O'Reilly Live Learning Course | 4 Hours | Microsoft AB-100 Exam Prep + Real-World Agentic AI
Design, deploy, and govern multi-agent AI business solutions across the Microsoft stack -- and walk in prepared to pass Microsoft's AB-100 certification exam on the first attempt.
This repo has three sides:
- Live training plan -- the canonical 4-hour plan and per-hour breakdowns in
docs/course-plan-april-2026.md, plus the built slide deck indocs/ab100-course-deck-april-2026.pptx. - Hour 3 Deploy POC -- a working Foundry agent + MCP + ACA + APIM stack in
src/. Five bash scripts spin it up, one tears it down. Seesrc/README.md. - AB-100 Cert Buddy -- a GitHub Copilot agent in
.github/that generates exam-realistic practice questions, short architect-grade labs, and personalized study plans, all grounded in Microsoft Learn via MCP. Open the repo in VS Code and invoke@ab100-cert-buddy-agentin Copilot Chat. See the Cert Buddy quick start below.
| Hour | Theme | AB-100 Domain |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plan AI Solutions | Plan AI-powered business solutions (25-30%) |
| 2 | Design AI Solutions | Design AI-powered business solutions (25-30%) |
| 3 | Deploy AI Solutions | Deploy -- implementation & operations (~20-25%) |
| 4 | Security & Exam Mastery | Deploy -- security & governance (~20-25%) |
- A Microsoft 365 tenant with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Studio licensing (a developer tenant or trial works for the demos).
- A Microsoft Power Platform environment for agent authoring and a Microsoft Foundry project for the model and Foundry Tools demos.
- Working knowledge of one Microsoft business application stack -- Dynamics 365 customer experience and service, Dynamics 365 finance and supply chain, or Microsoft Power Platform -- consistent with the AB-100 prerequisite associate certifications.
- Comfort with prompt engineering basics, ALM concepts, and baseline cloud security vocabulary (identity, RBAC, data residency, audit logging).
Full prerequisite detail: docs/course-plan-april-2026.md.
ab100/
βββ README.md # This file
βββ CLAUDE.md # Claude Code instructions
βββ CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md # Community guidelines
βββ contributing.md # Contribution guide
βββ SECURITY.md # Security policy
βββ LICENSE # MIT License
βββ .markdownlint.json # Markdown linting config
βββ .editorconfig # Editor formatting consistency
β
βββ .github/ # Cert Buddy agent + skills + prompts
β βββ agents/
β β βββ ab100-cert-buddy-agent.agent.md
β βββ skills/
β β βββ ab100-item-creator/SKILL.md
β β βββ ab100-lab-creator/SKILL.md
β β βββ ab100-study-planner/SKILL.md
β βββ prompts/
β β βββ ab100-quiz.prompt.md
β β βββ ab100-lab.prompt.md
β β βββ ab100-plan.prompt.md
β βββ copilot-instructions.md
β βββ workflows/validate.yml
β
βββ .vscode/ # MCP server + recommended extensions
β βββ mcp.json
β βββ extensions.json
β
βββ docs/ # Course plan, exam reference, slide deck
β βββ course-plan-april-2026.md # Canonical 4-hour plan
β βββ ab100-exam-objectives.md # Verbatim Microsoft Learn skills measured
β βββ ab100-portals-and-products.md # Architect-grade portal/product index
β βββ ab100-metrics-dashboards-reports.md # Highest-yield dashboards and reports
β βββ ab100-study-resources.md # Curated public AB-100 content
β βββ microsoft-certification-policies.md
β βββ pearson-vue-registration.md
β βββ ab100-poc-architecture.html # Standalone POC architecture diagram
β βββ ab100-course-deck-april-2026.pptx # Built slide deck (canonical artifact)
β βββ deck-build/ # HTML slide sources + Node build pipeline
β βββ learning-paths/architect-agentic-ai/ # Local mirror of MS Learn path (11 modules)
β
βββ images/cover.png # Course cover image
βββ src/ # Hour 3 Deploy POC -- Foundry agent + MCP + ACA + APIM
βββ README.md # Five-command demo + teardown
βββ app/ # Python MCP server (FastMCP) wrapping a Foundry agent
βββ infra/ # Modular Bicep (UAMI, Logs, ACR, ACA, APIM)
βββ policies/ # APIM inbound policy
βββ scripts/ # 00-login -> 99-teardown bash demo flow
-
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/timothywarner-org/ab100.git
-
Read the course plan:
docs/course-plan-april-2026.md-- per-hour learning objectives, teaching flow, demos, exercises, and Microsoft Learn module mapping. -
Open the slide deck:
docs/ab100-course-deck-april-2026.pptx. -
Run the Hour 3 POC:
src/README.md-- five bash scripts spin up Foundry agent + MCP + ACA + APIM in your subscription. -
Use the Cert Buddy: open the repo in VS Code and invoke
@ab100-cert-buddy-agentin Copilot Chat.
Requirements analysis, AI strategy on the Cloud Adoption Framework, multi-agent platform selection across Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and Microsoft Foundry, plus ROI and build-buy-extend analysis. Maps to AB-100 Domain 1 (25-30%). See Hour 1 in the course plan.
Task, autonomous, and prompt-and-response agents, Microsoft Copilot Studio topics and agent flows, Microsoft Foundry Tools, MCP and A2A extensibility, Computer Use, voice mode, and Microsoft Power Platform Well-Architected Framework alignment for intelligent workloads. Maps to AB-100 Domain 2 (25-30%). See Hour 2 in the course plan.
