Certified Argo Project Associate (CAPA)¶
Four projects, one exam: Argo Workflows, Argo CD, Argo Rollouts, and Argo Events.
The most common preparation mistake is treating this as an Argo CD certification. Argo Workflows is the largest domain at 36%, slightly ahead of Argo CD at 34%. Together, Rollouts and Events are another 30%.
Exam Details¶
- Exam Code: CAPA
- Duration: 90 minutes
- Questions: 60, multiple choice and multiple select
- Passing Score: 75%
- Cost: USD 250, includes one free retake
- Validity: 2 years
- Prerequisites: None formal; Kubernetes fundamentals assumed
- Format: Knowledge-based, not hands-on
Full detail in the fact sheet.
Domains¶
| Domain | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Argo Workflows | 36% | 01 |
| Argo CD | 34% | 02 |
| Argo Rollouts | 18% | 03 |
| Argo Events | 12% | 04 |
How the four relate¶
They are independent projects that compose well:
- Argo Events detects that something happened and triggers Argo Workflows
- Argo Workflows runs the pipeline and commits an image tag
- Argo CD notices the commit and syncs the cluster
- Argo CD manages a Rollout resource, which performs the progressive release
You can run any one of them alone. The exam tests each separately, then occasionally tests where the boundary between them lies.
Study sequence¶
- Argo Workflows first, because it is the largest domain and the least familiar to most candidates.
- Argo CD second. If you have used it, this is your fastest domain.
- Argo Rollouts, focusing on canary steps and analysis.
- Argo Events, which is small and mostly structural.
Schedule in the practice plan.
Hands-on¶
All four install on a kind cluster in minutes. Worth building:
- A Workflow with a DAG, parameters passed between steps, and an artifact stored in MinIO
- A CronWorkflow with a TTL strategy, then check that pods are garbage collected
- An Argo CD Application with automated sync, prune, and self-heal, then cause drift
- An ApplicationSet with a list generator producing three Applications
- A Rollout with a canary strategy and a Prometheus AnalysisTemplate that fails, so you see automatic rollback
- A webhook EventSource and a Sensor that triggers a Workflow
Study resources¶
- 📖 Argo Workflows documentation - the largest domain
- 📖 Argo CD documentation
- 📖 Argo Rollouts documentation
- 📖 Argo Events documentation
- 📖 CAPA curriculum - published domains
- Practice questions - question bank in this repo
Related¶
- CGOA - the GitOps principles underneath Argo CD
- CKA - assumed Kubernetes knowledge
- CNPA - the platform engineering layer
- OTCA - the observability that Rollouts analysis depends on
- Build a CI/CD pipeline