If you've seen the acronym "CCAR-F" and wondered what it means: it stands for Claude Certified Architect – Foundations, a certification issued by Anthropic, the company that builds Claude. It is aimed at technical professionals — developers, engineers and solution architects — who design and implement production applications with Claude.
Why a "Foundations" certification exists
As more companies move from experimenting with AI to running it in production, there's a need to verify that someone can build with Claude, not just describe it. CCAR-F is a scenario-based exam that tests architectural judgment: given a realistic situation, which design is the right one?
What the exam covers
- Agentic Architecture & Orchestration — 27%
- Claude Code Configuration & Workflows — 20%
- Prompt Engineering & Structured Output — 20%
- Tool Design & MCP Integration — 18%
- Context Management & Reliability — 15%
Our free CCAR-F study guide walks through each domain.
How the exam works
60 scenario-based questions, 120 minutes, pass mark 720 out of 1,000, taken online through Pearson OnVUE or at a test center. The fee is US$125 (it was US$99 before 30 June 2026), you can attempt it up to four times in a rolling 12 months, and the certification is valid for 12 months. Details are in our exam format guide.
CCAR-F vs the other Claude certifications
CCAR-F is one of four Claude certifications. If you're in a business, operations or leadership role and don't write code, CCAO-F (Claude Certified Associate) is the better fit. See the full comparison.
How to prepare
You can study independently with Anthropic's free courses and our study guide, or take an exam-prep workshop. Agmo Academy runs a CCAR-F preparation workshop — two days, six hands-on labs, taught by trainers who hold the certification.