Claude Certified Developer Foundations (CCDV-F) Exam Guide

CCDV-F exam at a glance

Each item is multiple-choice or multiple-response, and a multiple-response item tells you how many answers to pick. The exam is proctored and closed book, through Pearson VUE, online or at a test centre: no notes, translation tools or AI assistants. It is offered in English and Japanese. Scoring runs from 100 to 1,000 against a fixed standard, not a curve. The guide breaks the eight domains into 25 skills, each with its own weight.

Who can take the Claude Certified Developer exam

Engineers who build and ship applications, agents and workflows on Claude: the guide names AI and ML engineers, technical leads and senior software engineers. It recommends, but does not require:

1 to 5 years of software engineering
6 months or more hands-on with Claude or a similar LLM
Python and/or TypeScript
Fluency with REST APIs and command-line tools
A working grasp of LLM basics, agents, context management and MCP

There are no prerequisites. Registration is open only to people at Claude Partner Network companies, with a partner email (who can take a Claude certification exam). A pass counts toward your company's Claude Partner Network tier.

CCDV-F or CCAR-F?

	Developer (CCDV-F)	Architect (CCAR-F)
You	Build applications on the Claude API	Design agent systems with the Agent SDK, Claude Code and MCP
Heaviest domain	Applications and Integration, 33.1%	Agentic Architecture & Orchestration, 27%
Claude Code	3.1% as its own domain	20% of the exam
Format	53 items, 120 min, $125	60 scenario questions, 120 min, $125

Neither requires the other. The Claude Certified Architect exam page covers the other one.

CCDV-F exam domains and weights (the syllabus)

This blueprint is lopsided, and it pays to know how. Applications and Integration alone is a third of the exam. Claude Code is 3.1% as its own domain and Eval, Testing and Debugging is 2.6%, though Claude hooks and Skills also turn up under Security and Tools. If Claude Code is what you use every day, the Architect exam gives it 20%.

The weights are Anthropic's, the approximate share of scored items. It publishes no question counts per domain.

Anthropic updates this exam's content on 7 December 2026, and the new exam guide is due on 17 November 2026 (Pearson VUE). The domains and weights below are from the current guide; we will update them when the new one is out.

Applications and integration

33.1%

A third of the exam. Claude API mechanics, application design, requirements and the system life cycle, configuration management, and the software-engineering basics around them. Its task statements cover turning client constraints into platform and feature choices, and maintaining a shipped system through deprecations and migrations.

Model selection and optimisation

16.8%

Technical fundamentals, its largest skill at 6.1%, and LLM fundamentals; then choosing a model against quality, latency and cost targets, and managing tokens and spend. Its task statements cover choosing the model tier, thinking or effort setting, and caching approach that meet a target.

Agents and workflows

14.7%

Agent architecture, building agents with Claude and the Agent SDK, and common patterns such as orchestrator and subagents. Its task statements cover whether a job needs an agent at all, who should run the loop, and when sub-agents or a framework earn their place.

Prompt and context engineering

11.0%

Prompt engineering, deciding what goes into context, and handling the output your code receives. Its task statements cover what to prune from a long context, where each instruction belongs, and how far your code should trust a confident answer.

Tools and MCP

10.6%

Implementing tools, building MCP servers, and choosing between a built-in tool, a custom tool, a Skill or an MCP server. Its task statements cover design calls: what a tool returns on failure, which actions need approval, and whether an MCP server should expose tools, resources or prompts.

Security and safety

8.1%

AI application security, guardrails, Claude hooks, and handling identity, secrets and API keys. Its task statements cover untrusted input or a powerful action in front of the model, and which control must hold whatever the model decides.

Claude Code

3.1%

Operating Claude Code, including running it headless. 3.1% of the exam as its own domain; Claude hooks and Skills also appear under Security and Tools. Its task statements cover whether a need calls for a rule, skill, command, agent or setting.

Eval, testing and debugging

2.6%

Debugging and error handling in a Claude application. The lightest domain. Its task statements cover telling which error type a failure is, what recovery fits, and whether the integration or the model output caused it.

All 25 skills and their weights

Domain	Skill	Weight
Applications and Integration	Claude Application Design	8.6%
Applications and Integration	Software Engineering Foundations	7.4%
Applications and Integration	Claude API Mechanics	6.8%
Applications and Integration	Configuration Management	4.1%
Applications and Integration	Understanding Requirements	3.4%
Applications and Integration	Systems Life Cycle	2.8%
Model Selection and Optimization	Technical Fundamentals	6.1%
Model Selection and Optimization	LLM Fundamentals	5.2%
Model Selection and Optimization	Cost and Token Management	2.8%
Model Selection and Optimization	Model Selection and Tradeoffs	2.7%
Agents and Workflows	Agent Construction with Claude	5.3%
Agents and Workflows	Agent Patterns and Frameworks	4.9%
Agents and Workflows	Agent Architecture	4.5%
Prompt and Context Engineering	Prompt Engineering	4.6%
Prompt and Context Engineering	Context Engineering	3.8%
Prompt and Context Engineering	Output Handling	2.6%
Tools and MCPs	Tool Implementation	4.4%
Tools and MCPs	Agentic Customization	4.1%
Tools and MCPs	MCP Server Development	2.1%
Security and Safety	AI Application Security	3.2%
Security and Safety	Guardrails and Safe Deployment	2.3%
Security and Safety	Identity, Secrets, and Key Management	1.6%
Security and Safety	Claude Hooks	1.0%
Claude Code	Claude Code Operation	3.1%
Eval, Testing, and Debugging	Debugging and Error Handling	2.6%

Claude Certified Developer exam cost

The CCDV-F exam costs $125 per attempt at list price, and a retake costs the full fee again. Select and Preferred partners get 50% off at checkout, and Global Premier partners 100% off until 31 December 2026. Renewing on time is free. All four Claude certification fees and partner discounts.

