Your first GitHub portfolio

Think of GitHub as four familiar things in one place:

• Dropbox — it stores your files in the cloud.
• Google Docs version history — it remembers every change you have made.
• LinkedIn — it shows your professional work to people looking for it.
• A filing cabinet — it keeps the whole thing organised.

When you put a project on GitHub you create a repository, or repo: a project folder that lives online and keeps its own history.

The seven words you actually need

Repository “repo”

Your project folder. It holds the files, the documentation, and the history of both.

README

The front page of a project. The first thing a visitor reads, and usually the only thing.

Commit

Saving your work with a note about what changed. A checkpoint you can return to.

Profile

Your own page. It lists your projects and says who you are.

Public and private

Public repositories are visible to everyone, which is the point of a portfolio. Private ones are visible only to people you invite.

Fork

Your own copy of someone else’s project, to change without touching theirs.

Star

A bookmark that the author can see. Half filing, half applause.

Who runs it

GitHub launched in 2008 and is now the default home of open-source software, with tens of millions of users. Microsoft acquired it in 2018. It runs on a freemium model: public repositories and the core features are free, and payment buys private collaboration, storage, and enterprise controls. Nothing in this guide requires a paid plan.

This is your storefront, and it takes about ten minutes to make it look considered rather than abandoned. A complete profile is the cheapest credibility available to you.

Create the account

1. Go to github.com↗ (opens in a new tab) and click Sign up.
2. Use a personal email address, not a work or university one. GitHub accounts last for decades and jobs do not. Losing access to the address means losing the account.
3. Create a strong password and verify the address from your inbox.
4. Answer the setup questions: Just me for team size, student or teacher if that applies, and interests such as collaborative coding and automation.

Complete the profile

Click your avatar, top right, then Settings → Profile.

• Photo — a clear picture of your face, or a professional illustration. It appears beside everything you contribute.
• Name — your real one. People searching for you are searching for that.
• Bio — two or three sentences. For example: AI educator and legal tech enthusiast. Teaching professionals how to work effectively with AI tools. Currently at Stanford Law School.
• Location — your city, which is how local people find each other.
• Website — a personal site or your LinkedIn profile.
• Social links — optional, and useful if you are already active somewhere.

Here is the feature most people never find. Create a repository whose name is exactly your username, put a README in it, and GitHub displays that README at the top of your profile page. It is the one piece of writing on your account that every visitor sees.

Create the repository

1. Click + → New repository.
2. Repository name: type your username exactly. GitHub confirms with a message when you get it right.
3. Description: “My GitHub profile”.
4. Set it to Public. This does not work otherwise.
5. Tick Add a README file, then Create repository.

Write it

Click the pencil icon on README.md and replace what is there. This template gives you every section worth having; delete any you cannot fill in honestly today.

# Hi, I'm [Your Name]

## About Me
I'm passionate about making AI accessible and practical for everyone.
Currently working at [Your Organization], where I [what you do].

## What I'm Working On
- Teaching AI literacy to legal professionals
- Building custom GPTs for [specific use case]
- Exploring [AI topic you're interested in]

## AI Tools I Use
- ChatGPT (advanced prompting, custom GPTs)
- Claude (research, document analysis)
- Harvey AI (legal-specific applications)
- [Other tools you use]

## AI Training Completed
- **Prompt Engineering Fundamentals** (Stanford Law School, 2026)
- **Building Custom GPTs** (OpenAI, 2026)
- **AI Ethics for Professionals** ([Organization], 2026)

## Featured Projects
Coming soon — currently documenting my AI work.

## Let's Connect
- LinkedIn: [Your LinkedIn URL]
- Email: your.email@domain.com
- Website: yourwebsite.com

## Fun Fact
[Something interesting about you or your AI journey]

Click the green Commit changes button, then visit your profile. The page is now yours.

Now a real project. Start with the training you have already finished, because you know that material and it needs no new work — only writing down.

