The Claude Certified Architect – Foundations (CCA-F) is Anthropic’s foundational certification for professionals who design and build production systems with Claude. One thing is worth understanding before you register: the exam is scenario-based, not concept-based. Rather than asking you to define terms or recall facts in isolation, each question presents a realistic production situation, such as an agent loop, a tool schema, or a multi-agent workflow, and asks you to identify the correct architectural decision. The goal is to assess practical judgment about tradeoffs, not memorization.

That distinction matters because it shapes how you should prepare. But before preparation comes access, and booking the CCA-F involves a few more steps than a typical exam purchase. Access is restricted, the process runs through Anthropic’s learning platform, and several details commonly cause delays. This guide covers the full process, from prerequisites to launching the proctored session, and flags the points worth getting right the first time.

One requirement applies throughout: the CCA-F is currently available only to employees at Anthropic partner companies. You will need your partner-company email at nearly every step, and a personal email account will not grant access. Confirm you have the correct account before beginning.

The Path at a Glance

The full sequence is as follows:

1. Log in or sign up on the Skilljar platform with your partner-company email.
2. Complete the four prerequisite courses.
3. Submit the access attestation form.
4. Receive the confirmation email from Anthropic Education.
5. Log in to the certification page and book and pay for the exam.
6. Set up ProctorFree proctoring.
7. Prepare, then sit the exam when ready.

Each step is expanded below, with the relevant details noted.

Step 1: Log In or Sign Up With Your Partner Email

Begin on the Skilljar platform that hosts Anthropic’s academy and certification. Because access is restricted to partner companies, you must authenticate with the correct account before anything else. The certification page states the requirement directly: this exam is only available to employees at Anthropic partner companies. You have two options:

• Log in with your partner-company email, or
• Sign up if you do not yet have an account.

Use your partner-company email rather than a personal account. Eligibility for the exam is tied to this address, and using a personal email will cause an access error later in the process.

Step 2: Complete the Four Prerequisite Courses

With your account set up, work through the four foundational courses on Anthropic’s Skilljar-hosted academy. The course material maps directly onto the technologies covered by the exam.

Complete all four and confirm each is marked as finished in your account. The attestation in the next step is a self-declaration that you have completed these courses, so finish them before proceeding.

Step 3: Submit the Access Attestation

Once the courses are complete, request exam access through the attestation form:

Access Request: anthropic.skilljar.com/claude-certified-architect-foundations-access-request

Complete it with your partner-company email. Submitting the form confirms to Anthropic that you have met the prerequisites and are ready to proceed to the proctored exam.

If your company requires it, submit your course completion records or certification to the appropriate internal contact at this stage. Some partner companies track certification progress or coordinate exam access centrally, so confirm your organization’s process before continuing.

Step 4: Watch for the Confirmation Email

Once your attestation is processed, the Anthropic Education team sends a confirmation that you are cleared to proceed. It looks like this:

Two details in this email are worth noting. First, it contains the direct link to the exam guide, FAQ, and the proctored exam, so keep it accessible. Second, results are not displayed immediately after the exam. Anthropic emails your score within seven business days, so plan accordingly.

Step 5: Book and Pay for the Exam

Return to the certification page to book your exam:

Certification page: anthropic.skilljar.com/claude-certified-architect-foundations-certification

Add the exam to your order and proceed to checkout.

Pricing as of June 15, 2026:

• List price: $99.00
• Current price: $49.50. A 50% group discount applies automatically at checkout.

Review your order and complete payment via Review and Pay. Once the transaction clears, the exam is unlocked and available to launch at your convenience. Promotional pricing is time-limited, so book while the discount is active if you intend to take the exam.

Step 6: Set Up Proctoring Before Exam Day

The CCA-F is a proctored exam, which requires a setup step that should be completed in advance of your intended exam date.

• You’ll install ProctorFree on the computer you plan to test on.
• Step-by-step setup instructions are provided on the exam page ahead of time.

Complete this setup early. Resolving a webcam permission or firewall issue is straightforward in advance but can prevent your session from starting if left until exam time.

Note: Do not launch the exam until you are fully prepared. Once started, the proctored session is live. Confirm that your environment is quiet, your equipment is working, and your preparation is complete before beginning.

Exam Format and Structure

Understanding the exam’s structure helps focus your preparation.

