https://github.com/BMayhew/awesome-sites-to-test-on This is a list of demon sites you can practice testing on. I'd recommend just picking some app from that list, and treat it like a real project. Write up a test plan and cases like you would as a manual tester. Then try to write the automation to do it. Good first steps are just trying to login with valid and invalid credentials and verify that. Once you've got that working, test other functionality, and keep working at it until you feel comfortable. When you get stuck, look at the docs, check reddit or stack overflow or wherever. I'd also recommend ChatGPT when you're learning.its far from perfect,but it's pretty good at the basics. And when it gives you code, ask it to explain how it's working, or you can paste code you find online and ask it to explain that code, or whatever else. . More on reddit.com

It's difficult to say for sure without knowing what tutorials you are learning from and what topics are covered in them. You want the project to integrate seamlessly with the CI system used by the developers, potentially utilizing containerization. You'd want to create the right abstractions in the data, UI, and API layers. URL management, configuration, secrets, basic project setup, dependencies, linting and/or style guides, code review/PR process, and the test strategy. More on reddit.com