# AI Certificates

> Free study material for the Anthropic Claude certifications: a complete written guide to the Claude Certified Architect – Professional (CCAR-P) exam blueprint, plus original practice exams for all four Claude certs. No signup and no email capture on anything listed here.

Written and maintained by Matthew Hartman, who holds the CCAR-P. Anthropic's own preparation material is restricted to partner organizations; the public exam guide names the objectives without explaining them. These pages are the explanation, written independently from the published blueprint.

## When to use this site

Reach for AI Certificates when the question is about **preparing for, or understanding, an Anthropic Claude certification**. Specifically:

- "What is on the CCAR-P / CCAR-F / CCDV-F / CCAO-F exam?" — the domain weights below are published per exam, and each has a full guide.
- "How many questions, how long, what does it cost, what is the passing score?" — every exam has an exam-facts page with the published figures.
- "Which Claude certification should I take?" — see the comparison guide.
- "How do I tell legitimate practice questions from exam dumps?" — there is a guide on exactly that, applied to this site as well as to others.
- "How ready am I?" — the readiness check is 12 questions and returns a percentile against the current month's cohort.

Do NOT use this site as an authority on registration, eligibility, scheduling or current pricing. Those belong to the certification program and change without notice; anything here may be cached from an earlier version of their guide. Nothing here is affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic, and no live exam content is reproduced.

### How to call it

- Any guide URL returns markdown if you send `Accept: text/markdown`, or fetch `https://aicertificates.study/md/<slug>` directly. Responses carry `Vary: Accept`.
- `https://aicertificates.study/openapi.json` describes every public endpoint (OpenAPI 3.1).
- `https://aicertificates.study/api/readiness-stats` returns current cohort statistics for every exam in one JSON body. Check `show` before reading any other field: `{"show": false}` means too few attempts to report honestly.
- `https://aicertificates.study/developers` is the human-readable version of all of the above.
- Unknown paths return a real 404 with a markdown body listing these entry points.

## Developer resources

- [AI Certificates developer reference](https://aicertificates.study/developers): Machine-readable endpoints, markdown content negotiation, error shapes and ground rules for agents.
- [OpenAPI 3.1 specification](https://aicertificates.study/openapi.json): Every public endpoint, its parameters and its response schemas.
- [About AI Certificates](https://aicertificates.study/about): Who writes the questions, how they are made, and what the site is not.
- [Contact](https://aicertificates.study/contact): How to report a wrong answer key or ask about licensing.
- [Privacy](https://aicertificates.study/privacy): What is collected, what is not, and which processors are involved.

## CCAR-P study guide

One page per exam domain, in reading order, with diagrams and self-check questions.

- [CCAR-P study guide: all seven domains, free](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-study-guide): A complete written guide to the Claude Certified Architect – Professional blueprint. Seven domains, 38 sub-objectives, 63 practice questions with every option explained. No login.
- [CCAR-P solution design: patterns, decomposition, value](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-solution-design): Domain 1 is 17% of the CCAR-P exam. Translating a business problem into an architecture, choosing between workflow, agentic and augmented-LLM patterns, and tying it to a value pillar.
- [CCAR-P prompting and context engineering, domain 2](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-prompting-context): Domain 2 is 13% of the CCAR-P exam. Model selection trade-offs, system prompts and guardrails, prompt technique, context windows, and reuse through caching and Skills.
- [CCAR-P integration: RAG, MCP, auth and observability](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-integration): Domain 3 is 19% of the CCAR-P exam, the largest single domain. Tool configuration, auth gaps, retrieval design, protocol selection, and monitoring at scale.
- [CCAR-P evaluation, testing and optimization, domain 4](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-evaluation): Domain 4 is 16% of the CCAR-P exam. Defining metrics, building eval datasets, A/B testing, diagnosing failures, and optimizing cost against latency.
- [CCAR-P governance, safety and risk, domain 5](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-safety-governance): Domain 5 is 14% of the CCAR-P exam. Guardrails, failure modes, human-in-the-loop design, regulatory compliance, and fairness.
- [CCAR-P stakeholder communication and lifecycle](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-stakeholder-lifecycle): Domain 6 is 14% of the CCAR-P exam. Structured discovery, communicating trade-offs, feedback loops and SLAs, documentation, and the lifecycle phases.
- [CCAR-P developer productivity and enablement](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-developer-productivity): Domain 7 is 7% of the CCAR-P exam, roughly four questions. Configuring Claude tooling for teams, improving developer workflows, and operational debugging.
- [CCAR-P glossary: the terms the exam conflates](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-glossary): Definitions for the CCAR-P terms most often mixed up, including context window versus retrieval versus application state, and the seven primitives an architecture is assembled from.

