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5-day LLM foundations roadmap

Free

A structured 5-day plan to build LLM skills from foundations to a working agent.

FreeFree tier
Type
Open Source

About 5-day LLM foundations roadmap

The 5-Day LLM Foundations Roadmap is a free, open-source learning plan designed for individuals with basic machine learning knowledge who want to build a solid foundation in large language models. It provides a structured 5-day curriculum covering core topics: LLM and reasoning model foundations, prompting and context engineering, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), agents and tools, and evaluation and shipping. Each day includes curated videos and readings from top sources (e.g., Andrej Karpathy, DeepLearning.AI, Anthropic, Hugging Face), with a suggested commitment of 2–3 hours per day. The roadmap emphasizes modern LLM development practices — assembling prompting, context, retrieval, tools, and evaluation into an agent — and includes an optional advanced day on fine-tuning. Updated for 2026.

Key Features

Structured 5-day curriculum covering LLM foundations, prompting, RAG, agents, and evaluation
Curated videos and readings from top industry sources (Karpathy, DeepLearning.AI, Anthropic, Hugging Face)
Emphasis on modern practices: context engineering, agentic workflows, and evaluation
Optional advanced day on fine-tuning
Updated for 2026
Designed for learners with basic machine learning knowledge
Daily commitment of 2–3 hours

Pros & Cons

Pros
  • Well-structured, time-boxed curriculum with clear daily goals
  • Curated resources from authoritative sources save time searching
  • Covers modern, practical approaches (agents, evaluation, RAG)
  • Free and open source, accessible via GitHub
  • Updated for current best practices (2026)
Cons
  • Requires basic machine learning knowledge; not for complete beginners
  • Focuses on foundational concepts rather than deep dives into advanced research
  • Relies on external resources; some links may become outdated over time
  • Not a hands-on coding tutorial; complements practical work

Best For

Self-paced learning to build a strong LLM foundationPreparing to build a first LLM application or agentTransitioning into AI engineering or generative AI rolesStructured upskilling for professionals already familiar with ML basics

FAQ

Who is this roadmap for?
It is designed for individuals with basic machine learning knowledge who want to build a solid foundation in LLMs and move toward building their own LLM application.
How long does it take?
The roadmap is designed for 5 days, with a suggested commitment of 2–3 hours per day.
Does the roadmap cover fine-tuning?
Yes, fine-tuning is covered as an optional advanced day for when you actually need it.
Is the roadmap updated?
The roadmap is updated for 2026, reflecting changes in how people build with LLMs (e.g., emphasis on agents and evaluation).