Claude Certified Developer study checklist (CCDV-F)
One self-check question for each of the 25 topics in the Claude Certified Developer Foundations (CCDV-F) exam guide, grouped by domain. If you cannot answer a question with confidence, open the linked study page.
When you can answer most of them, test yourself under time with the free Claude Certified Developer practice exam: 20 questions with an explanation for every answer option, no sign-up needed. The CCDV-F exam guide covers format, scoring and registration.
Agents and Workflows
- Agent Architecture (topic weight 4.5% of the exam)
Can you choose between a workflow and an agent, and design the loop around it? - Agent Construction with Claude (topic weight 5.3% of the exam)
Can you build an agent with the Claude API or Agent SDK, including its tools and stop conditions? - Agent Patterns and Frameworks (topic weight 4.9% of the exam)
Can you pick an agent pattern, such as routing, orchestration or an evaluation loop, for a given task?
Tools and MCPs
- Agentic Customization (topic weight 4.1% of the exam)
Can you extend Claude Code with skills, subagents, commands and plugins? - MCP Server Development (topic weight 2.1% of the exam)
Can you build an MCP server with tools, resources and the right transport? - Tool Implementation (topic weight 4.4% of the exam)
Can you define tools, run them safely and return results Claude can use?
Security and Safety
- AI Application Security (topic weight 3.2% of the exam)
Can you defend an application against prompt injection and untrusted input? - Claude Hooks (topic weight 1.0% of the exam)
Can you use a hook to enforce a rule in Claude Code instead of relying on instructions? - Guardrails and Safe Deployment (topic weight 2.3% of the exam)
Can you add guardrails and release a Claude feature safely? - Identity, Secrets and Key Management (topic weight 1.6% of the exam)
Can you keep API keys and credentials out of code, logs and prompts?
Applications and Integration
- Claude API Mechanics (topic weight 6.8% of the exam)
Can you use the Messages API correctly: roles, parameters, streaming and stop reasons? - Claude Application Design (topic weight 8.6% of the exam)
Can you design a Claude application around its requirements, latency and failure modes? - Configuration Management (topic weight 4.1% of the exam)
Can you manage settings, versions and environments for a Claude application? - Software Engineering Foundations (topic weight 7.4% of the exam)
Can you apply testing, version control and code review to a Claude project? - Systems Life Cycle (topic weight 2.8% of the exam)
Can you plan a Claude application from requirements through deployment and maintenance? - Understanding Requirements (topic weight 3.4% of the exam)
Can you turn a business request into clear, testable requirements for a Claude solution?
Claude Code
- Claude Code Operation (topic weight 3.1% of the exam)
Can you run Claude Code with the right permission mode, settings and approval steps?
Prompt and Context Engineering
- Context Engineering (topic weight 3.8% of the exam)
Can you decide what goes into the context window and what stays out? - Output Handling (topic weight 2.6% of the exam)
Can you get structured output and validate it before your code uses it? - Prompt Engineering (topic weight 4.6% of the exam)
Can you write and test system prompts and examples that produce consistent results?
Model Selection and Optimization
- Cost and Token Management (topic weight 2.8% of the exam)
Can you estimate and reduce token cost with caching, batching and model choice? - LLM Fundamentals (topic weight 5.2% of the exam)
Can you explain tokens, context windows and sampling, and how they affect outputs? - Model Selection and Tradeoffs (topic weight 2.7% of the exam)
Can you choose a model by weighing quality, speed and cost? - Technical Fundamentals (topic weight 6.1% of the exam)
Can you work with the HTTP, JSON and SDK basics behind a Claude integration?
Eval, Testing, and Debugging
- Debugging and Error Handling (topic weight 2.6% of the exam)
Can you trace a failure in a Claude application and handle API errors with retries?