This is the discussion thread for the CCA-F Training Guide, our free study guide for the Claude Certified Architect – Foundations exam (exam code CCAR-F).
What it covers: an 18-unit ordered study plan (all free courses), the ten anti-patterns the exam tests, concept cliffs notes for all five domains, current exam logistics ($125, Pearson VUE, pass at 720), and a full exam-guide appendix — validated against Anthropic’s official exam guide v1.0 (July 2026).
Guide updates get posted as replies below, so watch this topic if you’re studying. Corrections and exam experiences welcome — that’s how the guide gets better.
All nine course links now point at academy.claude.com. One slug changed: Building with the Claude API is now /courses/building-with-the-claude-api.
Claude Code in Action was rewritten by Anthropic into an advanced course (long sessions, CLAUDE.md that Claude actually follows, permission modes, hooks, headless/scheduled runs, GitHub Actions, verifying unsupervised runs, plugins). The new Claude Code 101 is the intro now, so the Claude Code phase went from 2 units to 4, adding The AI-native SDLC playbook too. Study plan is 18 → 20 units.
Lesson counts and durations corrected to what the new site states — Claude 101 2.5h, AI Fluency 4h, Building with the Claude API 67 lessons/9h, Intro MCP 1h, MCP Advanced 1.5h, Agent Skills 1h, Subagents 45m, Cowork 2.5h. Total ~35h → ~43h.
New “Migrating from Skilljar” note: progress does not auto-transfer; an import banner shows on academy.claude.com only if your Claude account email matches your old Skilljar email, rolling out gradually.
What did not change: the exam. CCAR-F is still $125, 60 items, 120 min, pass at 720, Pearson VUE, and registration is still through the Partner Academy — academy.claude.com has no certification content. Domains and weights re-verified against the official exam guide v1.0.
If you notice a course page that disagrees with the guide, reply here.