CCA Foundations Exam Domains at a Glance
This page is the fast-reference version of the CCA Foundations exam structure: what's on it, how much each part is worth, and which prep resource maps to which domain.
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This page is the fast-reference version of the CCA Foundations exam structure: what's on it, how much each part is worth, and which prep resource maps to which domain.
Use it to plan study time before diving into any single domain in depth.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Certification name | Claude Certified Architect (CCA) - Foundations |
| Launch date | 2026-03-12 |
| Question count | 60 questions |
| Delivery | Proctored |
| Book policy | Closed-book |
| Assistance policy | No AI assistance permitted during the exam |
| Tests | Ability to design and ship production-grade Claude applications at enterprise scale |
| Free prep material | Anthropic Academy, Skilljar-hosted, launched 2026-03-02 |
| Domain | Weight | Core focus | Map to this section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic Architecture & Orchestration | 27% | Multi-agent design, orchestration patterns, agent-to-agent handoff | Studying Agentic Architecture and Orchestration |
| Claude Code Configuration & Workflows | 20% | Hooks, subagents, custom commands, repeatable team workflows | Tool Design, MCP Integration, and Context Management Checklist |
| Prompt Engineering & Structured Output | 20% | Reliable, parseable output at scale; prompt design discipline | What the Exam Actually Tests |
| Tool Design & MCP Integration | 18% | Tool schemas, MCP server integration, safe tool surface area | Tool Design, MCP Integration, and Context Management Checklist |
| Context Management & Reliability | 15% | Token budgets, context window discipline, long-run failure modes | Tool Design, MCP Integration, and Context Management Checklist |
Total: 100%. Agentic Architecture & Orchestration is the single largest domain; the next two (Claude Code Configuration & Workflows, Prompt Engineering & Structured Output) are tied at 20% each; Tool Design & MCP Integration and Context Management & Reliability round out the remaining 33% combined.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Weight rank | 1st (largest domain) |
| Core question shape | When to use single-agent vs. multi-agent, supervisor-worker vs. peer topologies, handoff design |
| Common failure tested | Agent loops that never terminate, poor task decomposition, unclear ownership between agents |
| Related Academy course | Building with the Claude API |
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Weight rank | Tied 2nd |
| Core question shape | Configuring hooks, subagents, custom commands, and CI-integrated workflows for a team |
| Common failure tested | One-off manual workflows that don't scale to a team, misconfigured permission/hook boundaries |
| Related Academy course | Claude Code in Action |
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Weight rank | Tied 2nd |
| Core question shape | Designing prompts and output schemas that stay reliable across many calls, not just one |
| Common failure tested | Output that parses in testing but breaks under edge-case input at scale |
| Related Academy course | Building with the Claude API |
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Weight rank | 4th |
| Core question shape | Tool schema design, MCP server boundaries, least-privilege tool surface area |
| Common failure tested | Tools that return unbounded output, overly broad tool permissions, ambiguous tool descriptions |
| Related Academy course | Introduction to MCP |
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Weight rank | 5th (smallest domain by weight) |
| Core question shape | Token budget planning, context window discipline over long agent runs |
| Common failure tested | Silent context overflow, stale context carried across turns, unbounded conversation history |
| Related Academy course | Building with the Claude API |
Agentic Architecture & Orchestration, at 27% it is the largest of the five domains and its concepts recur inside questions framed around other domains too.
Yes: 27 + 20 + 20 + 18 + 15 = 100%.
Yes, both are weighted at 20% each, making them jointly the second-largest share of the exam behind Agentic Architecture & Orchestration.
Not entirely safe to skip until last: at 15% it's the smallest by direct weight, but its failure modes (context overflow, token budget mismanagement) frequently appear as the root cause inside questions nominally scored under other domains.
It means no use of Claude, Claude Code, any other AI assistant, or AI-powered search during the proctored exam session itself.
They aren't stated as a strict prerequisite, but the free Skilljar-hosted courses (launched 2026-03-02) are built to map onto exam domain themes and are a reasonable primary study path.
The exam doesn't publish a fixed per-domain question count; the percentages describe the proportional weight of each domain's contribution to the score, which is a reasonable proxy for how many questions are drawn from it across 60 total.
No, it's closed-book, in addition to prohibiting AI assistance, which makes it stricter than most day-to-day Claude workflows.
Tool Design & MCP Integration, weighted at 18%, covers Model Context Protocol integration alongside general tool schema design.
Agentic Architecture & Orchestration, the 27% domain, covers multi-agent design and orchestration patterns including handoffs between agents.
Yes, Claude Code Configuration & Workflows (20%) covers hooks, subagents, custom commands, and team-level workflow configuration.
Weight order is a reasonable default, but studying overlapping domains together (for example, Tool Design & MCP Integration alongside Context Management & Reliability) can be more efficient since real questions often blend them.
Stack versions: Written against the Claude model lineup current as of ~June 2026 - Claude Fable 5, Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Sonnet 5 (the default), and Claude Haiku 4.5 - and the official
anthropicPython SDK (latest 0.x release). Model names, pricing, exam format, and SDK versions move quickly - verify current specifics at platform.claude.com/docs and the official CCA exam guide before relying on them.
Reviewed by Chris St. John·Last updated Jul 13, 2026