How to Fork and Clone the AI-For-Beginners Repository

Fork the Microsoft AI-For-Beginners repository through the GitHub web interface, then clone your personal copy using git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/AI-For-Beginners.git to obtain the full curriculum locally.

The Microsoft AI-For-Beginners repository provides a comprehensive 12-week curriculum covering artificial intelligence fundamentals through hands-on lessons. To customize the coursework, contribute improvements, or work offline, you need to fork and clone the AI-For-Beginners repository to create your own manageable copy. This guide walks through the exact steps documented in the official README.md while optimizing for different storage and bandwidth constraints.

Forking the Repository on GitHub

Creating a personal fork is the first step toward customizing the curriculum. According to the repository's README.md (lines 47-49), you must create a copy under your own GitHub account before cloning.

Creating Your Personal Copy

Navigate to the microsoft/AI-For-Beginners repository page. Click the Fork button located in the upper-right corner of the interface. This action creates a private copy of the entire repository—including all lesson notebooks, the Vue quiz application, and 50+ language translations—under your personal GitHub account.

Cloning Your Fork Locally

Once forked, you can download the repository to your local machine using Git. The standard method pulls the complete repository, including all translation files.

Standard Clone Method

Run the following command in your terminal, replacing <your-username> with your actual GitHub username:

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/AI-For-Beginners.git

This command downloads the full repository structure, including the lessons/ directory, environment.yml, and all translation assets as specified in README.md (lines 49-50).

Sparse Checkout for Smaller Downloads

If you only need the core English curriculum without the 50+ language translations, use a sparse checkout to reduce download size significantly. The repository documentation (README.md, lines 35-44) provides specific commands for Unix-based systems and Windows.

For Bash (macOS/Linux):

git clone --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners.git
cd AI-For-Beginners
git sparse-checkout set --no-cone '/*' '!translations' '!translated_images'

For Windows CMD:

git clone --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners.git
cd AI-For-Beginners
git sparse-checkout set --no-cone "/*" "!translations" "!translated_images"

This approach uses --filter=blob:none to avoid downloading translation blobs initially, then excludes the translations and translated_images directories from the working tree.

Configuring Your Development Environment

After cloning, you must configure the Python environment to run the lesson notebooks. The repository includes specific setup instructions in lessons/0-course-setup/setup.md.

Create the Conda environment using the provided specification file:

conda env create --name ai4beg --file environment.yml
conda activate ai4beg

The environment.yml file defines all required dependencies including TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras, and OpenCV. For alternative execution methods—such as running in VS Code, GitHub Codespaces, or deploying the Vue quiz app documented in etc/quiz-app/README.md—refer to lessons/0-course-setup/how-to-run.md.

Summary

• Fork first: Click the Fork button on GitHub to create a personal copy under your account, as documented in README.md.
• Clone second: Use git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/AI-For-Beginners.git to download your fork locally.
• Optimize storage: Use sparse checkout (--filter=blob:none --sparse) to exclude the translations/ and translated_images/ directories if you only need the English curriculum.
• Configure environment: Run conda env create -f environment.yml to install dependencies and follow lessons/0-course-setup/setup.md for complete environment configuration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to fork the repository before cloning?

No, you can clone the original microsoft/AI-For-Beginners repository directly using git clone https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners.git. However, forking creates a personal copy under your GitHub account, enabling you to push changes, create pull requests, and customize the curriculum without affecting the original repository.

How much storage space does the full repository require?

The complete repository including all 50+ language translations and media assets requires significantly more space than the core curriculum alone. The translations/ directory contains localized versions of all lessons, while translated_images/ stores language-specific graphics. Use the sparse checkout method documented in README.md (lines 35-44) to download only the English content and reduce storage requirements.

Can I clone the repository without installing Git?

While Git is the standard tool for cloning repositories, you can download the repository as a ZIP file from the GitHub web interface by clicking Code > Download ZIP. However, this method does not preserve Git history, and you will need to manually initialize a repository if you want to track changes or contribute back to the project.

What should I do after cloning to start the lessons?

After cloning, navigate to lessons/0-course-setup/setup.md and follow the instructions to create the Conda environment using the environment.yml file. Once dependencies are installed, launch Jupyter Lab with jupyter lab and navigate to the lessons/ directory to begin with module 1. For browser-based execution without local installation, see lessons/0-course-setup/how-to-run.md for GitHub Codespaces instructions.

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