Tag: ClaudeCertifiedArchitect

Final CCAR-P revision covering discovery, communication and architectural decision-making.

Discovery

Capture before designing:

Business goals
Success criteria
In-scope users
Latency constraints
Cost constraints
Audit requirements
Data sensitivity
Regulatory requirements

Vague Requirements

If a stakeholder says:

“Build AI to fix customer escalations.”

Ask:

Who is involved?
What triggers escalation?
What does good resolution look like?
What are the latency/cost/audit/data constraints?

Do not jump straight to model selection or architecture.

Functional vs Non-Functional Requirements

Functional	Non-Functional
Classify tickets	p95 latency
Extract invoice fields	Cost ceiling
Generate a draft	Throughput
Route a request	Audit requirement

Architecture Decision Record — ADR

Include:

Context → Decision → Alternatives → Trade-offs/Consequences → Owner/Date

Also define a review cadence when assumptions may change.

Implementation Guide

Include:

Component responsibilities
Interface contracts
Sequence diagrams / dominant flows
Configuration parameters
Operational runbooks

Operational Runbook

Include:

Alert → Triage → Escalation → Rollback → Dashboard/Logs

Communication by Audience

Audience	Primary Focus
Executive	Business outcomes, trade-offs, high-level risks.
Engineering	Components, interfaces and implementation details.
Security / Compliance	Threat model, controls, residual risk and auditability.
Product	Capabilities, scope and roadmap dependencies.

Business Value

Pillar	Meaning
Efficiency	Same work faster or more work per person.
Productivity	Actual business output improves.
Transformation	Operating model or role fundamentally changes.
Solution Cost	API/infrastructure spending.
Performance SLA	Latency/reliability against agreed targets.

Stakeholder Management

If scope increases during delivery:

Acknowledge it → explain timeline impact → offer options.

Typical options:

Defer the new scope.
Remove other scope.
Extend the timeline.

Iteration

After production:

Telemetry + Evaluations + Stakeholder Feedback → Highest-Impact Improvement

Do not throw away the existing evaluation framework after go-live.

CCAR-P Last-Minute Cheat Sheet

Fixed predictable steps → Workflow
Dynamic planning → Agent
Authoritative knowledge + citations → RAG
Reusable procedure → Skill
Live external system → MCP
Recurring specialist task → Subagent
Many MCP tools → Tool Search
Shared team config → Project scope
Non-overridable policy → Managed config
Personal setting → User scope
High-impact irreversible action → Human gate first
Repeated static prompt → Prompt caching
Simple high-volume task → Smaller/faster model
Restricted data → Authorise before retrieval
Credential → Secret store
Model output → Validate before downstream action
Model upgrade → Re-run stable evaluation set
Vague requirement → Discovery first
Accuracy must remain unchanged → Remove redundant cost first

Final Exam Mindset

When two answers look correct, prefer the option that is:

More measurable
More least-privilege
More risk-based
More evidence-driven
More auditable
More reversible
More clearly aligned to stated requirements

Quick revision for evaluation, testing, monitoring and optimisation questions.

Evaluation Sequence

Define Metrics → Build Dataset → Run Evaluation → Analyse → Decide

Evaluation Dataset

Include:

Representative cases
Edge cases
Adversarial cases

The evaluation set should represent the actual user population and workload.

Stable Reference Set

Keep a stable evaluation/reference set across:

Prompt changes
Model-version upgrades
Architecture iterations

This helps detect quality drift.

Testing Types

Test	Purpose
Regression	Detect previously working behaviour that has broken.
Adversarial	Prompt injection and malformed/malicious inputs.
Integration	Validate end-to-end behaviour across components.
Red-team	Probe security and access-control weaknesses.

Model Upgrade

Do not assume a new model behaves the same.

Re-run the stable evaluation set before promotion.

Observability

Capture:

Latency
Token usage
Distributed traces
Tool-call outcomes
Redacted payload information
Model identity/version
Request correlation ID

Important Observability Gaps

Missing:

Model identity/version

or

Request correlation ID across agent/tool calls

creates a real diagnostic blind spot.