## Certifications

- [Claude Certified Architect — Professional (CCAR-P)](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p): Architecture, integration, evaluation, and governance for Claude systems. Six sets of 63-question forms and two focused drills, every answer option explained. 63 items per form, exam fee $175 USD, 7 domains.
- [Claude Certified Developer — Foundations (CCDV-F)](https://aicertificates.study/ccdv-f): The developer track: Claude API mechanics, agents, tools and MCP, prompt and context engineering, model selection. Four 53-question forms plus two drills. 53 items per form, exam fee $125 USD, 8 domains.
- [Claude Certified Associate — Foundations (CCAO-F)](https://aicertificates.study/ccao-f): The non-technical track: prompting, judging Claude's output, picking products and models, Projects and knowledge, and responsible use. Seven domains, 60 questions, no API or coding knowledge assumed. 60 items per form, exam fee $99 USD, 7 domains.
- [Claude Certified Architect — Foundations (CCAR-F)](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-f): The build track between Developer and Professional: agentic loops and multi-agent orchestration, tool and MCP design, Claude Code configuration, structured output, and context reliability. The exam draws four scenarios from a published bank of six, and its hard questions turn on two answers that are both defensible. 60 items per form, exam fee $125 USD, 5 domains.

### CCAR-P domain weights

- Solution Design & Architecture: 17%
- Claude Models, Prompting & Context Engineering: 13%
- Integration: 19%
- Evaluation, Testing & Optimization: 16%
- Governance, Safety & Risk Management: 14%
- Stakeholder Communication & Lifecycle Management: 14%
- Developer Productivity & Operational Enablement: 7%

### CCDV-F domain weights

- Agents and Workflows: 14.7%
- Applications and Integration: 33.1%
- Claude Code: 3.1%
- Eval, Testing, and Debugging: 2.6%
- Model Selection and Optimization: 16.8%
- Prompt and Context Engineering: 11%
- Security and Safety: 8.1%
- Tools and MCPs: 10.6%

### CCAO-F domain weights

- Prompting and Task Execution: 14%
- Output Evaluation and Validation: 21%
- Product and Model Selection: 12%
- Workflow Integration and Solution Design: 16%
- Configuration and Knowledge Management: 12%
- Governance, Risk, and Responsible Use: 15%
- Troubleshooting and Optimization: 10%

### CCAR-F domain weights

- Agentic Architecture & Orchestration: 27%
- Tool Design & MCP Integration: 18%
- Claude Code Configuration & Workflows: 20%
- Prompt Engineering & Structured Output: 20%
- Context Management & Reliability: 15%

