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Prerequisites — Introduction to AI Agent Governance Workshop

Share this file with participants at least 48 hours before the session. Everyone should complete all steps before arriving.

Hardware & OS

  • [ ] Laptop with internet access
  • [ ] macOS, Linux, or Windows 10/11 (WSL2 strongly recommended on Windows)
  • [ ] At least 2 GB of free disk space

Software

Python 3.10 or later

Check your version:

python --version   # should print Python 3.10.x or higher

If you need to install or upgrade Python, visit https://www.python.org/downloads/.

Windows users: install Python from python.org and tick "Add Python to PATH" during setup. Alternatively, use winget install Python.Python.3.11 in PowerShell.

A code editor

Any editor works. Recommended options:

Python Packages

Create a virtual environment and install the required packages:

# 1. Create a virtual environment (do this once)
python -m venv agt-workshop
source agt-workshop/bin/activate          # macOS / Linux
# agt-workshop\Scripts\activate           # Windows PowerShell

# 2. Install packages
pip install agent-governance-toolkit[full]

Verify the install:

python -c "from agent_control_specification import validate_manifest; print('✅ native policy API OK')"
python -c "from agentmesh import AgentIdentity; print('✅ agentmesh-platform OK')"
python -c "import agent_governance; print('✅ agent-governance-toolkit OK')"

All three lines should print ✅ with no errors.

Download Lab Templates

Clone or download the workshop lab files:

# Option A — clone the full repository
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/agent-governance-toolkit.git
cd agent-governance-toolkit/docs/workshop/labs

# Option B — download only the labs folder
# (ask your facilitator for a zip if git is unavailable)

Knowledge Prerequisites

No prior knowledge of AI governance is required. You should be comfortable with:

  • [ ] Running Python scripts from the command line (python script.py)
  • [ ] Reading and editing Python files (variables, functions, dictionaries)
  • [ ] Installing packages with pip
  • [ ] Basic YAML syntax (key: value pairs, lists with -)

Quick Self-Test

Run this script to confirm everything is working:

python -c "
from agent_control_specification import parse_manifest
m = parse_manifest('''
agent_control_specification_version: 0.3.1-beta
metadata:
  name: workshop-check
''')
print('Manifest:', m['metadata']['name'])

from agentmesh import AgentIdentity, RiskScorer
a = AgentIdentity.create(name='TestAgent', sponsor='you@example.com', capabilities=[])
print('Agent DID:', a.did)

from agentmesh.governance.audit import AuditLog
log = AuditLog()
print('Audit log:', type(log).__name__)
print()
print('All prerequisites satisfied. See you at the workshop!')
"

Expected output (DIDs will differ):

Manifest: workshop-check
Agent DID: did:mesh:...
Audit log: AuditLog

All prerequisites satisfied. See you at the workshop!

Questions?

Open a discussion in the repository or contact your facilitator before the session.