Claude Certified Developer – Foundations credential artwork

Claude Certified Developer – Foundations (CCDV-F) Courses

Validates knowledge of building production Claude applications, including API integration, agents, tools and MCP, prompt and context engineering, evals, security and cost.

A good course for the Developer exam covers its eight domains, led by applications and integration (33%), model selection and optimization (17%) and agents and workflows (15%). Anthropic's free prep course was built for this exam.

Take Anthropic's free Developer – Foundations Prep Course in order. Anthropic recommends finishing its introductory courses first if they are new to you, in particular Building with the Claude API and Introduction to Model Context Protocol.

Exam blueprint

Claude Certified Developer – Foundations Prep Course

Anthropic's prep course for this exam, in five lessons: MSO Foundations (57 min), Production-Grade Prompting, Agents & Tool Use (209 min), Claude Code, MCP & Integration (142 min), Production Engineering, Evals & Security (211 min) and Accelerators & IP Contribution (155 min). New to the API? Take Building with the Claude API and Introduction to Model Context Protocol first.

Great fit if you want the official course built around the exam blueprint

Poor fit if you have never called the Claude API; take Building with the Claude API first

How to use the CCDV-F course

  • Follow the weighted domains. Applications and integration is a third of the exam. The Production-Grade Prompting, Agents & Tool Use lesson covers the API, tools, streaming and context, and Production Engineering, Evals & Security covers debugging, cost and security.
  • Start directly if you already build. If you already build against the API and have built an MCP server, skip the introductory courses and start the prep course.
  • Build one application. Anthropic's exam guide advises building and operating at least one Claude application that uses the API and tools, with basic security and evaluation. Lessons alone do not cover that.
  • Skip the last lesson if short on time. Accelerators & IP Contribution is mostly about packaging reusable assets for partners. Only its deployment-platform and versioning sections map to the exam blueprint.

CCDV-F course FAQ

What is the best Claude Certified Developer course?

Anthropic's free Claude Certified Developer – Foundations Prep Course, with Building with the Claude API first if you are new to the API.

Is the Claude Certified Developer course free?

Yes. The prep course and the courses Anthropic recommends first are free, so the only cost is the $125 exam.

How long does it take to prepare?

The prep course's five lessons total about 13 hours. Plan for about 30 hours in total, or 15 if you already build with the API, Agent SDK and MCP.

Who can take the exam?

Only people at Claude Partner Network organizations can register. The exam has 53 questions and the credential lasts 12 months.