CertiDomain 110–15%
Processes and communications
One flow of work, visible metrics, and a notification path.
- GitHub Flow, feedback, GitHub Projects, Azure Boards
- Lead time, cycle time, time to recovery
- Wikis, Mermaid, webhooks, Teams
Study guide · Exam overview
DevOps Engineer Expert: what AZ-400 expects
The format, passing score, prerequisite, and five content domains of Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert, updated for skills measured as of July 27, 2026.
Exam version notice: This overview follows the Microsoft study guide for Exam AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions, skills measured as of July 27, 2026. The exam code remains AZ-400. This page prepares for the published AZ-400 objectives; other DevOps credentials have their own requirements. The July 27, 2026 change log lists minor updates to traceability, security scanning, and monitoring, and no change to the audience profile or the five domain names. A score of 700 or greater is required. Pricing, languages, and delivery options can change. Confirm them on the Microsoft certification site before you register. Items tagged Extra are useful context that the study guide does not name as a measured skill. Associate administration is on the AZ-104 overview. The current developer associate exam on this site is the AI-200 overview.
What DevOps Engineer Expert covers
Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert checks whether you can design and implement the flow of work, source control, and automation that deliver software continuously. The work is concrete: connect a board to a repository, protect main, choose GitHub Actions or Azure Pipelines, version a package, gate a release, keep a secret out of the log, and prove a bad deploy with telemetry. About half the scored content is build and release pipelines.
Microsoft describes the candidate as a developer or infrastructure administrator who also works with people, processes, and products. You are expected to have administered and developed in Azure, with strength in at least one of those, and to have implemented both GitHub and Azure DevOps. The exam is role-based. Naming a product is not enough if you cannot say when the neighboring product is the wrong choice.
Who it is for
- Engineers who ship through GitHub or Azure DevOps and own the pipeline, not only the application code
- Administrators moving from day-to-day Azure work into release, IaC, and feedback loops
- People who can choose a branch policy, a feed view, a managed identity, and a KQL filter for a specific constraint
What the exam verifies
- How work, metrics, wikis, webhooks, and Teams keep a team on one flow
- How trunk, feature, and release branches, plus large-file and history tactics, keep Git usable
- How packages, tests, YAML, deployment patterns, and IaC make a release repeatable
- How identities, secrets, and scanners keep automation from leaking or shipping known risk
- How Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and basic KQL explain what the release did
Exam format and passing score
Figures below come from the AZ-400 certification page, the study guide, and Microsoft’s exam-duration guidance reviewed on October 28, 2026.
| Specification | AZ-400 |
|---|---|
| Level | Expert, role-based. The credential is Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert. You must also hold Azure Administrator Associate or Azure Developer Associate. Passing AZ-400 alone does not award the expert credential. |
| Length of test | Microsoft lists 100 minutes of exam time and 120 minutes of seat time for associate/expert exams without labs, or 120 and 140 minutes for those that may contain labs. Microsoft does not publish a fixed lab-exam list. Use the duration on your AZ-400 registration. |
| Number of questions | Microsoft does not publish a fixed count on the AZ-400 page. Most certification exams contain about 40 to 60 questions, and the count can change. Do not treat a practice length as the live exam length. |
| Passing score | 700 or greater on a scale of 1 to 1,000. A scaled score is not the percentage of questions you answered correctly. |
| Recommended experience | Administering and developing in Azure, with strength in at least one, plus hands-on GitHub and Azure DevOps. |
| Exam price | Price depends on the country or region where the exam is proctored. Confirm the current fee when you schedule. |
| Validity | Expert certifications expire annually. Renew at no cost with an online assessment on Microsoft Learn. Confirm the current window before you rely on it. |
| Delivery | Schedule through Pearson VUE. English was updated on July 27, 2026. Other languages follow later. No retirement date is displayed on the certification page as reviewed on October 28, 2026; recheck before booking. |
A blank answer earns no credit. Microsoft exams do not subtract extra points for a wrong answer, so answer every question. If the exam is not offered in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes. Request accommodations before you sit if you need them. After a failed attempt you can retake the exam 24 hours later. Later retakes wait longer. Confirm the current retake policy with Microsoft.