Monitoring and telemetry interpretation, agent testing strategy, and ALM for agents,
connectors, custom models, and Dynamics 365 AI. Live demo materializes as the
Foundry-agent-as-MCP-server stack in src/. Maps to AB-100 Domain 3
implementation & operations subset (~20-25%).
AI security, governance, prompt manipulation defense, data residency, audit trails,
Responsible AI review, plus AB-100 exam logistics, item formats, and final-week study
plan. Builds on the Hour 3 POC by layering validate-jwt, named-values-from-Key-Vault,
azure-openai-token-limit, and Defender for APIs on the same artifact. Maps to AB-100
Domain 3 security & governance subset (~20-25%) plus exam readiness.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 0:00 -- 0:50 | Hour 1 -- Plan AI Solutions |
| 0:50 -- 1:00 | Q&A + Break |
| 1:00 -- 1:50 | Hour 2 -- Design AI Solutions |
| 1:50 -- 2:00 | Q&A + Break |
| 2:00 -- 2:50 | Hour 3 -- Deploy AI Solutions |
| 2:50 -- 3:00 | Q&A + Break |
| 3:00 -- 3:50 | Hour 4 -- Security & Exam Mastery |
| 3:50 -- 4:00 | Wrap-up, resources, next steps |
Full plan in docs/course-plan-april-2026.md.
This course is sequenced to align with the Microsoft Learn path
Architect AI solutions for business productivity.
The path's 11 modules are mirrored locally with per-module summaries and AB-100 domain
mapping at docs/learning-paths/architect-agentic-ai/.
Drill in between live sessions to deepen any topic introduced during an hour.
Tim Warner -- Microsoft MVP (Azure AI and Cloud/Datacenter Management), Microsoft Certified Trainer
An AI-powered study companion for the Microsoft AB-100: Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect certification, built entirely on GitHub Copilot agents. The buddy lives in .github/ as agent definitions, skill specs, prompt templates, and an MCP server configuration that turns GitHub Copilot Chat into an interactive exam coach.
The agent generates exam-realistic practice questions with two-phase interactive evaluation, short hands-on labs (15-25 minutes) across agent authoring, design walkthroughs, ALM, and governance, and personalized study plans based on your self-assessed confidence across the three AB-100 domains. All content is original and grounded in Microsoft Learn via MCP.
| Requirement | Purpose |
|---|---|
| VS Code | IDE with Copilot Chat support |
| GitHub Copilot Chat extension | Runs the agent and skills inside VS Code |
| Microsoft 365 tenant | Required for Copilot Studio and Microsoft 365 Copilot labs |
| Copilot Studio trial | Start a trial -- required for hands-on Copilot Studio labs |
| Azure subscription (optional) | Only needed for Microsoft Foundry labs that create Azure resources |
No API keys, Node.js, or Python are required. The Microsoft Learn MCP server is a free hosted service with no sign-up.
-
Open the folder in VS Code:
code ab100
-
The Microsoft Learn MCP server is defined in
.vscode/mcp.jsonand auto-configures when the workspace loads. -
Open GitHub Copilot Chat and invoke the agent:
@ab100-cert-buddy-agent Generate 5 practice questions on Copilot Studio extensibility with MCPOr use the slash commands. Type
/in Copilot Chat:/ab100-quiz /ab100-lab /ab100-plan
| Skill | File | What it does |
|---|---|---|
ab100-item-creator |
.github/skills/ab100-item-creator/SKILL.md |
Exam-realistic AB-100 practice questions with two-phase interactive delivery (question -> wait -> evaluate). |
ab100-lab-creator |
.github/skills/ab100-lab-creator/SKILL.md |
15-25 minute self-validating labs across agent authoring, design walkthroughs, ALM, and governance. |
ab100-study-planner |
.github/skills/ab100-study-planner/SKILL.md |
Personalized study plans based on confidence across the three AB-100 domains, with real Microsoft Learn module links. |
| Server ID | Technology | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
ab100buddy-mslearn |
https://learn.microsoft.com/api/mcp (HTTP) |
Free Microsoft Learn MCP server -- no API keys, no sign-up. Provides microsoft_docs_search, microsoft_docs_fetch, and microsoft_code_sample_search. Grounds all cert-buddy content in official Microsoft documentation. |
- Grounded in Microsoft Learn. Every question and lab is grounded in official Learn docs via MCP before any other source.
- Current terminology only. Legacy names like "Azure AI Studio" and "Power Virtual Agents" are silently replaced with "Microsoft Foundry" and "Microsoft Copilot Studio." See the full rename table in
.github/copilot-instructions.md. - Original content only. The agent never recreates, paraphrases, or references real exam questions, braindumps, or leaked content.
- No contractions. No trick wording. Distractors must be real.
- Answer randomization. Correct answer position is distributed across A/B/C/D.
- Company randomization. Scenarios draw from the WWL-approved Fictitious Names List embedded directly in the agent and skill files -- always the entire company name, never just Contoso.
- Labs include cleanup. Every lab ends with exact rollback or deletion steps.
- Microsoft style. Items follow the Microsoft Worldwide Learning Exam Writing Style Guide; prose follows the Microsoft Writing Style Guide. Both rule sets are inlined into the agent and skill files.
This is an unofficial study guide. Always refer to the official Microsoft exam page for the most current information.
MIT License. See LICENSE for details.
Questions? Open an issue or reach out via the course chat during live sessions.
