MicroDegree Labs: Guided hands-on GenAI practice, inside VS Code
MicroDegree Labs gives MicroDegree students a guided,
hands-on environment to practise calling large language models, right inside
their own editor. No API keys, no billing setup: sign in once and call real
models through MicroDegree's hosted gateway using plan-based credits.
What you get
Real exercises, guided step by step. Open an exercise and a polished
guidance panel walks you through it, card by card, with a scaffold project
dropped straight into your workspace.
Call real models. Send prompts to Gemini, GPT, and Claude through one
OpenAI-compatible gateway and compare how they answer.
Check your work. A one-click check confirms each step, including that your
code actually reached a model.
Credits, not keys. Your MicroDegree plan grants credits. No API keys to
manage, no surprise bills.
New to Python? Start there instead
You do not need to know Python to begin: the first exercises teach you to read code, not
write it. But if you would rather build the basics first, Python for Beginners is
included in the same extension, listed under the AI exercises in the sidebar.
It starts where you are. Printing your first line, then variables, loops, functions,
collections, classes and error handling, one small idea at a time.
It builds up to a project you write yourself, then hands you back to the AI
exercises by showing you that the code there is Python you can now read.
Nothing extra to install, and no credits spent. These exercises run Python on your
own machine and never call a model, so working through them costs you nothing.
Get started
Install MicroDegree Labs from the Marketplace (VS Code) or Open VSX (Cursor / VSCodium).
Run MicroDegree Labs: Sign In and sign in with Google.
Have an access code from a workshop or your plan? Run MicroDegree Labs: Redeem Access Code.
Run MicroDegree Labs: Open Exercise to start practising, or just pick the
first exercise in the MicroDegree Labs panel in the activity bar.
Requirements
A MicroDegree account. Without an account (and credits) the extension simply
shows a sign-in prompt; there is nothing to abuse.