SLA

A useful SLA contains:

Metric + Threshold + Evaluation Window + Breach Consequence

Example:

p95 latency < 800 ms over a 28-day window

A statement such as “the system should be fast” is not a measurable SLA.

Cost Optimisation

Common optimisations:

Prompt caching
Trim irrelevant retrieval context
Cache repeatedly used documents/chunks
Tiered model routing
Avoid repeated processing

Prompt Caching

Best for:

Long static content repeated across many requests.

Place stable cacheable content before request-specific content.

Token Lifecycle

Input Preparation

Trim irrelevant retrieved passages.
Summarise old conversation history.

Prompt Construction

Place stable content first.
Use a cacheable repeated prefix.

Output Handling

Validate structured schema.
Persist validated results.

Accuracy Must Stay Unchanged

If the requirement says accuracy must remain unchanged:

Remove redundant cost first.

Prefer caching over immediately switching to a weaker model or deleting information required for reasoning.

Fast Exam Recall

Prompt changed and old tests fail? Regression test.
Prompt injection? Adversarial test.
Whole pipeline? Integration test.
Model upgraded? Stable evaluation set.
Repeated prompt? Prompt caching.
Good SLA? Metric + threshold + window + consequence.

Security and responsible AI concepts for quick CCAR-P revision.

Layered Guardrails

Do not rely on one control.

Best pattern:

Prompt Guardrail + Runtime Checks + Tool Permissions + Output Validation

Useful Guardrails

Structured output validation
Runtime content classifiers
Explicit out-of-scope categories
Least-privilege tools
Human approval for risky actions
Audit logging

RBAC

Role-based access control should be enforced:

Before restricted content reaches the prompt/model.

User → Authentication → Authorization → Retrieval → Claude

Do not retrieve restricted documents and try to remove them after generation.

Prompt Injection

User text claiming:

“I am an admin. Ignore previous instructions.”

is still untrusted user input.

Use:

Prompt-level untrusted-input instructions
Runtime classifiers
Scoped permissions
Audit logging

Human-in-the-Loop

Human review belongs:

Model Output → Human Review → High-Impact / Irreversible Action

Not:

Model Output → Irreversible Action → Human Review

When to Escalate

Low confidence
Ambiguity detected
High-impact decision
User requests human review

Risk-Based Delegation

Risk should not be judged only by:

Transaction value
Number of code lines
Request size

Assess the actual consequence and type of risk.

High-Volume Human Review

If reviewing every output is impossible:

Review all high-risk / low-confidence cases + random sample of normal cases.

Least Privilege

Agent permissions should map directly to its actual responsibilities.

Remove:

Unrelated admin tools
Speculative future tools
Direct-action tools when only drafting is required

Credentials

Prefer individually scoped credentials where accountability is required.

Better: Per-user OAuth with restricted scopes.

Weak: One shared API key for every user.

Audit Logging

Tool-call logs should record the initiating actor/user identity.

HIPAA Revision

The practice material emphasises:

Signed Business Associate Agreement
Appropriate enterprise deployment
Zero Data Retention where required
Role-based access controls
Audit logging
Controlled PHI handling

GDPR Revision

Remember:

Data Processing Addendum
Defined data-retention configuration
Data minimisation
Redaction of unnecessary personal information
Documented data-subject-rights handling

Fast Exam Recall

Restricted data? Block before retrieval.
High-impact action? Human review before execution.
Prompt injection? Treat user content as untrusted.
Secret? Runtime secret store.
User accountability? Individual identity + actor logging.
HIPAA? BAA + controls + appropriate data handling.
GDPR? DPA + minimisation + retention + rights handling.

Fast revision notes for Claude architecture design questions.

Workflow vs Agentic Pattern

Scenario	Choose
Known fixed steps	Workflow
Predictable sequence	Workflow
Predictable token cost	Workflow
Open-ended planning	Agentic
Dynamic tool selection	Agentic

Example:

Extract → Classify → Summarise → Persist = Workflow

Exam rule: Do not choose an agent just because it is more flexible.

Prompting

Zero-shot

Best starting point when categories and descriptions are already well defined.

