A mini course in one weekend

A full outline can feel like it all has to exist before anyone sees a thing, so it waits. A mini course gets around that: one module, one outcome, a handful of short lessons. It's small enough to finish in a weekend, and real enough to learn from: what people ask, where they get stuck, and whether they want more.

Let Claude help you scope it

Give Claude your outline (save outline.py's answer to a file) and your weekend. Ask which single module stands on its own, what a learner can do after it, what to leave out for now, and for a two-day plan:

python3 outline.py yourdeck.pptx | tail -n +3 > outline.txt

"""Scope a mini course you can publish in a weekend.

Takes the course outline from outline.py and asks Claude
which one module stands on its own, what to leave out,
and a two-day plan for publishing it.

    python3 plan.py outline.txt
"""
import sys

import anthropic

BRIEF = """Here is the outline of a course I want to sell. I have one weekend to publish a mini course.

1. Pick the single module that stands on its own best, and say why in one line.
2. Say what a learner can do after it, in one line starting "You can".
3. List what to leave out for now.
4. Give a two-day plan: Saturday and Sunday, a few short steps each. Build from the slides
   and notes I already have. End Sunday by publishing to a small group.
Plain text, no markdown, under 25 lines."""

if __name__ == "__main__":
    outline = open(sys.argv[1]).read()
    print("Asking Claude for a one-weekend mini course...\n")
    response = anthropic.Anthropic().messages.create(
        model="claude-sonnet-5-5",
        max_tokens=4000,
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": f"{BRIEF}\n\n<outline>\n{outline}\n</outline>"}],
    )
    print("".join(b.text for b in response.content if b.type == "text"))

What to expect

For our sample workshop deck, Claude picked the first module because it stood on its own and its gaps were small writing jobs, not new teaching. Saturday went to writing the missing examples and three short lessons from the slides and notes. Sunday went to one practice task, a run-through as a learner, and sending it to a small group. It left out video polish, certificates and a community. Your plan will differ; read it the same way.

The common mistakes

• Letting the mini course grow back into the full one. When you want to add just one more lesson on Saturday afternoon, write the idea down for version two instead.
• Publishing without a single exercise. Even one task the learner does on their own turns watching into learning.