Build Your Own AI Agent: The Claude Agent SDK | AICHR
Details
Notice: This meeting will be recorded. By joining and remaining in this meeting, you consent to being recorded. If you do not consent, please do not join.
This event is capped at 500 attendees. Register now to secure your spot.
Build Your Own AI Agent: The Claude Agent SDK -
You've been using Claude Code interactively. Type a prompt, watch it work, review the output. That's great for your workflow. But what happens when you need Claude running inside your application? Processing uploads at 3 AM? Reviewing PRs automatically? Analyzing logs as a service?
The Claude Agent SDK is Claude Code packaged as a Python and TypeScript library. One function call, one prompt, and you have a fully autonomous agent with 10+ built-in tools — file reading, code editing, shell commands, web search, MCP connections — all handled autonomously. No tool loop. No orchestration code. The SDK is free and open source. You pay for tokens only.
This is a live coding workshop. We'll build 10 real agents from scratch, starting with a 10-line bug finder and ending with a multi-agent coordinator that spawns subagents for parallel work.
What we'll cover:
🧠 Why the Agent SDK Changes Everything The difference between the Client SDK (you build the tool loop), Claude Code CLI (you interact manually), and the Agent SDK (Claude handles tools autonomously in your code).
⚡ 10 Agents We'll Build Live:
- Bug Finder & Fixer — reads code, finds bugs, fixes them. 10 lines of Python.
- Code Documentation Generator — docstrings for every function in a directory
- Test Writer — writes tests, runs them, fixes failures, iterates until green
- File Processor Pipeline — watch a folder, process every new file automatically
- API Health Monitor — hits endpoints, reports status, opens issues on failure
- Log Analyzer — reads logs, groups errors by pattern, produces a digest
- Security Auditor — scans for hardcoded secrets, SQL injection, missing validation
- Data Report Generator — reads a database or CSV, produces formatted reports
- PR Review Bot — triggered by webhook, reviews against your checklist, posts comments
- Multi-Agent Coordinator — spawns subagents for parallel research + writing + review
🏗️ Managed Agents Preview The hosted version: sandboxed containers, persistent state, credential vaulting. $0.08/session-hour + tokens. Public beta since April 8, 2026. When to use Agent SDK (your infra) vs Managed Agents (Anthropic's infra).
Who this is for: Python or TypeScript developers who want to build autonomous AI agents. If you've been using Claude Code and want to embed its capabilities into your own applications, services, or pipelines — this is the session. Prior experience with Claude Code is helpful but not required.
Who this is NOT for: Non-developers. This is a coding workshop. Every demo involves writing and running Python or TypeScript code. If you're looking for no-code AI workflows, see our earlier events in the series.
What you'll leave with: ✅ The Agent SDK installed and a working agent running on your machine ✅ A free homework doc with all 10 agent templates in Python and TypeScript ✅ Understanding of built-in tools, permission modes, MCP integration, and subagents ✅ The architecture for building production agent services
Prerequisites: — Python 3.10+ or Node.js 18+ — An Anthropic API key (sign up at console.anthropic.com) — A code editor and terminal — Basic Python or TypeScript proficiency
🎙️ Your Speaker Andrew Stafford Co-Lead of The AI Collective Hampton Roads. 25+ years across technology, cloud architecture, and AI — including work with Amazon, NASA, healthcare platforms, and enterprise systems. Author of AI for Business. Currently building at the intersection of AI tooling, agentic workflows, and practical business automation.
🏢 For Businesses Want to bring AI automation training to your team? We offer private workshops (lunch and learn, half-day, full-day bootcamp), conference speaking, and technical consulting. Book a discovery call
***
🤝 Organizers & partners
Organizers
The AI Collective Hampton Roads
Platinum partners
TechArk
Regent University
ECPI University
Hampton Roads Chamber Foundation
Retail Alliance & Retail Alliance Foundation
Bronze partners
Assembly
757 Collab
🌍 Our parent org
The AI Collective is a global non-profit community uniting 225,000+ pioneers – founders, researchers, operators, and investors – exploring the frontier of AI in major tech hubs worldwide. Through events, workshops, and community-led research, we empower the AI ecosystem to collaboratively steer AI’s future toward trust, openness, and human flourishing.
All attendees and organizers at events affiliated with The AI Collective agree to our privacy policy and are subject to our code of conduct. Additionally, by registering for this event, you agree to The AI Collective Hampton Roads chapter photo & video policy.