LOCKEDIN / FORWARD-DEPLOYED ENGINEERING 101
Understand it.
Then build it.
You can be an experienced engineer and still be new to agents. Start with what each thing is and how it helps a person do useful work. Explore 58 original introductions across software, agents, cloud, security and delivery. Start here without a model key; each topic connects to deeper instruction and practice.
A place to start.
Choose a short reading route, or look up a concept below.
- 101UnderstandPlain language, visual walkthrough, vocabulary
- 102Build with guidanceOriginal lessons, examples and knowledge checks
- 103Practise and explainRunnable labs, failure cases and handover
Connect the software
Begin with a person issuing a command to a program; the terminal is not itself an agent.
See the 9-concept route
For people who want the software vocabulary behind AI tools, or a refresher before their first local build.
- 01Terminal & CLIYou are here
- 02ConfigurationUnderstand how that program receives its settings and why different processes can behave differently.
- 03JSON & schemasRead the messages programs exchange. Separate a field's name, type and meaning before following an API request.
- 04APIsMove from a person using a command to one program requesting something from another.
- 05RESTSee how resource addresses, HTTP methods and status codes organize a web API.
- 06SDKsFollow the library code that turns a convenient method call into an API request.
- 07TestsDecide what observable behavior to check before trusting a change made by a person or an agent.
- 08GitSeparate editable files, selected snapshots and recorded commits. Match the tested content to the change you hand over.
- 09Claude CodeBring commands, configuration and checks into a bounded coding-assistant task.
Bookmark this page to return to this concept. The number shows your place in the reading route; it is not an assessment result.
Interfaces to programs
What are a terminal, a shell and a CLI?
A terminal is the window where you type and see text. A shell interprets your commands. A command-line interface (CLI) is how a program accepts those commands. An AI coding agent can use a terminal, but the terminal itself does not reason or decide what to do.
You need to understand what will run, in which folder, and with whose authority before approving a coding agent's action.
UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEM
The terminal displays; the shell interprets; the program runs
A command-line interface (CLI) accepts text commands. Your terminal is the window, the shell interprets the command and a program performs the work. None of those things is automatically an AI agent.
Read the connections in plain English
- 01You type a command → Shell
The shell receives the command line.
- 02Shell → CLI program
The shell resolves the program and passes arguments.
- 03CLI program → Files or services
The program acts using its configured permissions.
- 04CLI program → Terminal output
Text and an exit code return to the shell and terminal.
Check your understanding: Where would Claude Code fit in this picture?
It is a program with a CLI. Inside that program, an agent can plan and request tools. The terminal remains the interface, not the agent's reasoning engine.
CONNECT IT TO WHAT YOU KNOW
Start with something familiar.
Think of the terminal as a workbench, the shell as the way you operate it, and each command-line program as a tool on the bench. An agent is a separate application that can propose which tool to use.
Typing a command gives an instruction to a program. Asking a coding agent for a goal may lead to several proposed commands and edits, each still subject to permissions.
Words worth knowing
- Shell
- A program that interprets commands.
- Argument
- An input supplied after the program name.
- Exit status
- A numeric result indicating how a process ended; zero commonly indicates success.
ONE EXAMPLE / FICTIONAL CASE
Follow the connections.
You join a project and need to find its files and test command before changing anything.
UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEM
The terminal displays; the shell interprets; the program runs
A command-line interface (CLI) accepts text commands. Your terminal is the window, the shell interprets the command and a program performs the work. None of those things is automatically an AI agent.
See what moves and why.
Read the connections in plain English
- 01You type a command → Shell
The shell receives the command line.
- 02Shell → CLI program
The shell resolves the program and passes arguments.
- 03CLI program → Files or services
The program acts using its configured permissions.
- 04CLI program → Terminal output
Text and an exit code return to the shell and terminal.
Check your understanding: Where would Claude Code fit in this picture?
It is a program with a CLI. Inside that program, an agent can plan and request tools. The terminal remains the interface, not the agent's reasoning engine.
Work through it, step by step.
Locate
The shell keeps a current working directory. Read-only commands such as pwd and ls show your location and files.
What you have now: A known project folder
Ask a program
A command such as git status asks Git about that repository. It does not ask a model to make a judgment.
What you have now: A concrete program result
Interpret
Read output and the exit status. A successful command is not proof that the product behavior is correct.
What you have now: An evidence-based next action
FROM RECOGNITION TO REASONING
Explain three actions before running them in a disposable project folder.
- 01
Write what pwd, ls and git status read or change.
- 02
Run only those read-only commands in a repository you own.
- 03
Compare their literal outputs with an agent's explanation of those outputs.
A note separating command, observed output and your interpretation.
Compare your reasoning when you are ready
The shell executes programs. Git reports repository state. A coding agent can interpret that state and propose an edit, but its explanation is not the command's output.
Keep notes in your own working copy. Moving through these cards does not record completion.
TURN THE IDEA INTO USEFUL WORK
You can now go deeper.
Typing a command gives an instruction to a program. Asking a coding agent for a goal may lead to several proposed commands and edits, each still subject to permissions.
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