Training Bootcamp
The Training Bootcamp is a course built into Zorvik, from “what is a network?” to testing, mocking and load testing APIs. Each lesson is a short reading with diagrams, a hands-on lab you do in the real workbench against practice servers on your own computer, and a quick check. You need no account and no internet connection for it.
Open the Academy
Section titled “Open the Academy”Choose Training Bootcamp at the top of the workspace menu, or on the welcome screen. It opens the Bootcamp workspace in Academy mode.
The Bootcamp workspace is the only one with a Workbench | Academy switch in the title bar:
- Academy: the course: your level, the course map, lessons, badges.
- Workbench: the normal Zorvik app, where you do the labs.
The Academy’s own menu (… at the top right) has Badges and certificate, Open the workbench and Reset Bootcamp workspace….
The course
Section titled “The course”The course has 17 units and 78 lessons; 71 lessons have a lab.
| # | Unit | Lessons | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Welcome to Bootcamp | 3 | First Contact |
| 1 | How networks talk | 4 | Packet Pioneer |
| 2 | DNS: the internet’s address book | 4 | DNS Detective |
| 3 | HTTP basics | 5 | Status Sage |
| 4 | Sending data | 6 | Payload Pro |
| 5 | Identity & auth | 7 | Token Tamer |
| 6 | Secure transport | 4 | TLS Guardian |
| 7 | Organized like a pro | 4 | Workspace Architect |
| 8 | Testing APIs | 7 | Test Pilot |
| 9 | Beyond REST: GraphQL & gRPC | 5 | Query Crafter |
| 10 | Real-time: WebSocket, SSE, MQTT, Socket.IO | 5 | Stream Surfer |
| 11 | Raw sockets: TCP & UDP | 4 | Socket Smith |
| 12 | Mocking APIs | 6 | Mock Master |
| 13 | Performance & load testing | 4 | Load Legend |
| 14 | Automate: CLI, CI and AI agents | 3 | Automation Ace |
| 15 | MCP: tools for AI agents | 5 | Context Connector |
| 16 | Capstone: Ship it | 2 | Graduate |
The course map lists the units; open one to see its lessons, each with its reading time, lab time and number of questions, and a tick when done. A card at the top says where to go next: Start the Bootcamp at first, then Continue with the next lesson. You can open any lesson in any order.
A lesson
Section titled “A lesson”A lesson page has three parts:
- The reading: short sections in plain words, with sequence, flow, layer and anatomy diagrams, callouts and code. Variables such as
{{api}}show their value while a lab runs. - The lab (most lessons): a card with the lab’s title, goal and time, and Start lab. After you finish it once, the button says Practice again, and “Lab done ✓” shows.
- The quick check: usually three multiple-choice questions. Each answer says Right! or Not quite. with a short explanation. Try again lets you answer once more; your best score counts.
A lesson is complete when its lab is done (if it has one) and its quick check is passed with at least 60 % right answers, rounded up (2 of 3) (if it has one). A lesson with neither has a Mark as done button. When a lesson is complete, Next lesson takes you on.
Start lab switches to the workbench and prepares everything the lab needs:
- Lab servers: mock APIs and other servers the lab needs are saved into the Bootcamp workspace as Lab · name and started on free ports. Open them in the Servers sidebar to see their routes and live traffic.
- The Lab environment: an environment named Lab is filled in and made active. It holds the servers’ addresses (
{{api}}, and{{api_host}},{{api_port}}for a server namedapi), the practice playground ({{playground}}), and anything else the lab needs. - Practice servers: a local playground (echo, status codes, redirects, delays, cookies, auth, JSON, SSE, WebSocket, GraphQL, OAuth 2.0), an HTTPS version with a certificate from a private authority, and a gRPC server. They start the first time a lab needs them and stay up.
- Files some labs need, such as a CSV data file, written into the workspace.
- Secret words: some labs generate a random value when they start (such as
falcon-4821), so answers can’t be copied from someone else.
Starting a lab stops the servers you ran in earlier labs (they stay saved), removes the previous lab’s servers, and clears values scripts saved in the Lab environment, so every lab starts clean. Cookies are shared with the rest of the workspace.
The Lab Guide
Section titled “The Lab Guide”While a lab runs, the Lab Guide is docked on the right of the workbench:
- The lab’s title and goal, “Step 2 of 5”, and a progress bar.
- The steps, in order. The current one says what to do and “Waiting for you to do it in the workbench…”.
- The Lab environment at the bottom: its variables with a copy button, and the lab’s servers (click one to open it and its traffic).
- The menu (…): Back to the lesson, Check again and Stop lab.
- The fold button collapses the guide to a thin bar (“Lab 2/5”); click it to open the guide again.
