Build School Cohort 2: The Complete Syllabus
This is a detailed overview of the syllabus for our second officialcohort starting on Jan 12th. The Claude Code 101 course from which this material originates is available now for anyone.
January 12 – February 13, 2026 | 4 Weeks | Ship Your MVP
Build School is back. In Cohort 1, five founders went from little to no coding experience to deployed applications in 30 days. Now we’re doing it again - with a refined curriculum and everything we learned from round one.
This post serves as both the official syllabus for Cohort 2 students and a look inside the program for anyone considering joining. (Yes, we still have one spot left.)
How Build School Works
You’ll work through the Claude Code 101 video course on your own time, completing assigned lessons before each session. Then we meet three times per week:
Mondays & Wednesdays (6-8pm): Virtual office hours via Zoom - bring your questions, blockers, and wins
Fridays (10am-2pm): In-person cowork session in Lisbon - focused building time with support
The course has 12 lessons across 3 sections (~4 hours of video total). We’ll cover one section per week, leaving Week 4 for polish and demo prep.
Communication: We’re using Discord this cohort (not Slack) so your conversation history never expires.
Week 1: Plan Your App
January 12-17 | Section 1 of Claude Code 101
Before you write a single line of code, you need to know what you’re building. This week transforms your app idea from a vague concept into a concrete, buildable plan.
Session 1: Kickoff (Monday, Jan 12 - In Person)
Our kickoff event doubles as the first office hours
Complete before this session:
📺 Lesson 1: Start with Confabulator (35 min)
📺 Lesson 2: Configure your local development environment (16 min)
What you’ll learn:
How to use Confabulator to generate your foundational project documents (PR/FAQ, PRD, Vision Doc, Biz model canvas, etc.)
Setting up your machine with the prerequisite technologies: Node.js, Git, VS Code, Claude Code
Why this matters: Without proper planning documents, you’ll waste weeks building the wrong thing. Without a working dev environment, you can’t build anything at all. We knock out both of these blockers on day one. This is the biggest technical lift so we do it in person and once you’re past it everything gets easier because you can actually use Claude Code to help you solve technical challenges like these from then on.
By end of session: Your project has a GitHub repo with foundational docs, and you can run claude in your terminal.
Session 2: Office Hours (Wednesday, Jan 15 - Virtual)
Complete before this session:
📺 Lesson 3: Create mockups of the screens in your app (28 min)
📺 Lesson 4: Conduct an Architectural Review (17 min)
What you’ll learn:
Triangulating your UX by generating mockups through three independent approaches
Working with Claude Code to tighten up your implementation plan and create detailed GitHub issues
Why this matters: Mockups force you to think through user flows before you’re knee-deep in code. The architectural review ensures your technical plan is realistic and properly scoped. Skip these and it leads to unnecessary pain and thrashing.
By end of session: You have visual mockups of every screen and a prioritized backlog of GitHub issues ready to work.
Session 3: Cowork (Friday, Jan 17 - In Person)
No new lessons—this is building time.
Use this IRL session to:
Complete any planning work that’s still in progress
Get to know your fellow cohort members
Resolve any environment setup issues
Start exploring the codebase Claude Code generated
Ask questions before diving into the Build section next week
By end of session: Planning phase complete. You’re ready to start building.
Week 2: Build Your App (Part 1)
January 20-24 | Section 2 of Claude Code 101 (Lessons 5-7)
Now the real work begins. This week you’ll convert mockups into functional screens, add user authentication, and connect your app to a real database.
Session 4: Office Hours (Monday, Jan 20 - Virtual)
Complete before this session:
📺 Lesson 5: Create your app screens (14 min)
📺 Lesson 6: Add authentication (10 min)
What you’ll learn:
Converting your mockups into usable screens with real UI components
Adding login functionality and enforcing authentication for protected routes
Why this matters: Screens are where users actually interact with your app. Authentication is table stakes most applications - users will expect accounts and you need to know who’s using your product and provide varying levels of access depending on who they are.
By end of session: Your app has real clickable screens (not mockups) and users can sign up and log in.
Session 5: Office Hours (Wednesday, Jan 22 - Virtual)
Complete before this session:
📺 Lesson 7: Implement the database (13 min)
What you’ll learn:
Replacing hard-coded dummy data with live data pulled dynamically from a database
Database schema design and data relationships
Why this matters: Static data is fine for demos, but a real app needs persistent storage. This is where your app starts to become a real product - the data your users create persists.
By end of session: Your app reads and writes to a real database. No more dummy data.
Session 6: Cowork (Friday, Jan 24 - In Person)
No new lessons—focused building time.
Use this session to:
Catch up if you’re behind on lessons 5-7
Debug database issues
Work on your specific app’s core features
Get unstuck on any blockers from the week
By end of session: Core screens, auth, and database are working. Foundation is solid.
Week 3: Build Your App (Part 2) + Deploy
January 27-31 | Section 2 (Lessons 8-9) + Section 3 (Lesson 10)
You’ll complete your core features and get your app deployed to the internet. By the end of this week, you’ll have a live URL you can share.
