is the terminal you'll use for all Git commands in this course. It was installed as part of Git for Windows.

Linux: Open a terminal and paste:

sudo apt install git

Stuck?

If any step doesn't work on your machine, copy the error message and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI assistant. Tell it what you were trying to do and what happened. Something like:

"I'm trying to install Git on my Mac. I ran xcode-select --install and got this error: [paste error here]. How do I fix this?"

This is a real skill — learning to debug with AI is something you'll use throughout this course and beyond.

Step 4: Tell Git who you are

Open your terminal (Terminal on Mac, Git Bash on Windows) and run these two commands. Replace the name and email with yours:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"

This is how Git signs your work. Use the same email you used for GitHub.

Step 5: Clone your repo

This downloads your repo to your computer. Use the SSH URL (not HTTPS) so your SSH key handles authentication automatically.

In your terminal, paste this command — but replace YOUR-USERNAME with your actual GitHub username:

git clone git@github.com:YOUR-USERNAME/ai-learning-course.git

Then move into the folder:

cd ai-learning-course

You should now see all the course files on your computer.

Step 6: Make your first commit

Open the README.md file in any text editor. At the very top, add a line with your name:

# My AI Learning Course - [Your Name]

Save the file. Then run these three commands:

git add README.md
git commit -m "Add my name to README"
git push

What just happened:

git add — stages the file (tells Git "I want to save this change")
git commit — saves the change with a label
git push — uploads it to GitHub

save, label, upload. That's Git in three commands.

Step 7: Verify

Go to your repo on GitHub: https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/ai-learning-course

You should see your name in the README. If you do, you're set. Week 0 is done.

After each week

When you finish a week's work, save it to GitHub:

git add .
git commit -m "Complete week 1"
git push

Replace the number with whatever week you just finished. That's it — three commands, every time.

Your commit history becomes your progress log. Anyone looking at your repo (including future you) can see exactly what you did and when.