Where our own workshops sit alongside the resources we'd point you to anyway.
CPU, RAM, storage — what each one does and why you run out of them.
The shell: pwd, ls, cd.
Files, paths, hidden files, extensions.
Plain text, nano, VS Code.
The OS, processes, force quit.
Permissions, PATH, environment variables.
Piping, grep, shortcuts, man pages.
Scripts, Homebrew, automation, runtimes.
Probing, follow-ups.
Hallucinations, doubt, checking the docs.
Tokens, context window, models.
Prompting, system prompts, API calls.
Use AI to learn an unfamiliar programming language hands-on.
Use AI to map an unfamiliar technology before diving in.
Use AI to navigate an unfamiliar codebase — see also the blog post on reading codebases.
Binary, encoding, ASCII, UTF-8.
Boolean logic, conditions, comparisons.
IP, ports, DNS.
HTTP, status codes, HTTPS, curl.
Servers, clients, request-response, localhost.
APIs, JSON, packages, frameworks.
View source, HTML, DevTools.
Source code, interpreted languages, errors, stack traces.
git, commits, history, diff, branches.
GitHub, push/pull, README, Markdown.
Not toy projects. Pick one, set it up locally (expect it to take a few days — that struggle is the lesson), then take a labeled beginner issue.
Make your literal first PR here — a repo that exists solely to walk you through fork → branch → PR → merge, with maintainers who merge fast.
Suggests small open-source contributions and tracks your streak — good for building the habit after your first PR.
One of the most-used React UI libraries in the world. Huge, active, well-documented — a real production codebase with labeled beginner issues.
The classic collaborative editor. Long-running project with an approachable issue tracker.
Fast-moving TypeScript AI-agent framework — very active, so issues and reviews turn around quickly.
A local-first TypeScript database with famously tidy code and docs — great for learning what a well-kept repo looks like.
The JSON Schema org's site — docs-heavy, beginner-friendly issues, and an org DevForge members have already merged PRs into.
A community-maintained landscape of local-first tools — contributions are mostly research and writing, a gentle on-ramp.
Check weekly. Trending repos are active by definition — pick one you actually use and read its open issues.
The full handbook — read it alongside your first contribution, not instead of it.
A short structured module if you prefer guided lessons over handbooks.