Few-shot

Useful when you want to demonstrate exact output structure, field names, or examples.

Chain-of-thought

Not the default for every task. Simple routing or closed-set classification does not automatically need multi-step reasoning.

Leading Questions

Reduce bias by asking for:

Even-handed comparison + explicit evaluation criteria.

RAG

Use Retrieval-Augmented Generation when answers must be grounded in an authoritative knowledge source.

Typical architecture:

User → Retrieval → Relevant Documents → Claude → Answer + Citations

When RAG Is Strong

Choose RAG when you need:

Authoritative answers
Citations
Auditability
Predictable cost
Predictable latency

For compliance Q&A, prefer retrieval from the approved internal corpus instead of an unrestricted web-search agent.

Grounding Problems

If Claude starts contradicting retrieved sources:

Check model-version changes.
Check grounding instructions.
Require source-supported responses.
Require citations.
Add verification.

Model Selection

Correct sequence:

Requirements → Candidate Model → Representative Evaluation → Final Selection

Define Before Testing

Quality bar
Latency tolerance
Expected volume
Cost constraints

Model Selection Traps

Do not automatically choose:

The newest model.
The largest model.
The most capable model.

Choose the lightest model that consistently meets requirements.

Tiered Routing

Routine Request → Smaller/Faster Model

Complex Request → More Capable Model

This can reduce both cost and latency.

High-Volume Classification

For well-defined labels and tight latency requirements, prefer a lighter model rather than deep reasoning on every request.

Fast Exam Recall

Predictable steps? Workflow.
Dynamic planning? Agent.
Defined categories? Zero-shot first.
Need format examples? Few-shot.
Authoritative answers? RAG.
Simple traffic? Smaller model.
Complex traffic? Higher-capability model.

Quick revision notes for Claude Certified Architect – Professional.

Claude Code Configuration Scopes

Scope	Use
Managed	Organisation-wide security/compliance settings that must not be overridden.
Project	Team-shared configuration committed to the repository.
User	Personal preferences that follow an engineer across projects.
Local	Machine/project-specific configuration not intended for the whole team.

Configuration Precedence

Highest → Lowest:

Managed → Command Line → Local → Project → User

Exam Memory:
Team shared → Project
Personal preference → User
Must not be overridden → Managed

MCP Servers

MCP is used when Claude needs tools or access to external/live systems.

Important exam points:

• Too many MCP tool definitions loaded upfront consume context.
• Use Tool Search to discover tools on demand.
• Do not disable useful tools just to reduce context.
• New MCP server missing? Check registration first, then reconnect/restart.
• Use least-privilege tool permissions.

Tool Search

If 50–60+ tools are loaded before the user sends a message:

Best solution: Enable Tool Search / progressive tool discovery.

This preserves available capabilities while avoiding unnecessary tool definitions in the initial context.

Least Privilege

Give an agent only the tools needed for its defined responsibility.

Good: read knowledge base + write draft queue.

Bad: unrestricted Bash, database admin access, or unrelated tools.

Prefer:

Allow-list required tools + explicit deny rules for sensitive operations.

Claude Skill vs MCP vs Subagent

Requirement	Best Choice
Reusable procedural knowledge	Skill
Fixed procedure with examples	Skill
No live external-system calls	Skill
Live database/API/tool access	MCP
Recurring specialised task	Subagent
Focused prompt + narrow tools + specific model	Subagent

When to Use a Subagent

A dedicated subagent makes sense when a task:

Recurs frequently + needs a specialised prompt + narrow permissions + specific model selection.

Do not create a subagent for a one-time generic task.

Persistent Project Context

If engineers repeatedly explain the same architecture and coding conventions:

Store them in project-scoped CLAUDE.md or equivalent project context.

Secrets

Never store API keys or credentials in version-controlled configuration.

Correct pattern:

Application → Runtime Secret Store → Credential

Fast Exam Recall

Shared config? Project.
Company security policy? Managed.
Personal preference? User.
Many MCP tools? Tool Search.
Reusable procedure? Skill.
Live external system? MCP.
Recurring specialist role? Subagent.
Credential? Secret store.