AZ-400 domains and weighting
These ranges are the share of scored content in the study guide as of July 27, 2026. The 200 practice questions use shares inside those ranges that add to 100 percent: 12%, 12%, 52%, 14%, and 10%.
- Design and implement processes and communications10–15%
- Design and implement a source control strategy10–15%
- Design and implement build and release pipelines50–55%
- Develop a security and compliance plan10–15%
- Implement an instrumentation strategy5–10%
Domain 210–15%
Source control
The branch model and the history you can still trust.
- Trunk, feature, and release branches
- Pull requests, branch policies, protection rules
- Git LFS, Scalar, tags, history repair
Domain 350–55%
Build and release pipelines
The largest domain. Packages, tests, YAML, deploy patterns, and IaC.
- GitHub Packages, Azure Artifacts, SemVer, CalVer
- GitHub Actions, Azure Pipelines, templates, environments
- Blue-green, canary, slots, feature flags, Bicep
Domain 410–15%
Security and compliance
Who the pipeline is, where secrets live, and what the scanner blocks.
- Managed identities, service principals, GitHub Apps
- Key Vault, federation, secure files
- CodeQL, Dependabot, Defender for Cloud DevOps
Domain 55–10%
Instrumentation
The smallest domain, and the one that explains a green pipeline with unhappy users.
- Azure Monitor, Application Insights, VM and Container Insights
- GitHub insights and pipeline alerts
- Distributed tracing and basic KQL
Tasks to recognize
The study guide names configuration tasks more often than product slogans. Learn the paired choices first. The same map is in the core notes and flashcards.
| Need | Choose | Remember |
|---|---|---|
| Short-lived branches into one main line | GitHub Flow or trunk-based development | A long-lived branch per environment is a different strategy. |
| Block direct pushes to main | Branch policy or branch protection | A wiki note does not enforce the rule. |
| Large binary without bloating every clone | Git LFS or git-fat | Deleting the file in a new commit leaves the old blob in history. |
| Workflow beside a GitHub repository | GitHub Actions | Azure Pipelines is the closer fit when environments and Azure DevOps services are the platform. |
| Compatible feature versus a breaking change | SemVer minor versus major | CalVer encodes a date. It does not encode compatibility. |
| Two full environments, then a cutover | Blue-green | A canary exposes a small slice first. A slot swap is the App Service form of a prepared cutover. |
| Toggle behavior without a new build | Azure App Configuration Feature Manager | A flag does not remove the need for a rollback if the default is unsafe. |
| Azure deploy with no stored secret | Managed identity or workload identity federation | A personal access token in a variable group is the distractor. |
| Known-bad dependency before release | Dependency scanning or Dependabot alerts | CodeQL analyzes your code. Secret scanning looks for credentials already committed. |
| Extra A full platform-engineering catalog | Azure Deployment Environments | The exam names governed self-service environments. It does not ask you to design an internal developer portal product strategy. |
How AZ-400 questions are written
Microsoft says the exam may include interactive components and points you to an exam sandbox so you can try the interface before you sit. Labs can appear and can also be removed. This site's bank contains 200 original single-answer multiple-choice questions with four options each. It does not reproduce the live exam's item mix, labs, or scoring. Use the official sandbox to explore the exam interface.
A typical stem gives a constraint and asks for the first or best action. The package consumers may take only versions that passed scanning. Main must not accept a direct push. The pipeline must reach Azure without a client secret. Distractors are nearby features that solve a different problem. Git LFS is not a secret purge. A slot swap is not a database rollback. A green pipeline is not an application trace.
There is no published extra penalty for a wrong guess. A blank answer earns nothing. On a timed practice exam, answer every item, then use the review to see which domain actually needs work. Spend extra time on pipelines. They are half the guide.
How to plan your AZ-400 study
A practical sequence if your daily work is only one of GitHub or Azure DevOps.
