The Anthropic API Beginners Workshop

About the Course:

Talking to Claude through a chat interface is one thing. Calling Claude from your own C# code, and doing it correctly, safely, and economically, is a different skill set. This beginner workshop is the on-ramp for .NET developers who want to build AI-native applications using the official Anthropic C# SDK rather than copy-pasting cURL commands or wrapping a Python library. The workshop opens with a concise, practitioner-focused explanation of how large language models actually work: tokens, context windows, system prompts, and the request/response cycle. 

This foundation is not academic; it directly informs every integration decision you will make. You will then install the Anthropic SDK via NuGet, register it in the ASP.NET Core DI container using the patterns that survive production, and write your first typed API calls against a real ASP.NET Core project. 

The second half of the session covers two capabilities that distinguish professional AI integrations from hobby projects: streaming responses via Server-Sent Events (so your UI stays responsive while Claude thinks) and basic tool calling (so Claude can take actions, not just generate text). Every example is idiomatic .NET 8 or later, no Python wrappers, no JavaScript bridges, no toy demos.

Course Objectives:

Upon completing this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain how large language models work at the level required to make good API integration decisions
• Install the official Anthropic C# SDK via NuGet and understand its package structure
• Register the Anthropic client in ASP.NET Core's dependency injection container using production-safe patterns
• Call the Messages API from C# and handle typed responses correctly
• Implement streaming chat responses using Server-Sent Events in an ASP.NET Core endpoint
• Write and invoke a basic tool definition in C# to give Claude the ability to call external functions
• Understand token counting, context window limits, and their cost and quality implications
• Apply basic prompt engineering principles (system prompts, few-shot examples, role framing) in C#

Who is the Target Audience?

• .NET and C# developers who have never called the Anthropic API from code 
• Full-stack .NET developers who want to add AI-powered features to existing ASP.NET Core applications 
• Backend engineers building internal tools, bots, or data pipelines that need language model capabilities 
• Developers preparing to attend the Anthropic API Expert Workshop who want a solid SDK foundation first
• Solution architects designing. .NET-based systems who need to evaluate where and how LLMs fit into application architecture
• Technical leads or engineering managers guiding teams adopting AI capabilities in ASP.NET Core applications
• DevOps engineers working with .NET services who will support the deployment, scaling, and monitoring of AI-powered endpoints
• Platform engineers building internal developer platforms or shared services that expose AI capabilities to other teams
• API developers responsible for designing and maintaining REST endpoints that will integrate with LLM-backed services
• Data engineers who primarily work in .NET ecosystems and want to incorporate language models into data pipelines or enrichment workflows
• QA / test automation engineers exploring how to test AI-integrated .NET applications (response validation, edge cases, etc.)
• Consultants or system integrators delivering .NET solutions for clients and looking to add AI-driven features
• Developers transitioning from traditional enterprise .NET applications into AI-enabled or “AI-native” systems
• Technical trainers or educators teaching modern .NET who want to include real-world AI integration patterns in their curriculum

Basic Knowledge:

Required Knowledge:

• Solid C# and ASP.NET Core knowledge
• A basic understanding of dependency injection and HTTP
• No prior AI API experience required

Required Accounts:

• Anthropic Console account at console.anthropic.com, free to create. API access requires a paid plan or a Claude Pro/Max subscription. Estimated workshop spend: under $5.
• GitHub account (personal account sufficient) for lab repository access.
• An Azure free-tier account is recommended for the optional deployment overview

System Requirements:

• Visual Studio 2022 (latest stable), VS Code (latest), or JetBrains Rider. The Claude Code VS Code extension will be installed during the workshop.
• Windows 10/11 (64-bit), macOS 12 Monterey or later, or Ubuntu 20.04+ / Debian 10+. Windows users should install WSL2 before the workshop.
• RAM: 16 GB minimum; 32 GB recommended if running Docker Desktop alongside your IDE.
• Disk Space: 20 GB free minimum for SDK, tooling, Docker images, and the workshop repository.
• Local administrator rights required to install Claude Code and other tooling.
• A stable broadband internet connection is required throughout. All API calls and lab exercises