Step one: create it

1. Click + → New repository.
2. Name: ai-training-portfolio. Lowercase, hyphens, no spaces — the convention everywhere on GitHub.
3. Description: “Documentation of my AI courses, certifications, and learning journey”.
4. Public, and tick Add a README file.
5. .gitignore: None for now. Part fourteen explains what this is for.
6. License: MIT.
7. Create repository.

Step two: give it a shape

Click Add file → Create new file and name it courses/README.md. The slash is doing something: it creates a folder called courses with that file inside. Repeat for projects/, resources/, and exercises/.

# AI Courses & Certifications

This directory documents AI training and courses I have completed.

## 2026 Courses

### Prompt Engineering Fundamentals
- **Provider**: Stanford Law School
- **Completion date**: September 2026
- **Duration**: 8 weeks
- **Key topics**:
    - Effective prompt structure
    - Few-shot learning
    - Chain-of-thought prompting
- **What I learned**: [2–3 sentences]
- **Certificate**: [Link to certificate]

### [Your Next Course]
[Repeat the format above]

Step three: write the main README

Back on the repository’s front page, edit README.md. This is the document that decides whether anyone reads the rest.

# AI Training Portfolio

Welcome. This repository documents my work with AI tools.

## About This Portfolio
I'm [Your Name], and I believe AI is a tool anyone can learn to use
well. This repository collects my formal training, hands-on projects,
and growing expertise.

## What's Inside

### [Courses & Certifications](/courses)
Formal AI training I have completed:
- Prompt engineering
- Custom GPT development
- AI ethics and responsible use

### [Projects](/projects)
Applications I have built:
- [Project 1 name and brief description]
- [Project 2 name and brief description]

### [Resources](/resources)
A curated collection of AI learning materials.

### [Practice Exercises](/exercises)
Hands-on work and experiments.

## Tools I Work With
**Large language models:** the current frontier models from OpenAI,
Anthropic, and Google.

**Specialised tools:** Harvey AI (legal research), [others you use].

## Skills I'm Developing
- Prompt engineering and optimization
- Custom GPT creation and deployment
- AI ethics and bias mitigation
- Workflow automation with AI

## Get In Touch
- **LinkedIn**: [Your LinkedIn URL]
- **Email**: your.email@domain.com

## License
MIT.

Name specific model versions only if you are prepared to keep the list current. “The frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google” ages better than a version number, which dates the page the moment it changes.

Commit with a message that says what you did: Enhanced README with complete portfolio structure.

Each of these is documentation, screenshots, and examples — and each is genuinely useful to somebody else, which is what separates a portfolio from a folder.

Project one: a custom GPT showcase

Repository: my-custom-gpts. For each assistant you have built, include:

1. Screenshots of it working.
2. The instructions or system prompt you gave it.
3. An example conversation showing what it does.
4. Who it is for, and why you built it.
5. What you learned making it.

# My Custom GPT Collection

A showcase of specialised assistants I built to solve real problems.

## Featured GPTs

### 1. [Legal Research Assistant]
**Purpose**: Helps legal professionals draft research queries and
analyse precedents

**Target users**: Law students, paralegals, junior associates

**Key features**:
- Structured research query generation
- Citation format assistance
- Case law summarisation
- Jurisdiction-specific guidance

**Prompt strategy**:
- Role: expert legal research librarian
- Constraints: always cite sources, flag jurisdictional differences
- Output format: structured research memos

**Example use case**: [Describe a specific problem this solved]

**Screenshots**: [Images showing the GPT in action]

**Lessons learned**:
- [What worked well]
- [What I'd improve]
- [Unexpected uses I discovered]

[Repeat for each GPT]

Project two: a prompt library

Repository: effective-prompts-library. Your best prompts, sorted by category, each with an explanation of why it works. The explanation is the valuable part — a prompt is easy to copy and hard to adapt without knowing what it is doing.

Add files as you go: research-prompts.md, creative-prompts.md, and so on.

# Effective Prompts Library

Prompts I have tested and refined through real use.

