Why this is in the programme
The Frontier Engineer experiment begins with the transition from using a large language model as a conversational tool to engineering systems in which the model participates in a larger process.
This course provides the initial foundation in agentic design patterns, including reflection, tool use, planning and multi-agent workflows. It also introduces evaluation and error analysis, which become increasingly important as a model is given greater freedom to act.
Course
The course covers agentic workflows, reflection, tool use, planning, multi-agent approaches, integration with external systems and the evaluation of agent behaviour.
Role in the experiment
This stage establishes the conceptual foundation for the rest of the programme. The objective is not simply to reproduce the examples in the course, but to understand which agentic patterns are useful, what new failure modes they introduce, and where conventional deterministic software remains preferable.
This page will be expanded as the course progresses to record the important concepts, experiments and changes in understanding that emerge.