Month 01
Foundation
Output: Diagnostic + first concept mastered
Take the 10-Q diagnostic to find your weakest domain. Master one concept end-to-end so you know what "mastered" means here (dwell 2 min + 3 correct practice Qs).
Courses
Free Claude certification courses.
Every Claude certification course on this site is free, with no paid tier and no account needed to start. Six tracks: a beginner course, the month-by-month CCA-F exam path, 71 concept lessons grouped by exam domain, Anthropic Academy's own lessons mirrored, and a scored mock to prove it. New here? Take the free 10-minute diagnostic first. Comparing your options first? Every Claude training route, and what each costs. Targeting a different Claude credential? Compare all four at the certifications hub.
71 concepts25 scenarios30-Q mock720 to pass
Everything here is free
No paid tier, and no account needed to start. The only thing that costs money on the whole path is the exam itself.
The catalogue
Six courses, one path.
They run in this order, but nothing is locked. Start wherever you are.
- 01Start here
Claude 101 - the beginner course
No prior Claude experience assumed. What Claude is, what an agentic system actually does, and the shortest honest path from nothing to your first mock exam.
Start Claude 101 → - 02The exam path
The CCA-F course, month by month
The blueprint-weighted study path below. One focus per month, one output, and the pillar links where the work happens. Diagnostic first - everything routes from there.
See the plan → - 03For builders
The Claude Code course
Terminal sessions, durable CLAUDE.md context, hooks that make rules mechanical, and subagents that hand off state cleanly. Free to read; Claude Code itself needs a paid plan.
Start the Claude Code course → - 04The body of knowledge
71 concept lessons, by exam domain
Each technical primitive on its own page - what it does, why the exam cares, and the anti-pattern that catches people. Grouped by the five weighted domains.
Open the concepts → - 05Official material
Anthropic Academy courses, mirrored
Anthropic's own Skilljar lessons condensed to their exam-critical points, with citations back to the source. Read these to see how Anthropic teaches a topic.
Open the mirrors → - 06Prove it
Practice: diagnostic, warm-up, mock
A 10-question diagnostic that needs no account, a weakest-domain warm-up, and a 30-question mock scored to 1000 against the real 720 pass mark.
Open practice →
CCA-F blueprint
Five domains, weighted.
The exam isn't evenly distributed. Domain 1 alone is 27%. Spend your prep proportionally.
D1Agentic Architectures27%
D2Tool Design + Integration18%
D3Agent Operations20%
D4Prompt Engineering20%
D5Context + Reliability15%
Six-month plan
Month by month.
Each month has one focus, one primary output, and the pillar links to use. Diagnostic first - everything else routes from there.
Month 02
Concept primitives
Output: Agentic loops, MCP, tool_choice
Domains 1 + 2 carry 45% of exam weight combined. Master subagent context isolation, tool description quality, and the 18-tool degradation cliff first.
Month 03
Production scenarios
Output: Component + failure-mode reading
Scenarios make abstract concepts concrete. Walk through 4-6 of the 25 - especially conversational-ai-patterns and agent-skills-for-enterprise-km.
Month 04
Reference layer
Output: Anti-patterns + cheatsheets
The Reference pillar consolidates the 8 anti-patterns, the 2 distractor patterns, and 3 downloadable posters. Print them; reread 24 hours before the exam.
Month 05
Practice loops
Output: Weekly mocks + targeted drills
Take the 30-Q mock. Score below 720? The result page builds an adaptive plan — two, four or eight weeks — keyed on your specific misconceptions, not a generic syllabus.
Month 06
Exam readiness
Output: Adaptive plan closes weak areas
Re-run mocks weekly and watch your mock score climb toward the 720 bar. The Exam Guide pillar covers logistics, registration, and day-of distractor patterns.
How to use this
Three rules.
- Take the diagnostic first. It scopes the work. No sign-up needed.
- Master one concept before you start the next. Mastered means dwell 2 min + 3 correct practice Qs. Server-tracked.
- Mock weekly from month 5 onward. Each mock builds a fresh adaptive plan. Three lifetime attempts on the 30-Q mock; the 10-Q diagnostic is unlimited.
FAQ
8 questions about the Claude certification courses
Every Q is phrased as a real Google search query. Answers cite the same evidence-tagged sources used elsewhere on the site.
Is there a free Claude certification course?
Yes. Every Claude certification course here is free, with no paid tier and no account needed to start. Five tracks: a Claude 101 beginner course, the blueprint-weighted CCA-F exam path month by month, concept lessons grouped by the five weighted exam domains, Anthropic Academy's own lessons mirrored with citations, and a practice ladder ending in a mock scored to 1000 against the real 720 pass mark. Anthropic Academy provides the free official courses; this hub organizes the whole body of knowledge around what the exam actually tests.
Where do I start if I am new to Claude?
Start with the Claude 101 course, which assumes no prior Claude experience: what Claude is, what an agentic system actually does, and the shortest honest path from nothing to a first mock exam. If you already build with Claude, skip it and take the free 10-question diagnostic instead - it finds your weakest of the five exam domains in about ten minutes and needs no account.
What topics does the CCA-F course cover?
Five domains weighted at D1 Agentic Architectures (27%), D2 Tool Design + Integration (18%), D3 Agent Operations (20%), D4 Prompt Engineering (20%), and D5 Context + Reliability (15%). Each domain has 4-6 technical primitives - agentic loops, tool calling, MCP, hooks, prompt caching, structured outputs, and others - covered across 30 concept pages.
How are the Claude courses organized?
Three layers. Concepts (30 pages) define each technical primitive - what it does and why it matters. Scenarios (25 pages) show how primitives combine in production systems like multi-agent research or customer support resolution. Knowledge (13 pages) summarizes Anthropic Academy courses to anchor each topic in official source material.
Which exam domain has the highest weight?
D1 Agentic Architectures at 27% of scored questions. It covers agentic loops, subagent orchestration, stop_reason handling, escalation patterns, and session state. Spend roughly a quarter of total study time here, then weight the rest by D3 (20%), D4 (20%), D2 (18%), D5 (15%).
How do these courses map to Anthropic Academy?
Every concept lesson links to the matching Anthropic Academy summary in the Knowledge pillar - Claude 101, Claude Code 101, MCP Foundations, AI Fluency Framework, and the platform-specific courses (Bedrock, Vertex AI). The knowledge summaries condense the official Skilljar content to exam-critical points with citations back to the Anthropic source.
How long does the Claude certification course take?
The adaptive plan engine generates 2-week, 4-week, or 8-week paths based on your diagnostic score and weekly time budget. Average prep duration for candidates passing 720+/1000 is 30-45 hours of focused study spread across 4 to 8 weeks. The plan slots Anthropic's 4 official prep exercises as end-of-phase capstones.
Are the courses updated when Anthropic ships new features?
Yes. The site is reviewed on a 60-day cadence and refreshed whenever Anthropic publishes new guidance (release notes, Academy course updates, blog posts on agentic patterns). Each page footer shows the last-reviewed date so you know how fresh the content is.