## Categories
- Research & analysis
- Creative writing
- Data analysis
- Professional communication
- Learning & education

## How to Use This Library
1. Browse by category
2. Copy the prompt template
3. Replace [bracketed sections] with your specifics
4. Adjust based on what you get back

## Featured Prompt: Research Synthesis

**Purpose**: Synthesise multiple sources into a summary with citations

**Prompt**:

    You are a research analyst. I will provide [X] sources on [topic].

    Your task:
    1. Identify the 3-5 key themes across all sources
    2. Note where sources agree and disagree
    3. Synthesise findings into a 500-word summary
    4. Include inline citations in [APA/MLA/Chicago] format
    5. End with a "Key Takeaways" section

    Sources: [paste sources here]

**Why this works**:
- Defines the role and the task
- States exact output requirements
- Includes formatting instructions
- Asks for structured thinking

**When to use**: Literature reviews, due diligence, research memos

**Caveat**: Every citation it produces must be verified in a real
source before you rely on it.

Project three: tool comparisons

Repository: ai-tools-tested. Honest reviews of tools you have actually used, with the evidence attached. This one earns the most attention, because almost nobody does the comparison carefully.

# AI Tools I've Tested

Reviews and comparisons of AI tools for [your field].

## Purpose
I test and document AI tools so others can decide without repeating
the work.

## Review Criteria
Every tool is scored on:
- **Ease of use** (1-5)
- **Output quality** (1-5)
- **Cost** (free / paid tiers)
- **Use cases**: where it is strong
- **Limitations**: what it cannot do

## Tools Reviewed

### [Tool name]
**Tested**: [version, and the date you tested it]
**Best for**: [tasks]
**Rating**: [n]/5

**Strengths**:
- [Specific, with an example]

**Limitations**:
- [Specific, with an example]

**My use cases**:
- [How you actually use it]

[Repeat for each tool]

## Head-to-Head
[Comparison table: same task, same prompt, dated]

## Best Tool by Task
- **Creative writing**: [tool]
- **Data analysis**: [tool]

A repository is not limited to text, and a screenshot does more for a reader than three paragraphs describing the same screen.

Uploading

1. Open the repository, or the folder inside it, where the files belong.
2. Click Add file → Upload files.
3. Drag the files onto the page, or click choose your files.
4. Scroll down and write a commit message: Added course certificate and project screenshots.
5. Click Commit changes.

Keeping it tidy

Put media in its own folder. It keeps the front page of the repository readable, and it means a link never has to guess where an image lives.

your-repository/
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── images/
│   ├── screenshot-custom-gpt.png
│   ├── certificate-prompt-engineering.pdf
│   └── profile-photo.jpg
│
└── courses/
    └── README.md

Showing them in a README

Uploading a file does not display it. Edit the README and point at it. An image uses an exclamation mark; a link does not.

## My Custom GPT in Action

![Screenshot of my legal research GPT](images/screenshot-custom-gpt.png)

## My Certification

You can view my prompt engineering certificate
[here](images/certificate-prompt-engineering.pdf).

The text in square brackets on an image is alternative text, read aloud by a screen reader and shown when the image fails to load. Describe what the image shows, not that it is a screenshot.

Your profile does not exist on its own. Someone who finds a repository and likes it should be one click from the rest of your professional identity.

LinkedIn

In your profile README, a badge reads better than a bare URL:

## Connect With Me

[![LinkedIn](https://img.shields.io/badge/LinkedIn-0077B5?style=for-the-badge&logo=linkedin&logoColor=white)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/your-profile)

In an individual project, a plain line of credit is enough:

## About the Author

Created by [Your Name](https://www.linkedin.com/in/your-profile),
AI educator at [Organization].

Your CV

Two options, and the second is usually better. A CV PDF on a public repository is a permanent, indexed, downloadable copy of your home address and phone number.

• Upload the PDF to a professional-documents repository. Only do this with a version stripped of personal contact details.
• Link out instead — to LinkedIn, or to an email address that will send it on request. Recommended.

