# Certification Path Planning > Map a person or a delivery team to the right role-based certification in the Claude Certification Program, and plan the sequence from foundation level to professional level. Use when staffing a delivery practice, when deciding which credential a consultant, developer, or solution architect should sit for, when a firm has committed to a certification target and needs the mix of credentials worked out, or when preparing someone for a proctored, identity-verified exam delivered through Pearson Professional Assessments. - Skill: `uygnoey/certification-path-planning` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add uygnoey/certification-path-planning` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/uygnoey/certification-path-planning/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: uygnoey (https://skillmd.com/u/uygnoey) - Updated: 2026-09-21 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/uygnoey/certification-path-planning --- # Planning a certification path by role The Claude Certification Program maps to the four largest roles involved in putting Claude to work inside a large enterprise. Choosing a credential is therefore a **role question, not a seniority question**: what does this person actually do on a Claude engagement, and which exam tests that? Every path starts at a foundation-level certification and advances to the professional level. ## Instructions ### 1. Identify the role, not the job title Sort the person by what they will do on a Claude engagement: | What the person does | Credential | |---|---| | Practical, everyday use of Claude on Claude-related projects — consultants, project leads, business and technical roles alike | **Claude Certified Associate: Foundations** | | Builds applications with Claude — the Claude API, tool use, agent development | **Claude Certified Developer: Foundations** | | Designs and builds agent systems with Claude | **Claude Certified Architect: Foundations** | | Integration architecture, governance, and evaluation at large-enterprise scale | **Claude Certified Architect: Professional** | Full descriptions of each credential, including which are new in this expansion, are in [references/credentials.md](references/credentials.md). Job titles travel badly across firms. A "senior consultant" at one firm does everyday Claude work; at another they architect agent systems. Sort by the work. ### 2. Start at foundation level, then advance Every path to getting credentialed starts with a foundation-level certification and advances to the professional level. So: - A person new to the program sits a **Foundations** exam matching their role first. - **Claude Certified Architect: Professional** is the advanced credential — reach it after the foundation level, not instead of it. Do not plan a team entirely at professional level. The program is built as a progression. ### 3. Check eligibility and prepare - Exams are available to **members of the Claude Partner Network**. If the firm is not a member, joining is the first step — membership is free, and firms register practitioners at . - Certification **preparation courses for each credential** are available in the Anthropic Partner Academy, the free training platform for partners. ### 4. Plan for how the exam is actually delivered Every exam is proctored — taken under supervision — and delivered through Pearson Professional Assessments. Test takers must validate their identity before beginning. Passing produces a digital badge through Credly by Pearson. That means scheduling, identity documents, and a supervised environment are part of the plan, not afterthoughts. See [references/exam-logistics.md](references/exam-logistics.md). ### 5. Work backward from a firm-level target When a firm has committed to a certification number, turn the number into a mix: 1. Count the people in each of the four role buckets from step 1. 2. Assign each bucket its foundation-level credential. 3. Identify who advances to Architect: Professional — the people doing integration architecture, governance, and evaluation for large-scale deployments. 4. Sequence against the next Claude Partner Network tier review date, since certified practitioner counts feed tier standing. Named commitments across the partner network, and what tier standing requires, are listed in the companion skill's reference material and in [references/exam-logistics.md](references/exam-logistics.md). ## Examples Worked role-to-credential mappings, including mixed teams and firm-level targets, are in [examples/role-mapping-scenarios.md](examples/role-mapping-scenarios.md). Short form: - **A project lead running a Claude rollout for a client, writing no code.** Everyday practical use of Claude on a Claude-related project → **Associate: Foundations**. The credential explicitly spans non-technical roles. - **An engineer wiring Claude into an internal service with tool use.** Building applications with Claude, the Claude API, tool use, agent development → **Developer: Foundations**. - **A solution architect designing a multi-agent system for one business unit.** Designs and builds agent systems → **Architect: Foundations**. - **The same architect a year later, owning integration architecture and governance for a 20,000-seat deployment.** Advances from the foundation level to **Architect: Professional**. - **A boutique firm certifying its whole delivery team.** Split the team into the four buckets, everyone sits a Foundations exam first, and only the people who own enterprise-scale integration, governance, and evaluation continue to Professional. ## Source ["Four role-based certifications for the people who put Claude to work for customers"](https://claude.com/blog/four-role-based-claude-certifications) — Anthropic, July 23, 2026.