Welcome to the AI Workshop

Today you will use AI-assisted development tools to work on VetHub — a veterinary clinic management application. You are not building AI features. You are learning to use AI as a development tool: to explore code, fix bugs, write tests, and implement features faster.

VetHub is hosted at https://github.com/Q24/vethub.

The exercises are designed as a guided progression. Everyone works through the same sequence, at their own pace.

Exercise	What you will do	Time
00 — Environment Setup	Verify your setup, confirm your AI tools are connected	~15 min
01 — Let AI Explain the Project	Have your AI assistant walk you through the VetHub codebase	~20 min
02 — Give AI a Memory	Create a system prompt so AI remembers your project context	~15 min
03 — Refine a Story	Create a refinement agent and turn a vague request into a concrete story	~25 min
04 — Build the Pets Page	Build a frontend feature from your refined story, matching existing patterns	~25 min
05 — Theme Selector	Set up project workflow tracking, then refine and build a theme switcher	~30 min
06 — Test-Driven Development	Write tests first, then let AI implement the code to pass them	~30 min
07 — Implement a Full Feature	Run a complete SCRUM cycle: refine a vague request, then build it end-to-end	~45 min
08 — Apply to Your Own Codebase	Take what you learned and try it on your own project	remaining time

Not familiar with the tech stack? No problem.

VetHub uses Spring Boot (Java) on the backend and SvelteKit (TypeScript) on the frontend. You do not need prior experience with either.

The code follows familiar patterns: REST controllers, services, repositories, components. If you have built anything with Quarkus, Django, FastAPI, Express, Angular, or Vue, it will feel recognisable.
Every exercise comes with clear acceptance criteria and hints — including working code examples you can use directly.
Your AI coding assistant is your pair partner. It will help you navigate unfamiliar frameworks, explain patterns, and generate code in languages you may not know well.
Both the backend (Spring Boot DevTools) and frontend (Vite HMR) have fast feedback loops with hot reload.
Your facilitator is here to help. Ask questions early and often.

The struggle is part of the learning. Give yourself at least 15 minutes on an exercise before reaching for the hints — and then absolutely use them.

What you will work on

VetHub is a fullstack veterinary clinic management application:

Component	Stack	What it does
`server/`	Spring Boot 4.1, Java 25, Gradle	REST API for managing owners, pets, vets, visits, specialties
`client/`	SvelteKit 2, Svelte 5	Web UI for the clinic management system

The backend follows a feature-first package structure:

server/src/main/java/dev/ilionx/workshop/api/
    owner/     -- Owner CRUD (controller, service, repository, model)
    pet/       -- Pet and PetType management
    vet/       -- Vet and Specialty management
    visit/     -- Visit tracking

Key technologies: MapStruct (object mapping), Liquibase (database migrations), Bean Validation (input validation), H2 (in-memory database for development), openapi-fetch (type-safe API client in the frontend).

How to use this site

Use the sidebar to navigate:

Exercises — work through them in order, starting with 00
Hints — step-by-step guidance with code examples; open when you need them
OpenCode — documentation for the AI coding agent you will use
Facilitator Guide — for the people running the session

Ready? Head to the Setup Guide to get your environment ready, then move on to exercise 00.