## Professional Background

- **Current role**: AI Educator
- **LinkedIn**: [linkedin.com/in/yourname](https://linkedin.com/in/yourname)
- **Full CV**: [available on request](mailto:your.email@domain.com)

All of it at once

A row of badges near the top of your profile README, and a line about what you want to be contacted for:

## Find Me Online

[![LinkedIn](https://img.shields.io/badge/LinkedIn-0077B5?style=flat&logo=linkedin&logoColor=white)](your-linkedin-url)
[![Website](https://img.shields.io/badge/Website-4285F4?style=flat&logo=google-chrome&logoColor=white)](your-website-url)
[![Email](https://img.shields.io/badge/Email-D14836?style=flat&logo=gmail&logoColor=white)](mailto:your.email@domain.com)

**Looking to collaborate on**: AI education projects, prompt
engineering research, legal tech innovations.

Four settings, all in the same place, all ignored by most people. They are the difference between a repository somebody stumbles on and one that turns up when they search.

Topics

Topics are GitHub’s hashtags, and they are how people browse by subject. Open the repository, find About in the right sidebar, click the gear icon, and add them one at a time.

The description

One line, at the top of the repository, and it is what shows in search results. Make it specific enough that somebody could decide from it alone.

The website field

Same About panel, same gear icon. Point it at your personal site, your LinkedIn, or a live demo of the project itself.

The social preview image

This is the picture that appears when the repository link is shared in Slack, LinkedIn, or a message. Without one you get a grey default. Go to Settings → Social preview and upload an image around 1280 by 640 pixels.

A line on LinkedIn says you took a course. A page that shows the curriculum, your notes, a project you built, and what you would do differently shows that you learned something. That difference is the whole point of this part.

The structure: an overview and a deep dive

Make a repository called ai-certifications. Its main README is the table of contents. Each course then gets its own file — courses/prompt-engineering.md — where the real writing happens.

# AI Training & Certifications

Professional development in artificial intelligence.

## Completed

### [Certificate Name] ([Organization])
- **Completion date**: Month Year
- **Verification**: [Link to credential]
- **Key skills**: Skill 1, Skill 2, Skill 3
- **[Detailed write-up](courses/certificate-name.md)**

### [Certificate Name 2] ([Organization])
- **Completion date**: Month Year
- **Verification**: [Link to credential]
- **Key skills**: Skill 1, Skill 2
- **[Detailed write-up](courses/certificate-name-2.md)**

## In Progress
- [Course name] ([Organization])

## Wishlist
- [Course] (why you're interested)

Now the deep dive. This is the page that sets you apart from a candidate who listed the same course.

# [Course Name] ([Organization])

## Course Information
- **Provider**: [e.g. Stanford Law School]
- **Instructor**: [Name]
- **Completion date**: Month Year
- **Duration**: [e.g. 8 weeks, 40 hours]
- **Verification**: [Link to credential]

## Objectives
This course taught me to:
- [Objective 1 from the syllabus]
- [Objective 2 from the syllabus]

## Curriculum

### Week 1: Foundations
- [Topic]

### Week 2: Advanced Techniques
- [Topic]

## Key Concepts Mastered

### 1. [Skill, e.g. chain-of-thought prompting]
**Before**: [your old, simple prompt]
**After**: [your new prompt, showing the skill]

### 2. [Skill 2, e.g. bias detection]
[A concrete example of what you can now spot]

## Projects & Assignments

### Final Project: [Name]
- **Objective**: [the goal]
- **Repository**: [link, if it has its own]
- **What I built**: [description]
- **Challenges**: [what was hard]
- **Solutions**: [how you got past it]

## Skills Assessment

| Skill           | Before     | After        |
|-----------------|------------|--------------|
| Prompt writing  | Beginner   | Advanced     |
| Bias detection  | Novice     | Intermediate |
| Legal AI apps   | None       | Proficient   |

## Reflections
**Most valuable lesson**: [the insight that changed how you work]
**How I'm applying it**: [specific, current]

## Certificate
![Certificate of completion](../images/cert-name.png)

How the repository ends up looking

ai-certifications/
├── README.md                 # the overview
│
├── images/
│   ├── cert-prompt-engineering.png
│   └── cert-ai-ethics.png
│
├── courses/
│   ├── prompt-engineering-fundamentals.md
│   └── ai-ethics-professionals.md
│
└── notes/
    ├── prompt-engineering-notes.md
    └── ai-ethics-notes.md

Your work is AI, but the platform holds far more than that, and the conventions worth copying come from the neighbours. Ten categories, with two examples each that are worth an actual look.

