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Anthropic CCA-F Study Guide

Domain-by-domain study guide for Claude Certified Architect – Foundations (CCA-F). Covers all 5 exam objectives with topic checklists, quick notes, and practice links.

Download PDF Notes

Exam Overview

Key facts before you start studying

Duration

90 min

Questions

Exam Code

CCA-F

Domains

Quick Navigation

Jump to a specific exam domain

1. Agentic Architecture & Orchestration (27%)
2. Tool Design & MCP Integration (18%)
3. Claude Code Configuration & Workflows (20%)
4. Prompt Engineering & Structured Output (20%)
5. Context Management & Reliability (15%)

Domain 1

27%

Agentic Architecture & Orchestration

Design agentic loops, multi-agent coordinator-subagent patterns, and error recovery strategies

Topics to Master

Agentic loop pattern and stop_reason handling
Multi-agent hub-and-spoke architecture
Coordinator-subagent communication patterns
Dynamic subagent selection and task decomposition
Iterative refinement loops
Error recovery with descriptive tool_result messages
Agent guardrails and safety patterns

Domain 2

18%

Tool Design & MCP Integration

Design tool schemas and integrate with the Model Context Protocol for external tools and data

Topics to Master

MCP client-server architecture and JSON-RPC 2.0
MCP primitives: Tools, Resources, Prompts
Transport layers: stdio and SSE/HTTP
Tool schema design with input_schema
Error handling with is_error flag
MCP server configuration and security
allowedTools restrictions per agent

Domain 3

20%

Claude Code Configuration & Workflows

Configure Claude Code with CLAUDE.md, slash commands, hooks, and CI/CD integration

Topics to Master

CLAUDE.md configuration hierarchy
Custom slash commands in .claude/commands/
Hooks: PreToolUse, PostToolUse, Notification
Headless mode for CI/CD pipelines
Built-in tools: Read, Write, Bash, Grep, Glob, Task
Plan mode vs direct execution
Claude Code settings and permissions

Domain 4

20%

Prompt Engineering & Structured Output

Design effective system prompts, structured output schemas, and reasoning techniques

Topics to Master

System prompt structure with XML tags
Response prefilling for format control
Structured output via tool use schemas
JSON Schema validation strategies
Chain-of-thought prompting
Extended thinking with budget_tokens
Few-shot examples and prompt patterns

Domain 5

15%

Context Management & Reliability

Manage context windows, implement caching, and build reliable production systems

Topics to Master

Context window optimization strategies
Prompt caching with cache_control markers
Context compaction and summarization
Evaluation frameworks and A/B testing
Production reliability and rate limiting
Monitoring and observability patterns
Fallback strategies and graceful degradation

Continue Your Prep

Free CertStud resources for CCA-F

Study Notes Exam Study Plan Start Practice Test

Back to Anthropic CCA-F

Anthropic CCA-F Study Guide

Domain-by-domain study guide for Claude Certified Architect – Foundations (CCA-F). Covers all 5 exam objectives with topic checklists, quick notes, and practice links.

Download PDF Notes

Exam Overview

Key facts before you start studying

Duration

90 min

Questions

Exam Code

CCA-F

Domains

Quick Navigation

Jump to a specific exam domain

1. Agentic Architecture & Orchestration (27%)
2. Tool Design & MCP Integration (18%)
3. Claude Code Configuration & Workflows (20%)
4. Prompt Engineering & Structured Output (20%)
5. Context Management & Reliability (15%)

Domain 1

27%

Agentic Architecture & Orchestration

Design agentic loops, multi-agent coordinator-subagent patterns, and error recovery strategies

Topics to Master

Agentic loop pattern and stop_reason handling
Multi-agent hub-and-spoke architecture
Coordinator-subagent communication patterns
Dynamic subagent selection and task decomposition
Iterative refinement loops
Error recovery with descriptive tool_result messages
Agent guardrails and safety patterns

Domain 2

18%

Tool Design & MCP Integration

Design tool schemas and integrate with the Model Context Protocol for external tools and data

Topics to Master

MCP client-server architecture and JSON-RPC 2.0
MCP primitives: Tools, Resources, Prompts
Transport layers: stdio and SSE/HTTP
Tool schema design with input_schema
Error handling with is_error flag
MCP server configuration and security
allowedTools restrictions per agent

Domain 3

20%

Claude Code Configuration & Workflows

Configure Claude Code with CLAUDE.md, slash commands, hooks, and CI/CD integration

Topics to Master

CLAUDE.md configuration hierarchy
Custom slash commands in .claude/commands/
Hooks: PreToolUse, PostToolUse, Notification
Headless mode for CI/CD pipelines
Built-in tools: Read, Write, Bash, Grep, Glob, Task
Plan mode vs direct execution
Claude Code settings and permissions

Domain 4

20%

Prompt Engineering & Structured Output

Design effective system prompts, structured output schemas, and reasoning techniques

Topics to Master

System prompt structure with XML tags
Response prefilling for format control
Structured output via tool use schemas
JSON Schema validation strategies
Chain-of-thought prompting
Extended thinking with budget_tokens
Few-shot examples and prompt patterns

Domain 5

15%

Context Management & Reliability

Manage context windows, implement caching, and build reliable production systems

Topics to Master

Context window optimization strategies
Prompt caching with cache_control markers
Context compaction and summarization
Evaluation frameworks and A/B testing
Production reliability and rate limiting
Monitoring and observability patterns
Fallback strategies and graceful degradation

Continue Your Prep

Free CertStud resources for CCA-F

Study Notes Exam Study Plan Start Practice Test