CCA Foundations Exam Guide 2026: Format, Fee, Domains, Plan

The Claude Certified Architect – Foundations (CCA-F, exam code CCAR-F) is Anthropic’s entry-level architect certification: 60 scenario-based multiple-choice and multiple-response questions, 120 minutes, closed book, US$125, delivered by Pearson VUE, with a scaled pass mark of 720 out of 1000 and a credential valid for 12 months. Confirm every one of those figures on the official Anthropic Academy or Pearson VUE page before you register, since specifications change.

This page is the one-stop overview. Each section links out to the deeper post or study hub on this site so you can go as far as you need.

What is the CCA Foundations certification and who is it for?

CCA-F is one of four exams in the Claude Certification Program:

Exam	Code	Level
Claude Certified Associate – Foundations	CCAO-F	Entry, non-specialist
Claude Certified Architect – Foundations	CCAR-F	Entry, architecture and design
Claude Certified Architect – Professional	CCAR-P	Advanced architecture
Claude Certified Developer – Foundations	CCDV-F	Entry, implementation

CCA-F targets people who design systems on Claude: solution architects, senior engineers, tech leads, and technically fluent product owners who make decisions about agents, tools, MCP servers, Claude Code workflows, and reliability. It is not a coding exam; it is a design-judgment exam. If you are deciding whether it fits you, see who should get the CCA-F and is it worth it.

What is the CCA-F exam format?

Item	Detail
Questions	60, scenario-based; single-answer multiple choice plus multiple-response
Time	120 minutes (about 2 minutes per question)
Open book?	No, closed book
Delivery	Pearson VUE: online proctored (OnVUE) or test center
Fee	US$125 per attempt
Scoring	Scaled 100 to 1000; pass at 720
Validity	12 months; Credly badge on passing
Retakes	Details not fully published; verify fee and wait on the official policy

Deeper posts: how many questions, how long the exam is, is it multiple choice, exam cost, passing score, and retake policy.

What are the five CCA-F domains?

Domain	Weight	Roughly (of 60)	Study hub
D1 Agentic Architecture & Orchestration	27%	16	Domain 1
D2 Tool Design & MCP Integration	18%	11	Domain 2
D3 Claude Code Configuration & Workflows	20%	12	Domain 3
D4 Prompt Engineering & Structured Output	20%	12	Domain 4
D5 Context Management & Reliability	15%	9	Domain 5

In one line each: D1 is loops, sub-agents, hooks, and orchestration patterns; D2 is tool descriptions, error handling, tool count, and MCP configuration; D3 is CLAUDE.md hierarchy, skills, path-scoped rules, plan mode, and CI usage; D4 is few-shot design, structured output through tool_use, validation with feedback, and batch processing; D5 is context degradation, escalation triggers, error propagation, and provenance. If the API and Claude Code basics are new to you, start with the Foundations primer. A longer walkthrough is in CCA-F domains explained.

How hard is it, and what is it really testing?

Hard on judgment, not memory. Almost every question describes a system, states a constraint, and asks which design is the least bad under it. All four options are plausible; three each break the constraint in some way. The skill being measured is spotting the mechanism inside the story and rejecting good-sounding options that ignore the constraint. See how hard is the CCA exam for which domains bite hardest.

How do I go from registration to badge?

1. Check the official page. Read the current exam guide on Anthropic Academy (anthropic.skilljar.com) and note fee, format, and policies as of that day.
2. Baseline. Take our 60-question mock exam cold. It is sampled by official domain weight, runs on a 90-minute clock, and reports per domain.
3. Study by weight. Work through the study guide in the order D1, D3, D4, D2, D5, adjusting for your own weak domains. Do domain practice sets in the practice hub after each; 1,374 questions with explanations are there. A ready-made schedule is in the 30-day plan.
4. Build something. Write a CLAUDE.md with path-scoped rules, wire an MCP server, run a small multi-agent task and watch it fail. The exam rewards people who have seen the failure modes.
5. Simulate. Two timed mocks at 80% or higher on separate days. Review your mistakes list between them.
6. Register. Book through the official portal; choose OnVUE or a test center; read the confirmation email for reschedule and check-in rules.
7. Sit. Read the constraint first, flag and return, never leave a blank, check every multiple-response count. Skim the cheat sheet the day before.
8. Badge. On passing, claim your Credly badge. Note the 12-month validity and set a reminder.

Exam-day specifics are in what to expect on exam day.

Where do I find everything on this site?

• Study guide hub with 165 articles across five domains plus the Foundations primer
• Practice questions, filterable by domain, with mistakes tracking
• Mock exam: 60 questions, 90 minutes, 72% threshold
• Cheat sheet for final review
• FAQ for quick answers

Everything here is free and independent. This site is not affiliated with Anthropic and is not the official exam site; official facts live with Anthropic and Pearson VUE.

Next step

Take the free mock exam today to get a baseline, then open the Domain 1 study guide. It is 27% of the exam and the fastest place to gain points.