Lesson 2 of 4 · Claude Certified Architect — Foundations
Exam Format Deep-Dive
Understanding the exam mechanics gives you a tactical advantage. Every question is scenario-based -- you won't see "What is X?" definitional questions.
Question Structure
Every question follows this pattern:
You are building a customer support agent that handles refund requests. The agent must verify customer identity before processing any refund.
Which approach ensures refund processing ONLY occurs after identity verification?
A) Add "always verify identity first" to the system prompt
B) Implement a programmatic prerequisite gate that blocks process_refund until verify_identity returns success
C) Create separate agents for verification and refunds
D) Log all refund attempts for manual review
The Six Exam Scenarios
Each exam draws from six pre-defined scenario contexts. You'll encounter 4 of the 6 on your specific exam:
| # | Scenario | Domain Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Customer Support Agent | D1 (agentic loops, escalation) |
| 2 | Code Generation Pipeline | D2 (tools, structured output) |
| 3 | Multi-Agent Research System | D1 (orchestration, subagents) |
| 4 | Developer Productivity Tool | D3 (Claude Code, configuration) |
| 5 | CI/CD Quality Pipeline | D3 + D4 (automation, prompts) |
| 6 | Structured Data Extraction | D4 + D5 (output, reliability) |
You won't know which 4 scenarios appear on your exam. Prepare for all 6. This course covers every one.
Scoring
- Total points: 1000
- Passing score: 720 (72%)
- Questions: 60 (not all equally weighted)
- No penalty for wrong answers -- always answer every question
Time Management
| Strategy | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total time | 120 minutes |
| Per question | ~2 minutes average |
| First pass | Answer confident questions (aim for 45 min) |
| Second pass | Return to flagged questions (aim for 30 min) |
| Review | Final check on marked items (15 min) |
2 min
Average time per question
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