About this book
This guide prepares you to pass the Claude Certified Architect — Foundations exam (CCAR-F) by teaching the design judgment it tests: how to build agentic systems with Claude, the Claude Agent SDK, Claude Code and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It is Book 3 of a four-book series, one per Claude certification: Associate (CCAO-F), Developer (CCDV-F), Architect Foundations (CCAR-F) and Architect Professional (CCAR-P). The book follows the five exam domains in blueprint order, gives each one a chapter, then adds scenario walkthroughs, code building blocks, hands-on labs, twenty design drills and three practice exams (30, 60 and 60 questions) written in the exam's scenario style. Each domain chapter opens with what the exam tests, works through realistic examples and deep dives, closes with common traps and a short self-check, and uses the same six production scenarios the exam draws from.
Who it is for. Solution architects, technical leads and senior engineers at Claude Partner Network firms who design Claude-powered agents. You should be comfortable reading JSON and a little Python or TypeScript. You do not need to have trained models or run infrastructure; those topics are out of scope for the exam.
What is verified and what is not
Almost every fact below comes from Anthropic's official CCAR-F Exam Guide v1.0 (effective July 2026), linked from the Partner Academy certifications page. The guide is the authoritative source for scope; this book follows its domains, task statements and scenarios. Where sources disagree, the table says so.
- Fact Value Source
- Exam
- code and
- name
CCAR-F, Claude Certified Architect – Foundations Exam guide; Pearson VUE
Price US125beforepartnerdiscounts(US99 before 30 June 2026) Exam guide; partner FAQ
Items 60, multiple choice and multiple response; each item says how many to select Exam guide Structure 4 scenarios drawn at random from a bank of 6 Exam guide Time 120 minutes of testing, about 135 minutes in the seat Exam guide; partner FAQ
Fact Value Source
Scoring Scaled 100 to 1,000; 720 to pass; per-domain percent correct on the report Exam guide Domains Agentic Architecture & Orchestration 27%, Tool Design & MCP Integration 18%, Claude Code Configuration & Workflows 20%, Prompt Engineering & Structured Output 20%, Context Management & Reliability 15%
Exam guide
Delivery Pearson VUE, online (OnVUE) or test centre; closed book; English and Japanese Exam guide; partner FAQ
Eligibility 18+, working at a Claude Partner Network organization, partner work email Partner FAQ; Claude blog
Validity 12 months; free non-proctored renewal on Partner Academy Exam guide Retakes Wait 14, then 30, then 90 days; at most 4 attempts per rolling 12 months; full fee each time
- Exam guide;
- partner FAQ
- Cancel or
- resched‐
- ule
Guide says 24 hours before; the FAQ and Pearson say 48 hours. Use 48 to be safe Conflict between official
sources
Product details (Claude Code settings, SDK option names, API parameters) reflect Anthropic's documentation as of October 2026. These products change quickly, so confirm specifics in the current docs.