Learning paths

A study plan for every role.

Pick the credential you're chasing and follow an ordered track of free Anthropic Academy courses — grouped into phases, from baseline to exam-ready.

Target credential

Messages API, MCP servers, agents, and production integration — the best signal-per-dollar.

courses

4–6 wks

typical prep

View the full syllabus

Phase 1 · Platformweek 1–2

Claude Platform 101

Ground-up tour of the Developer Platform.

Building with the Claude API

The spine of the exam — 33% Applications & Integration.

Phase 2 · MCP & agentsweek 3–4

Introduction to MCP → Advanced Topics

Build an MCP server end-to-end with structured errors.

Agent Skills & Subagents

Reusable skills and context isolation via the Task tool.

Phase 3 · Buildweek 5

Ship an MCP server + agent loop

Two real artifacts to a private repo. Muscle memory wins points.

Phase 4 · Drillweek 6

stop_reason drills + Developer mock exam

Timed 120-minute mock against the 720/1000 bar.

The staged plan

Six weeks from decision to certified.

Weeks 1–2

Baseline

Work the foundational courses that map to every track — platform tour, product literacy, and responsible-use vocabulary.

Weeks 3–4

Primary sources

Read 'Building Effective Agents', the MCP spec, and the Claude Code docs. This is where the distinctions live.

Week 5

Build

Ship two real artifacts to a private repo — an MCP server and a Claude Code project. The exam rewards what you've done.

Week 6

Drill

Generate a 60-question mock per track, time-box to 120 minutes, and keep an error log of every trap you hit.

Prep course catalog

Every course, and the exams it serves.

All courses below are free on the Anthropic Academy. Tags show which certification each one supports.

AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations

~2h

Responsible-use vocabulary and the mental model behind every track.

AssociateDeveloperArchitectPro

AI Capabilities and Limitations

~1h

Spot hallucinations, hedging, and the boundaries of what to promise.

Associate

Claude 101

~1.5h

Claude.ai, Projects, artifacts, and connectors from the product side.

Associate

Claude Platform 101

~2h

Ground-up tour of the Claude Developer Platform. Prereq for the API course.

DeveloperArchitect

Building with the Claude API

~4h

Messages API, streaming, tool use, RAG, and agents. Core for builders.

DeveloperArchitect

Introduction to Model Context Protocol

~3h

Build an MCP server end-to-end in Python — tools, resources, prompts.

DeveloperArchitect

MCP: Advanced Topics

~2h

Sampling, notifications, transports, and structured production errors.

DeveloperArchitect

Introduction to Subagents

~1.5h

Context isolation via the Task tool — the exact orchestration pattern tested.

DeveloperArchitect

Introduction to Agent Skills

~1.5h

SKILL.md, context: fork, and team-vs-personal reusable skills.

DeveloperArchitect

Claude Code 101

~1.5h

The foundation for the Claude Code domain — do before 'in Action'.

AssociateDeveloperArchitect

Claude Code in Action

~3h

Hooks, custom commands, and the Agent SDK. Non-negotiable for Architect.

Architect

Claude with Amazon Bedrock

~2h

Data residency, IAM, and VPC for enterprise deployment.

DeveloperPro

Claude with Google Cloud's Vertex AI

~2h

Multi-cloud story for enterprise deployments and DR planning.

DeveloperPro

AI Fluency for Builders

~2h

Owning the full lifecycle — problem to shipped solution to deprecation.

ArchitectPro

Introduction to Claude Cowork

~1.5h

File and research workflows; scaling Claude across an organisation.

AssociatePro

Course catalog reflects the public Anthropic Academy; the Partner Academy mirrors it for Claude Partner Network members and adds partner-exclusive content. Availability and titles may change.

Know your path. Now walk it.

Open your target certification and tick off the syllabus domain by domain.

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