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Developing Work Skills · Career & Development

Build Your First AI API Integration

Create a grounded academy FAQ assistant with secure server requests, controlled actions, and measurable quality.

Level
Advanced
Estimated study
About 10 hours
Lessons
8 lessons in 4 modules
Format
Online, self-paced
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Monthly: $0 today with a card, then $34 on day 8 unless you cancel before then. After the trial, 30 days' notice applies. Active on-campus students have academy access included. Check your existing student account before buying another subscription.

About this course

A practical advanced introduction to AI API integration, using a fictional academy and optional offline fixtures. Prerequisites: JavaScript, async/await, HTTP, Node.js, authentication, server environment variables, and basic SQL. Build a small FAQ assistant, inspect failures, and present evidence of its limits. The 10-hour workload includes reading, coding, debugging, evaluation, and a capstone. Optional provider calls require an account and may incur API credit charges; every required exercise can use local mocks. Advanced follow-on courses in production AI systems, deeper retrieval, agent workflows, and deployment are planned curriculum, not included lessons or promised qualifications.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a bounded server integration with authentication, authorization and private configuration.
  • Validate answers and citations against permitted fictional source records.
  • Handle incomplete responses, cancellation, provider errors and usage limits.
  • Evaluate the FAQ assistant and require explicit confirmation for a mock support action.

Course outline

Module 1: Secure requests and boundaries

2 lessons · 2 h 30 min

Distinguish the interface from the model service, then make a bounded server-side request.

  1. Design the boundary between your user and the model1 h 15 min
  2. Make your first server-side model request1 h 15 min

Module 2: Reliable answers and user experience

2 lessons · 2 h 30 min

Define answer contracts, validate outputs, and handle incomplete streams and provider failures.

  1. Write prompts and validate answer contracts1 h 15 min
  2. Handle streaming, cancellation, and errors1 h 15 min

Module 3: Grounding and controlled actions

2 lessons · 2 h 30 min

Retrieve permitted source records and distinguish model suggestions from authorized tool execution.

  1. Ground answers in authorized course records1 h 15 min
  2. Introduce tools and MCP with controlled actions1 h 15 min

Module 4: Evaluation and portfolio capstone

2 lessons · 2 h 30 min

Measure quality and cost, then present a complete fictional FAQ integration with evidence and limitations.

  1. Evaluate quality and enforce cost limits1 h 15 min
  2. Build and present a fictional academy FAQ1 h 15 min
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