- Map the five domains. Read this overview and the domain cards, then skim the core notes once without memorizing every task name.
- Build one pipeline in YAML. Protect main, publish a versioned package, fail the run on a test and on a scanner, and deploy through an environment check.
- Drill the pairs. Use the flashcards until you can say Actions versus Pipelines, SemVer versus CalVer, and managed identity versus a personal access token without hesitating.
- Take timed practice. Run mixed-domain practice exams, then focus sessions on domains below 75% on your score report. Do not skip instrumentation because it is the smallest range.
- Confirm the live guide. Re-open the Microsoft study guide before you book in case weights or bullets moved again after July 27, 2026. Confirm the prerequisite list the same day.
Build readiness from evidence, not repeated scores
Use the five guided labs to connect these objectives with observable results. For each domain, explain one working design and one failure case. Keep a short error log: what the question required, the clue you missed, why your answer failed, and the test that would separate it from the correct answer.
Before a mixed practice session, check that you can trace a work item to a commit, restore a file without rewriting shared history, pick a deployment pattern from a downtime constraint, and write a KQL filter for failed requests after a release. For security, explain why deleting a secret in a new commit is not removal.
Review all five objective areas even when one has a smaller percentage range. A short practice set cannot sample every subtopic. Correct answers after several repetitions can reflect memory of the options rather than transferable understanding. Change the scenario in your own words, for example from GitHub Actions to Azure Pipelines, and explain which control keeps the same job.
The official passing score of 700 is a scaled score, not a claim that 70% on this site predicts a pass. This site's score is the percentage of selected questions answered correctly. Use it to locate topics to revisit, then check the current Microsoft guide and official practice assessment before deciding when to schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What score do I need to pass AZ-400?
A score of 700 or greater is required to pass. Microsoft reports scores on a scale of 1 to 1,000. A scaled score is not the percentage of questions you answered correctly.
How long is the AZ-400 exam?
Microsoft lists 100 minutes of exam time without labs, or 120 minutes for associate/expert exams that may contain labs; seat time is 120 or 140 minutes respectively. Confirm your AZ-400 registration duration. Microsoft does not publish a fixed question count or lab-exam list.
Which skills does AZ-400 measure?
As of July 27, 2026 the study guide measures five areas: processes and communications (10–15%); source control (10–15%); build and release pipelines (50–55%); security and compliance (10–15%); and instrumentation (5–10%).
Which exam version does this study path cover?
This path follows AZ-400 for Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert and the skills measured as of July 27, 2026. Other DevOps credentials have their own requirements. No retirement date is displayed on the AZ-400 certification page as reviewed on October 28, 2026; confirm the live requirements before booking.
What certification do I need before DevOps Engineer Expert is awarded?
Microsoft says you must earn Azure Administrator Associate or Azure Developer Associate, and pass AZ-400. You can pass AZ-400 first, but the expert credential is awarded only when a prerequisite is also met. Exam AZ-204 retired on July 31, 2026. An active Azure Developer Associate credential still meets the published prerequisite. The DevOps Engineer Expert page reviewed on October 28, 2026 does not list AI-200. Confirm the live list before you rely on a developer exam as a substitute.
Does this page include real Microsoft exam questions?
No. The practice questions on this site are original. They are not Microsoft exam items, and a practice score does not predict a result.
Official exam source
Exam versions, objectives, prices, languages, prerequisites, and retirement dates can change. Verify the details on the Microsoft Learn certification page before you register. The AZ-400 study guide lists the skills measured as of July 27, 2026. Exam and seat time are described in Microsoft’s exam duration guidance.
Continue the Azure DevOps Engineer study path
Read the notes, then practice under a timer.
Overview
Exam format, the 700 passing score, domain weights, and a study plan.
Core Notes
Reference notes for flow of work, Git, pipelines, security, and instrumentation.
Flashcards & Memory Notes
50 recall cards in five decks, plus memory notes for pipelines, identity, and telemetry.
Practice Exams
200 original questions with custom exams, explanations, and a score report by domain.
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