Skunkworks Academy faviconSkunkworks Academy
CLD-DEV-201 · Technical · Developer Pathway · Online Self-Paced

Claude for Developers

A practical developer course for building with Claude: API fundamentals, application prompt design, structured outputs, tool use, retrieval patterns, safety controls, testing, deployment, and production integration workflows.

Enrol / RegisterView curriculumOpen developer labs
Locked

Course content is locked. Complete enrolment and accept the AI Privacy, API Usage, and Developer Responsibility Agreement to unlock labs, resources, assessment, and capstone.

Course Board

At a glance

CLD-DEV-201 is the technical follow-on to CLD-UF-101. It is designed for developers, technical leads, solution architects, AI builders, and teams integrating Claude into real applications.

8Technical modules
5Hands-on labs
70%Recommended pass mark
1Developer capstone
Learning Objectives

What developers will be able to do

01Explain Claude API concepts, request/response flow, model selection, and safe integration boundaries.
02Design application prompts using context, roles, output schemas, examples, constraints, and evaluation criteria.
03Build structured-output workflows for JSON, extraction, classification, routing, and application automation.
04Implement tool-use patterns for function calls, workflow orchestration, and developer-controlled actions.
05Apply document, retrieval, and RAG-style patterns without exposing unnecessary or restricted information.
06Test AI outputs using fixtures, regression checks, eval rubrics, edge cases, and human review gates.
07Implement privacy, security, rate-limit, logging, and operational controls for AI-enabled applications.
08Build and document a working Claude-powered developer capstone.
Public Curriculum

Course structure

This public outline is visible before enrolment. Full labs, code prompts, resources, assessment, and capstone workspace unlock after registration and agreement acceptance.

01 · Claude API Fundamentals

45 min

API concepts, model selection, request/response patterns, tokens, latency, and cost-aware design.

API basicsModelsTokens

02 · Application Prompt Design

60 min

Prompt architecture for developer workflows, output schemas, constraints, examples, and reusable templates.

System promptsSchemasExamples

03 · Structured Outputs and Automation

60 min

JSON outputs, extraction, classification, routing, validation, and application automation patterns.

JSONExtractionValidation

04 · Tool Use and Function Calling

60 min

Safe tool contracts, function calls, workflow orchestration, and action boundaries.

ToolsFunctionsActions

05 · Documents, Retrieval, and RAG Patterns

60 min

Document workflows, retrieval pipelines, chunking, grounding, and source verification.

RetrievalRAGGrounding

06 · Testing, Evals, and Reliability

60 min

Regression tests, golden examples, rubric-based evals, edge cases, failure handling, and monitoring.

EvalsRegressionMonitoring

07 · Security, Privacy, and Production Controls

45 min

Data minimisation, secrets handling, logging rules, rate limits, policy controls, and safe deployment practices.

PrivacySecurityOperations

08 · Developer Capstone

90 min

Build a Claude-powered workflow or integration and document design, risks, tests, and operational controls.

BuildTestDemo
Assessment & Pathway

Certification and next step

Developer knowledge check · 40%

Assesses API concepts, prompt design, structured output, tool use, retrieval patterns, testing, and production controls.

Developer capstone · 60%

A practical Claude-powered workflow or integration with code/design notes, test evidence, and responsible deployment controls.

Prerequisite recommendation

CLD-UF-101 or equivalent user-level Claude fluency is recommended before starting this developer course.

Recommended next

Advanced implementation workshops for RAG, agentic workflows, enterprise integration, governance, and production AI operations.

Registration

Enrol for CLD-DEV-201

Submit the registration form below. The enrolment and signed AI Privacy, API Usage, and Developer Responsibility Agreement are emailed to training@skunkworksacademy.com.

AI Privacy, API Usage, and Developer Responsibility Agreement

I understand that this course may include API keys, code examples, tool-use concepts, logs, test data, retrieval patterns, and application integration workflows.

I agree not to submit passwords, secrets, production credentials, restricted data, customer records, employee records, or confidential source code unless explicitly approved by my organisation.

I remain responsible for validating outputs, protecting data, following applicable policies, and ensuring that any Claude-powered application is tested, reviewed, and safely deployed.

Developer Labs

Locked hands-on workspace

After enrolment, this area hosts labs for API calls, structured output, tool use, RAG patterns, evals, and the developer capstone.

Lab 1 · First API workflow

Configure a safe development setup and run a Claude request/response workflow.

Lab 2 · Structured output

Build and validate JSON extraction, classification, and routing outputs.

Lab 3 · Tool use pattern

Design a tool contract and implement a developer-controlled action loop.

Lab 4 · Retrieval pattern

Prototype a grounded document-answering workflow using approved sample content.

Resources

Downloadable developer resources

Developer Prompt Library

Prompt templates for extraction, classification, routing, code assistance, tool use, and eval design.

API Integration Checklist

Checklist for credentials, logging, data minimisation, test cases, fallback handling, and deployment readiness.

Developer Capstone Workspace

Design, build, test, and document a Claude-powered integration or workflow.

Final Assessment

Developer Knowledge Check and Capstone

The final assessment validates technical understanding and practical application through a build-oriented capstone.

Capstone workspace placeholder. Full submission workflow to be implemented.