*Published: May 18, 2026 · Part of the [Mindful Automation](https://www.pythonessprogrammer.com/mindful-automation) series* --- Sprint 1 of May’s **mindful automation** arc had two beats: learn the room, then make your rhythms visible on disk. **Watch first:** If you have not yet walked through the layout, start with the Week 1 screen-share — [Your First 30 Minutes in VSCode (No Coding Required)](https://youtu.be/fYZMZS0jw7c) (~15 min). That video covers install, `Open Folder…`, the Activity Bar, Command Palette, and making the window yours. **This post** is the written follow-up: mental model, where chat lives, and your first grounded conversation that stays tied to your files. You do not need to write code to benefit from a code editor. You need a **workbench**—one window where your folder, your text, and (when you want it) an AI panel share the same air. This guide uses **Visual Studio Code** as the stable teaching environment. If you use **GitHub Copilot** (or another extension that adds a chat side panel), the ideas transfer: open a project, point the assistant at real files, keep prompts specific. Product-specific menus change; the mental model does not. --- ## Week 1: Screen-share walkthrough