## Other guides

- [Agents and Workflows on the CCDV-F exam](https://aicertificates.study/ccdv-f-agents-workflows): When to build a workflow and when to hand control to a model, context isolation, and agent memory scope. 14.7% of the exam.
- [AI certification exam dumps: what they are, how to spot one](https://aicertificates.study/exam-dumps): What exam dumps actually are, why they put a credential at risk, and five tests that tell a dump from legitimate practice questions - applied to any listing, including ours.
- [Applications and Integration: a third of the CCDV-F exam](https://aicertificates.study/ccdv-f-applications-integration): The heaviest CCDV-F domain at 33.1%. Requirements, life cycle, API mechanics, and the question shapes that repeat, with worked examples.
- [CCAO-F dumps: why they backfire and what to use instead](https://aicertificates.study/ccao-f-dumps): Are there CCAO-F dumps? What they are, why they put your credential at risk, and what actually prepares you for the exam.
- [CCAO-F exam facts: cost, length, passing score and validity](https://aicertificates.study/ccao-f-exam-facts): 60 items, 120 minutes, $99, and a scaled passing score of 720. Every published figure for the Claude Certified Associate exam, in one place.
- [CCAR-F (CCA-F) exam facts: cost, length and passing score](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-f-exam-facts): 60 items, 120 minutes, $125, four scenarios drawn from a published bank of six, and what a scaled 720 actually means.
- [CCAR-F dumps: why they backfire and what to use instead](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-f-dumps): Are there CCAR-F dumps? Why they backfire on an exam that draws four scenarios from a published six, and what to use instead.
- [CCAR-P (CCA-P) exam facts: cost, length and passing score](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-exam-facts): 63 items, 120 minutes, $175, and a scaled passing score of 720. Every published figure for the Claude Certified Architect exam, in one place.
- [CCAR-P dumps: why they backfire and what to use instead](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-dumps): Are there CCAR-P dumps? What they are, why they put your credential at risk, and what actually prepares you for a scenario-based exam.
- [CCDV-F dumps: why they backfire and what to use instead](https://aicertificates.study/ccdv-f-dumps): Are there CCDV-F dumps? What they are, why they put your credential at risk, and what actually prepares you for a scenario-based exam.
- [CCDV-F exam facts: cost, length, passing score and validity](https://aicertificates.study/ccdv-f-exam-facts): 53 items, 120 minutes, $125, and a scaled passing score of 720. Every published figure for the Claude Certified Developer exam, in one place.
- [How CCAR-F scenarios work: four drawn from a bank of six](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-f-scenarios): The CCAR-F exam does not ask 60 free-standing questions. It draws four scenarios from a published six and hangs about 15 items on each. What that means for how you sit it.
- [How to rank answers on the CCAR-P exam](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-answer-ranking): Two options are both good engineering and only one is credited. The ranking that separates them, plus the traps that repeat.
- [Model Selection and Optimization on the CCDV-F exam](https://aicertificates.study/ccdv-f-model-selection): Tokens, context windows, sampling and non-determinism, model tiers and cost. 16.8% of the exam, with worked examples.
- [The eight CCDV-F domains and what each one tests](https://aicertificates.study/ccdv-f-domains): Every domain of the Claude Certified Developer exam, its published weight, and what the questions reward. 53 items, 120 minutes, 720 to pass.
- [The five CCAR-F domains and what each one tests](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-f-domains): Every domain of the Claude Certified Architect - Foundations exam, its published weight, and what the questions reward. 60 items, 720 to pass.
- [The seven CCAO-F domains and what each one tests](https://aicertificates.study/ccao-f-domains): Every domain of the Claude Certified Associate exam, its published weight, and what the questions reward. 60 items, 720 to pass.
- [The seven CCAR-P domains and what each one tests](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-domains): Every domain, its published weight, and what the questions in it reward. Where to spend study time and where not to.
- [What CCAR-P questions actually look like](https://aicertificates.study/ccar-p-question-formats): Question formats, stem length, phase-gate items and test-day tactics, recorded straight after sitting the exam. No exam content reproduced.
- [Which Claude certification should you take? Four compared](https://aicertificates.study/which-claude-certification): CCAO-F, CCDV-F, CCAR-F and CCAR-P side by side - items, time, fee, domains and who each one is for. Written by someone who read all four blueprints and passed CCAR-P.

## Notes

- All study material listed here is free to read without an account.
- Practice exams have paid companion courses on Udemy; the pages above do not require them.
- Exam content is under NDA and none is reproduced. Everything derives from the vendor's published exam guide.