You just work in the app: send the request, save the environment, start the mock, run the load test. Zorvik notes what you do and checks the current step after every action and once a second, then ticks it off the moment you get it right. Some steps look at what a lab server received, some at a request you sent or saved, a finished collection run or load test, or a server you started. Steps that ask a question have an answer box: type the answer and press Check (“Not that one. Look again, or open a hint.” when it’s wrong). Steps that call a server you run yourself have a Check now button.
Going back to the Academy doesn’t stop the lab: the course map shows “Lab in progress” with Back to the lab, and the lesson shows Continue the lab.
Hints and “Do it for me”
Section titled “Hints and “Do it for me””Nobody gets stuck:
- Hint opens the next hint of the current step, up to three. They go from a nudge, to where to click, to exactly what to do; the last one is labelled Show me how.
- Do it for me runs the step for you (it sends the request, saves the file, or types the answer) and ticks it off. That step earns no XP.
XP, levels and ranks
Section titled “XP, levels and ranks”| You earn | XP |
|---|---|
| A lab step you did yourself (each step once) | 10 |
| A lesson completed | 50 |
| A quick-check answer right on the first attempt (the first attempt only) | 5 each |
| Every answer of a quick check right on the first attempt (3 questions or more) | +20 |
| A unit completed, or tested out of | 100 |
| Graduating (finishing the capstone unit) | 250 |
Your level follows your XP: level L starts at 20 × (L − 1) × L XP.
| Level | Starts at | Level | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 40 XP | 6 | 600 XP |
| 3 | 120 XP | 10 | 1,800 XP |
| 4 | 240 XP | 14 | 3,640 XP |
| 5 | 400 XP | 18 | 6,120 XP |
Ranks come with levels: Newbie Node (level 1), Packet Pusher (3), Header Hacker (6), Protocol Pro (10), Network Ninja (14) and Wire Wizard (18). The Academy’s header shows your rank, a level ring and the XP to the next level. A celebration pops up for a completed lesson, a new level, a new badge and graduation.
Streaks
Section titled “Streaks”Your streak counts the days in a row on which you earned XP, by your computer’s local date. Miss a day and it starts again at 1; the header says “learn today to keep it” when you haven’t earned XP yet today. Your best streak is kept too.
Badges
Section titled “Badges”There are 25 badges: one per unit (see the course) and eight for how you learn.
| Badge | How to earn it |
|---|---|
| No Hints Needed | Finish a lab without a hint (and without “Do it for me”). |
| Perfect Score | Answer every question of a quick check right the first time. |
| Speed Runner | Finish a lab of three steps or more in under two minutes, without “Do it for me”. |
| Night Owl | Complete a lesson between midnight and 5 am. |
| Early Bird | Complete a lesson between 5 and 8 am. |
| On Fire | Learn three days in a row. |
| Unstoppable | Learn seven days in a row. |
| Halfway There | Complete half of the lessons. |
Badges and certificate (the badge counter in the header, or the Academy menu) shows every badge, when you earned it, and how to earn the others.
Test out of a unit
Section titled “Test out of a unit”Already know a topic? A unit card offers Test out (“Know this already? Pass a short quiz to earn the badge badge.”). The test has up to eight questions taken from the unit’s lessons. Get 80 % right to earn the unit’s badge and its 100 XP. The unit’s lessons stay open to read and practise; they are not marked done. You can try again as often as you like. The capstone can’t be tested out of: it is a project.
Graduate
Section titled “Graduate”Finish the capstone unit to graduate: 250 XP, the Graduate badge, and a Zorvik Bootcamp Graduate certificate. The course map then shows “You graduated from the Bootcamp!” with View certificate.
The certificate, on the Badges and certificate page, states that you completed all units and lessons of the Zorvik Training Bootcamp, with your level and rank, your XP, your badge count and the graduation date. Save as image saves it as a PNG file.
The Bootcamp workspace
Section titled “The Bootcamp workspace”The Bootcamp has its own workspace, kept in the app data folder (bootcamp/, see Data locations). It is always listed first, it can’t be removed, and it never mixes with your own workspaces.
Reset Bootcamp workspace… in the Academy menu empties it: its requests, environments and servers are removed and a running lab stops. Your progress, XP and badges stay: they are kept separately, in academy-progress.json in the app data folder.
New lessons in updates
Section titled “New lessons in updates”Updates can add lessons. Everything you finished stays finished: units you completed stay Done, and your badges, XP and certificate stay yours. The new lessons are marked New on the course map (with “1 new lesson” on their unit), and the card at the top offers the first one, even after you graduated. The mark goes away when you open the lesson.
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”- Every lab can be done again (Practice again). Steps already done earn no XP a second time.
- Labs use practice servers on
127.0.0.1; your own workspaces and servers are not touched (servers you started in earlier labs are stopped when a new lab starts). - Keyboard shortcuts of the workbench are off while the Academy view is shown.
- Want to write a lesson? See Writing lessons.