Session 7: Office Hours (Monday, Jan 27 - Virtual)
Complete before this session:
📺 Lesson 8: Build the Admin Dashboard (20 min)
📺 Lesson 9: Add Appointment Bookings (13 min)
What you’ll learn:
Creating admin interfaces for managing your app’s data
Building interactive features like scheduling and bookings
Why this matters: Most apps have two sides: what end-users see, and what admins/operators see. The booking system demonstrates a complete user flow from request to fulfillment - a pattern you’ll reuse constantly.
By end of session: Your app has both user-facing and admin-facing functionality. Core features are complete.
Session 8: Office Hours (Wednesday, Jan 29 - Virtual)
Complete before this session:
📺 Lesson 10: Deploy your App (29 min)
What you’ll learn:
Deploying your application to Vercel (frontend/backend)
Setting up Turso for production database hosting
Environment variables, build configuration, and deployment troubleshooting
Why this matters: An app that only runs on your laptop isn’t a product - it’s a prototype that only you can use. Deployment is the point at which your app becomes real. You get a URL you can share with anyone in the world.
By end of session: Your app is live on the internet with a working URL.
Session 9: Cowork (Friday, Jan 31 - In Person)
No new lessons—deployment and debugging focus.
Use this session to:
Troubleshoot any deployment issues
Test your production app thoroughly
Fix bugs that only appear in production
Start thinking about polish and Demo Night
By end of session: Your MVP is deployed and stable. The hard part is done.
Week 4: Polish + Demo Night Prep
February 3-13 | Section 3 (Lessons 11-12) + Demo Preparation
Your app works. Now we make it shine. This week is about visual polish, final features, and preparing to present your creation.
Session 10: Office Hours (Monday, Feb 3 - Virtual)
Complete before this session:
📺 Lesson 11: Refine and Launch your App (24 min)
📺 Lesson 12: Make some post-launch tweaks (20 min)
What you’ll learn:
Improving visual identity and branding
Launching under a custom domain
Running “fire drills” to boost confidence in your deployment
Post-launch improvements: favicon, logo fixes, additional features
Why this matters: First impressions matter. A polished app with a custom domain signals credibility. The fire drill process ensures you can recover from problems quickly.
By end of session: Your app looks professional and runs on your own domain.
Session 11: Office Hours (Wednesday, Feb 5 - Virtual)
No new lessons—demo prep focus.
This session is dedicated to:
Practicing your Demo Night pitch
Getting feedback on your presentation flow
Fixing last-minute bugs or polish items
Preparing screenshots, talking points, and demo scripts
By end of session: You have a clear 3-5 minute demo plan and have practiced it at least once.
Session 12: Cowork (Friday, Feb 7 - Virtual)
Final working session before Demo Night.
Use this session for:
Last-minute fixes and polish
Full dress rehearsal of your demo
Peer feedback on presentations
Mental preparation for Demo Night
By end of session: You’re ready to present.
Demo Night (Week of Feb 9-13)
Exact date TBD based on venue availability
You’ll present your MVP to the Vibecode Lisboa community and invited guests. Each participant gets 3-5 minutes to:
Explain the problem you’re solving
Demo your working application
Share what you learned
Field questions from the audience
This is your moment. You came in with an idea. You’re leaving with a deployed product.
The Full Lesson Schedule At a Glance
Session Date Homework Due Topics 1 Mon Jan 12 Lessons 1-2 Confabulator + Environment Setup 2 Wed Jan 15 Lessons 3-4 Mockups + Architectural Review 3 Fri Jan 17 - Cowork: Complete Planning 4 Mon Jan 20 Lessons 5-6 Screens + Authentication 5 Wed Jan 22 Lesson 7 Database Implementation 6 Fri Jan 24 - Cowork: Core Features 7 Mon Jan 27 Lessons 8-9 Admin Dashboard + Bookings 8 Wed Jan 29 Lesson 10 Deployment 9 Fri Jan 31 -Cowork: Deployment Debugging 10 Mon Feb 3 Lessons 11-12 Polish + Launch 11 Wed Feb 5 - Demo Prep 12 Fri Feb 7 - Final Cowork + Dress Rehearsal 🎉 Feb 9-13 - Demo Night
Time Commitment
Video content: ~4 hours total (spread across 4 weeks)
Weekly sessions: 6-8 hours (2 office hours + 1 cowork)
Independent building: 5-10 hours per week (varies by project complexity)
Total: 10-15 hours per week for 4 weeks.
One Spot Left
We keep cohorts small (5-6 people) so everyone gets direct attention. Cohort 2 has one remaining spot.
If you:
Have an app idea you’re serious about building
Can commit the time for the next 4 weeks
Are willing to learn AI-powered development tools
Want to ship, not just plan
You get a response within 24hrs and applications are reviewed first-come-first-serve. Program starts January 12th.
Questions?
Join us at the next Vibecode Lisboa meetup or ask a question in our Q&A section.
See you at the kickoff. Let’s build something great together.
- Sean
Build School is part of Vibecode Lisboa, a community of 100+ builders learning to create software using AI tools.