How to register for CCDV-F

You sign in to the Anthropic Partner Academy with your company's partner email, pay there, and then book a Pearson VUE slot, online with a proctor or at a test centre. You need to be 18 or older with a government-issued ID, and online testing isn't open to every country's ID. After a fail you wait 14, 30 and 90 days before a retake (after the first, second and third fail), and you get at most 4 attempts per exam in a rolling 12 months. How to register, step by step.

How hard is CCDV-F?

Anthropic publishes no pass rate. How hard it feels depends on what you already build.

You build on the Claude API at work

Most of the exam is your daily job. The marks you can lose are in the details of error handling, token budgets and model choice.

You know another LLM API, not Claude’s

The ideas carry over from other agent tools. What's new is the Claude detail: where Claude Code reads CLAUDE.md and which settings file wins, and how prompt caching is billed.

You don’t write code

This isn't your exam. Look at the Claude Certified Associate exam instead.

CCDV-F study guide: how to prepare

Our suggested steps: Anthropic publishes no study plan. If you build on the Claude API every day, it can take as little as a few days; if the API is new to you, give it longer.

Step 1Go through the 25 skills above, from the official exam guide, and mark the ones you already use at work. The rest, heaviest first, is your study list.
Step 2New to the Claude API? Take the free Claude Academy course Building with the Claude API. Partners also get free Developer prep courses on the Partner Academy.
Step 3Focus your practice on Applications and Integration and Model Selection. Together they are half the exam.
Step 4Take a timed 53-question mock, fix your weakest domain, and book once you pass mocks consistently.

After you pass CCDV-F

The credential is valid for 12 months from the award date, and passing earns a Credly badge. On-time renewal is free; if it lapses, you sit the full exam again. If you design agent systems, the Claude Certified Architect exam is the natural next one.

Practise for the CCDV-F

Exam-style questions for every CCDV-F domain, each with an explanation for every option, and timed 53-question mock exams. 10 free questions, the first 5 without signing up. Anthropic has no official practice exam: the old one was retired in the move to Pearson VUE, so the sample questions in the exam guide are its only official practice.

Start with 10 free questions

Prefer paper? Download free CCDV-F practice questions as a PDF, each with the answer and why every other option is wrong.

Other Claude exams

Claude Certified Associate – Foundations (CCAO-F)

No coding needed: it is the Claude certification for non-technical roles. It suits people who work with Claude every day and set up Claude Projects, in operations, marketing, project management, teaching, communications or other knowledge work.

Anthropic recommends:: Regular hands-on use of Claude at work, and a practical grasp of its limits, such as hallucinations, context limits and data sensitivity.

Exam guide Start free questions

Claude Certified Architect – Foundations (CCAR-F)

For solution architects who design and build production applications with Claude, using the Agent SDK, Claude Code and MCP.

Anthropic recommends:: 6 months or more of hands-on work with the Claude API, the Agent SDK, Claude Code and MCP.

Exam guide Start free questions

Claude Certified Architect – Professional (CCAR-P)

For mid- to senior-level solution architects, AI and ML engineers, technical leads and senior software engineers who take Claude systems from discovery to production.

Anthropic recommends:: 3 years or more in systems architecture or platform engineering, and 6 months or more running Claude or a similar LLM system in production.

Exam guide Start free questions

CCDV-F FAQ

Does CCDV-F test Claude Code?

Some. Claude Code is one of its eight domains and carries 3.1% of the exam as its own domain: operating it, including running it headless. Related features such as Claude hooks and Skills also appear in the Security and Tools domains. The Architect – Foundations exam gives Claude Code far more weight, at 20%. See whether there is a Claude Code certification.

Do I need Python or TypeScript for CCDV-F?

The guide recommends proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript, so either works. It is a recommendation, not a requirement: the exam has no prerequisites.

Should I take the Developer or the Architect exam?

Developer if you build applications on the Claude API: a third of it is applications and integration. Architect if you design agent systems: its heaviest domain is agentic architecture and orchestration, at 27%. See the Claude Certified Architect exam.

How long should I study for CCDV-F?

Anthropic publishes no study time. If you already build on the Claude API, it can take as little as a few days: mark the skills you already use, practise the rest, then take a timed mock exam. If the API is new to you, give it longer and start with the free Building with the Claude API course.

Exam facts from the official CCDV-F exam guide and exam page, and Anthropic's certification FAQ and certification policies, checked October 2026.

Cert Made Easy is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic. Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic, PBC. Our practice questions are exam-style questions we write against the official exam guides; they are not questions from the real exam.