# Where to Find AI For Beginners Documentation: Complete Guide to Microsoft's Free AI Curriculum

> Find Microsoft's AI For Beginners documentation easily. Access the complete free AI curriculum built directly into the official GitHub repository for a seamless learning experience.

- Repository: [Microsoft/AI-For-Beginners](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners)
- Tags: getting-started
- Published: 2026-08-01

---

**The documentation for Microsoft's AI For Beginners is built into the repository itself as a Docsify-powered website, with the main entry point at [`README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/README.md) and an interactive web version hosted on GitHub Pages.**

The **AI For Beginners** repository from Microsoft is a self‑contained, 24‑lesson curriculum designed to teach artificial intelligence fundamentals without prerequisites. All documentation lives inside the repository under a clear hierarchy of Markdown files, Jupyter notebooks, and configuration scripts. According to the Microsoft/AI‑For‑Beginners source code, learners can access materials through the root README, a searchable Docsify site, or individual lesson folders.

## Accessing the Main Documentation Entry Points

### Root README.md

The primary documentation for AI For Beginners starts at [[`README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/README.md)](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/README.md). This file contains:

- A high‑level curriculum summary with badge links
- A "Content" table mapping all 24 lessons to their folder locations
- Quick‑start instructions for new learners
- Links to community Discord and discussion forums

The README follows standard open‑source conventions and renders automatically on GitHub.

### Docsify-Powered Website ([`index.html`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/index.html))

Microsoft provides an interactive, searchable web interface through [[`index.html`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/index.html)](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/index.html). The Docsify configuration includes:

```javascript
window.$docsify = {
  name: 'AI For Beginners',
  repo: 'https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners',
  loadSidebar: true,
  routerMode: 'history'  // Enables clean URLs without hashes
};

```

To view this locally:

```bash

# Install Docsify CLI globally

npm install -g docsify-cli

# Serve the documentation

docsify serve .

```

The live version is hosted at `https://microsoft.github.io/AI-For-Beginners/`.

## Navigating Lesson-Specific Documentation

Each lesson follows a consistent structure inside `lessons/<topic>/`. For example, the Perceptron lesson at `lessons/3-NeuralNetworks/03-Perceptron/` contains:

| File | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| [`README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/README.md) | Theory explanation and learning objectives |
| `Perceptron.ipynb` | PyTorch implementation notebook |
| `Perceptron-tf.ipynb` | TensorFlow/Keras implementation |
| `lab/` (optional) | Hands-on exercise instructions |

You can open any lesson notebook programmatically:

```python
import nbformat as nbf

# Load the Perceptron notebook

path = "lessons/3-NeuralNetworks/03-Perceptron/Perceptron.ipynb"
with open(path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
    notebook = nbf.read(f, as_version=4)

print(f"Cells: {len(notebook['cells'])}")

```

## Setup and Environment Documentation

The AI For Beginners documentation includes detailed environment setup in two key locations:

**[`environment.yml`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/environment.yml)** — Conda specification with pinned dependencies:

```yaml
name: ai4beg
dependencies:
  - python=3.10
  - tensorflow=2.17
  - pytorch
  - keras=3.5
  - opencv
  - numpy=1.26

```

**[`lessons/0-course-setup/setup.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/lessons/0-course-setup/setup.md)** — Step-by-step guides for:
- Local Conda installation
- GitHub Codespaces
- Binder cloud notebooks
- VS Code dev-container configuration

To create the environment:

```bash
conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate ai4beg

```

## Quick-Start Examples Without Full Curriculum

The [[`examples/README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/examples/README.md)](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/examples/README.md) provides four standalone scripts for immediate experimentation:

```bash

# Minimal "Hello AI" verification

python examples/01-hello-ai-world.py

# Simple neural network from scratch

python examples/02-simple-neural-network.py

# Image classifier (Jupyter notebook)

jupyter notebook examples/03-image-classifier.ipynb

# Text sentiment analysis

python examples/04-text-sentiment.py

```

These examples do not require navigating the full lesson hierarchy.

## Quiz Application Documentation

The Vue.js quiz application has its own documentation at [`etc/quiz-app/README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/etc/quiz-app/README.md):

```bash
cd etc/quiz-app
npm install      # Installs Vue 2 and ESLint

npm run serve    # Dev server at localhost:8080

```

## Translations and Visual Assets

Multilingual support and learning aids are organized under:

- `translations/*` — Localized README files
- `lessons/sketchnotes/*` — Hand-drawn concept illustrations for each lesson

## Contributing and Community Documentation

Community participation guidelines are documented in:

- [[`CONTRIBUTING.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md)](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) — Pull request etiquette and issue reporting
- [[`README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/README.md)](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/README.md) — Discord server and discussion forum links

## Summary

- **Primary entry point**: [`README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/README.md) in the repository root
- **Interactive web version**: Docsify site via [`index.html`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/index.html) or GitHub Pages
- **Lesson materials**: Structured under `lessons/<topic>/` with theory READMEs and dual-framework notebooks
- **Environment setup**: [`environment.yml`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/environment.yml) and [`lessons/0-course-setup/setup.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/lessons/0-course-setup/setup.md)
- **Quick examples**: `examples/` folder for standalone experimentation
- **Quiz app**: [`etc/quiz-app/README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/etc/quiz-app/README.md) for the Vue.js assessment tool

---

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Where is the official AI For Beginners documentation hosted?

The official documentation is hosted on GitHub Pages at `https://microsoft.github.io/AI-For-Beginners/`. This renders the same Markdown content found in the repository's [`README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/README.md) and lesson folders through a Docsify interface.

### Can I read the AI For Beginners documentation without installing anything?

Yes. All documentation is readable directly on GitHub by browsing the Markdown files. The README, lesson folders, and setup guides render natively in GitHub's interface without local installation.

### How do I find documentation for a specific lesson in AI For Beginners?

Each lesson has a [`README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/README.md) inside its folder under `lessons/<topic>/<lesson-number>-<name>/`. The root README contains a "Content" table that maps lesson numbers to these paths. For example, lesson 3-3 (Perceptron) is at [`lessons/3-NeuralNetworks/03-Perceptron/README.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/lessons/3-NeuralNetworks/03-Perceptron/README.md).

### What documentation exists for running AI For Beginners in the cloud?

The [`lessons/0-course-setup/setup.md`](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners/blob/main/lessons/0-course-setup/setup.md) file documents cloud options including GitHub Codespaces (one-click launch), Binder (free Jupyter environment), and Azure Machine Learning. The repository includes `.devcontainer` configuration for consistent cloud development environments.