• Format: 60 scenario-based multiple-choice questions, each with one correct answer and three distractors.
• Duration: 120 minutes.
• Scoring: a scaled score from 100 to 1,000; you need 720 to pass.
• Structure: the exam pulls four production scenarios at random from a pool of six, spanning customer-support agents, Claude Code, multi-agent research pipelines, developer-productivity tooling, CI/CD integration, and structured data extraction.
• No penalty for guessing. Unanswered questions are scored as incorrect, so answer every question.

The exam weights five domains unevenly. Allocate study time in proportion to each domain’s share of the scored content:

According to Anthropic’s exam guide, the target candidate is a solution architect with approximately six or more months of hands-on experience across the Claude API, Agent SDK, Claude Code, and MCP. Candidates with less experience should prioritize the preparation steps below.

How to Prepare

Because the exam assesses judgment rather than recall, candidates who rely only on passive reading of documentation tend to underperform. Each question requires selecting the correct tradeoff within a realistic production scenario. The following three resources, used together, provide effective coverage.

Start with the official exam guide

Anthropic’s CCA-F Exam Guide (downloadable from the certification page) is the authoritative reference. It lists every domain and task statement, defines what is in and out of scope, includes sample questions with full rationales, and provides hands-on preparation exercises. Review it first to ensure your study effort is directed at the tested material.

Test your readiness with Tutorials Dojo practice exams

The official guide defines the scope; practice exams measure whether you have absorbed it. Tutorials Dojo’s CCA-F Practice Exams mirror the real exam’s scenario-based style and run in four modes (randomized, timed, review, and section-based) with detailed explanations and references on every question, plus bonus flashcards. The timed mode in particular is worth using to rehearse pacing under the 120-minute clock. If you want to sample the format before committing, there’s a free practice exam sampler with 20 questions.

A practical benchmark is to consistently score in the mid-80s on these practice exams before booking your attempt. Review the explanation for every question, including those you answered correctly, to reinforce the underlying reasoning.

Reinforce concepts with the Tutorials Dojo study guide

For a structured walkthrough of the domains (agentic loops, MCP tool design, Claude Code configuration, prompt engineering, and context management), pair the practice exams with Tutorials Dojo’s CCA-F Study Guide. It organizes the material by domain and identifies the Anthropic services and concepts to focus on, providing a useful framework before hands-on practice.

Recommended approach: Review the official guide to establish scope, build several small projects to gain practical experience with the Agent SDK and MCP, then use the Tutorials Dojo practice exams and study material to identify and address remaining gaps. Combining reading, building, and testing is more effective than any single method.

Recap

Complete the access process correctly and prepare with the understanding that the exam tests practical judgment. Your result will be delivered within seven business days of completing the exam.

Conclusion

The CCA-F certification is a clear way to validate that you can design and build production-grade systems with Claude, and the booking process is straightforward once the requirements are understood. The two elements that most often cause delays are the partner-company email requirement and the prerequisite courses, so confirm both early. From there, the path runs predictably through attestation, confirmation, payment, and proctoring setup.

The more important investment is preparation. Because the exam is scenario-based, success depends on applied experience rather than memorization. Combine Anthropic’s official exam guide with hands-on practice building agents, tools, and MCP integrations, then use the Tutorials Dojo practice exams and study guide to confirm your readiness and address any gaps. Candidates who prepare this way are well positioned to pass on their first attempt and to apply the same skills in real production work afterward.

When your environment, equipment, and preparation are all in place, you are ready to sit the exam. Your result will follow within seven business days.

References

1. Anthropic, PBC. Claude Certified Architect – Foundations Certification Exam Guide (Version 0.1). Official exam blueprint, domains, sample questions, and preparation exercises.
2. Anthropic Education. Claude Certified Architect – Foundations Access Request. https://anthropic.skilljar.com/claude-certified-architect-foundations-access-request
3. Anthropic Education. Claude Certified Architect – Foundations Certification. https://anthropic.skilljar.com/claude-certified-architect-foundations-certification
4. Tutorials Dojo. Claude Certified Architect Foundations CCA-F Practice Exams. https://portal.tutorialsdojo.com/courses/claude-certified-architect-foundations-cca-f-practice-exams/
5. Tutorials Dojo. FREE Claude Certified Architect Foundations CCA-F Practice Exams – Sampler. https://portal.tutorialsdojo.com/product/free-claude-certified-architect-foundations-cca-f-practice-exams-sampler/
6. Tutorials Dojo. CCA-F Claude Certified Architect Foundations Study Guide. https://tutorialsdojo.com/cca-f-claude-certified-architect-foundations-study-guide/

Last updated: June 15, 2026. Exam pricing and availability are subject to change; confirm current details on the official Anthropic certification page before booking.