AI Builders Week 3: The Capabilities Stack: Function Calling, MCP & RAG

This is where your model stops being a text box and starts doing things. We'll write a raw tool-calling loop by hand, schemas, payload parsing, and all, before touching a framework, because you should understand the mechanics before a library hides them from you. Then MCP: exposing and consuming tools through servers like Railway and GitHub, and packaging repeatable prompts as Skills. Then RAG: chunking, embeddings, and vector search that actually grounds your model's answers. You'll either build a manual tool-calling loop from scratch or wire up a custom MCP server or local RAG search, depending on where you're at. Some coding experience needed. This is about applied engineering, not starting from scratch. Part of the AI Architect Fellowship, a free program from 3percentclub for underrepresented builders in NYC. Joining virtually? Live stream: https://us06web.zoom.us/s/84280401788 Applying to the fellowship gets you: Sign up: https://forms.fillout.com/t/p52mmdNs8jus