Five rules

Writing style

This custom GPT helps legal researchers by:
- Generating structured Westlaw queries
- Suggesting alternative search terms
- Identifying jurisdiction-specific issues

This is a GPT. It does legal stuff. It's good.

What worked: role-based prompting ("You are a senior
contracts attorney") sharply improved output quality.

What didn't: my first few-shot examples were too
complex. Simpler examples taught the model better.

Next: chain-of-thought prompting for multi-step
legal reasoning.

It was good. I learned stuff. Will do more later.

Commit messages

Every save carries a message. Together they are a permanent record of how the work developed, which is genuinely interesting to a reader — if the messages say anything.

Several projects at once

A portfolio is a living document, and small regular updates beat an occasional heroic overhaul. This is roughly fifteen minutes a week.

“Any thoughts?” gets you nothing. A specific question gets you something you can act on the same afternoon.

What to ask about

Clarity

Is the explanation understandable to somebody outside your field?

Completeness

What is missing that they expected to find?

Organisation

Could they find what they were looking for?

Visuals

Did the screenshots help, or were they decoration?

Acting on it

A suggestion is information about your audience, not a verdict on you. Thank them, make the change, and tell them you did — that last part is why they will look again next time.

## Work in progress

Under active development. The documentation is incomplete but
what is here works. Feedback welcome.

How .gitignore prevents it

Create a file named exactly .gitignore in the repository. It is plain text, one rule per line, and GitHub checks it before adding anything. A file matching a rule is treated as though it does not exist — never tracked, never uploaded, never in the history.

• A line starting with # is a comment.
• *.env uses a wildcard: any file whose name ends in .env.
• /confidential/ ignores an entire folder and everything inside it.

# Secrets and credentials
*.env
key
config/secrets.json
credentials.txt

# Personal data
/confidential/
/client-data/

# Large files
*.mp4
*.zip
datasets/large-files/

None of this is needed to start, and all of it is useful once you have something to maintain.

Issues: a to-do list that lives with the project

The Issues tab is a task list attached to the repository, and it works perfectly well for a project with one person on it.

1. Open the repository and click Issues.
2. New issue, with a title that is a task: Add troubleshooting section to README.
3. Add detail in the body, so you still understand it in three weeks.
4. Label it — documentation, enhancement — to keep the list sortable.
5. Close it when it is done.

The side effect is worth having: a visitor can see what you are planning, which reads as a project being worked on rather than parked.

GitHub Pages: a website for free

Any repository can become a live public site at no cost.

1. In the repository, go to Settings.
2. Pages, in the left sidebar.
3. Under Source, choose the main branch and the / (root) folder.
4. Save. It appears within a minute or two at:

https://yourusername.github.io/repository-name

Badges: status at a glance

Small labels at the top of a README. These three are rendered live from shields.io:

![Status](https://img.shields.io/badge/status-active-success)
![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue)

Build your own at shields.io↗ (opens in a new tab). A badge claiming a status you are not maintaining is worse than no badge.

Markdown beyond headings and bullets

Tables, for comparisons

| Tool    | Best for  | Cost   |
|---------|-----------|--------|
| ChatGPT | General   | $20/mo |
| Claude  | Documents | $20/mo |

Collapsible sections, for anything long

<details>
<summary>Click to see the full prompt</summary>

Your long, detailed prompt goes here.

</details>

Task lists, for a roadmap

- [x] Complete research
- [x] Build prototype
- [ ] Test with users

Code blocks, with highlighting

```python
def create_prompt(role, task):
    return f"You are a {role}. {task}"
```

Everything above, sequenced. Half an hour a day for a month gets you from nothing to a portfolio worth putting in an email signature. Skip a day; the plan survives it.

Week one: foundation

Week two: content

Week three: polish

Week four: launch

What good looks like after thirty days

Which numbers matter

Further out