AZ-400 study guide · 2026

The 5 AZ-400 domains, explained

5 domains and 16 official functional groups. Design and implement build and release pipelines carries the most weight at 50–55%. Each guide explains what the domain covers, how its questions are framed and where candidates lose marks.

Start with Domain 3 See all domains
Questions
Not published
Time
100 minutes
Passing score
700 / 1000
Outline
AZ-400 study guide, skills measured as of July 27, 2026 (current)

Exam blueprint

Bar widths follow the official weights, scaled to fit the bar. Weight ranges are drawn at their midpoint.

  1. 1 10–15%
  2. 2 10–15%
  3. 3 50–55%
  4. 4 10–15%
  5. 5 5–10%
  1. 1 Design and implement processes and communications
  2. 2 Design and implement a source control strategy
  3. 3 Design and implement build and release pipelines
  4. 4 Develop a security and compliance plan
  5. 5 Implement an instrumentation strategy

All 5 domains

16 official functional groups 64–83 hrs suggested study

  1. Domain 01 10–15%

    Design and implement processes and communications

    Planning how work flows from idea to production: GitHub Flow, linking GitHub and Azure Boards, traceability from requirement to release, flow metrics such as lead time and cycle time, and documentation and chat integrations.

    Inside this domain

    • Design and implement traceability and flow of work
    • Design and implement appropriate metrics and queries for DevOps
    • Configure collaboration and communication

    Watch for Cycle time for customers

    Functional groups
    3
    Questions est.
    ~6
    Study time est.
    8–10 hrs
  2. Domain 02 10–15%

    Design and implement a source control strategy

    Choosing a branching model, enforcing pull request quality with branch policies and protection rules, handling large files and large repositories, and recovering or purging data in Git without breaking history for the team.

    Inside this domain

    • Design and implement branching strategies for the source code
    • Configure and manage repositories

    Watch for Revert the secret

    Functional groups
    2
    Questions est.
    ~6
    Study time est.
    8–10 hrs
  3. Domain 03 50–55%

    Design and implement build and release pipelines

    The core of AZ-400: package feeds and versioning, test and quality gates, YAML pipelines in Azure Pipelines and GitHub Actions, agent and runner design, deployment patterns, infrastructure as code, and keeping pipelines fast, cheap and reliable.

    Inside this domain

    • Design and implement a package management strategy
    • Design and implement a testing strategy for pipelines
    • Design and implement pipelines
    • Design and implement deployments
    • and 2 more functional groups

    Watch for Approval in YAML

    Functional groups
    6
    Questions est.
    ~26
    Study time est.
    30–40 hrs
  4. Domain 04 10–15%

    Develop a security and compliance plan

    Securing the delivery system itself: identities and tokens for pipelines, permissions and access levels in GitHub and Azure DevOps, secrets and secretless authentication, and automated code, dependency, secret and container scanning.

    Inside this domain

    • Design and implement authentication and authorization methods
    • Design and implement a strategy for managing sensitive information in automation
    • Automate security and compliance scanning

    Watch for Shorter secret lifetime

    Functional groups
    3
    Questions est.
    ~7
    Study time est.
    12–15 hrs
  5. Domain 05 5–10%

    Implement an instrumentation strategy

    Closing the feedback loop after release: wiring Azure Monitor and Log Analytics into DevOps tools, collecting telemetry with Insights features, alerting on pipeline events, and reading metrics, traces and logs with basic KQL.

    Inside this domain

    • Configure monitoring for a DevOps environment
    • Analyze metrics from instrumentation

    Watch for Scale up for slow requests

    Functional groups
    2
    Questions est.
    ~4
    Study time est.
    6–8 hrs

Study the heaviest domains first

Marks follow weight. This order puts the most marks behind you first, across about 64–83 hrs of study.

  1. 3 Design and implement build and release pipelines 50–55% · 30–40 hrs
  2. 1 Design and implement processes and communications 10–15% · 8–10 hrs
  3. 2 Design and implement a source control strategy 10–15% · 8–10 hrs
  4. 4 Develop a security and compliance plan 10–15% · 12–15 hrs
  5. 5 Implement an instrumentation strategy 5–10% · 6–8 hrs

Try one

Practice questionDomain 3: Design and implement build and release pipelines

An Azure Pipelines YAML pipeline deploys to an Azure SQL database that has public network access disabled and is reachable only through a private endpoint in a virtual network. The team wants minimal agent maintenance. Which agent option should the deployment job use?

One trap from every domain

The answer that looks right, and the clue that gives it away.

  • Domain 1

    Cycle time for customers

    Clue The scenario says from request or from when the item was created.

  • Domain 2

    Revert the secret

    Clue A secret or key was committed and pushed.

  • Domain 3

    Approval in YAML

    Clue Approvers must sign off before production deployment.

  • Domain 4

    Shorter secret lifetime

    Clue No secrets stored in the pipeline.

  • Domain 5

    Scale up for slow requests

    Clue Resource metrics look healthy.

Other DevOps & Containers certifications

Study guides for exams that overlap with AZ-400.

Practise what you read

AZ-400 domains: common questions

How many domains are in the AZ-400 exam?

AZ-400 has 5 domains with 16 official functional groups between them: Design and implement processes and communications, Design and implement a source control strategy, Design and implement build and release pipelines, Develop a security and compliance plan and Implement an instrumentation strategy.

Which AZ-400 domain carries the most weight?

Design and implement build and release pipelines is the heaviest at 50–55%, followed by Design and implement processes and communications (10–15%). The lightest is Implement an instrumentation strategy (5–10%). Weights come from Microsoft's official outline.

What is the AZ-400 exam format?

Questions: Not published. Time allowed: 100 minutes. Passing score: 700 / 1000.

How long should I study for AZ-400?

Our planning estimate is 64–83 hrs across all domains, split by weight. It is an editorial estimate, not an official figure, so adjust it to your experience and to how you score on practice questions.

Where should I start?

Start with Design and implement build and release pipelines, because it carries the most marks, then work down by weight. Use the checklist on each domain page to confirm you can do what the domain asks before moving on.

Which outline is this guide based on?

This guide follows AZ-400 study guide, skills measured as of July 27, 2026 (current), published by Microsoft. It was last reviewed in October 2026.

Domain names, weights and functional groups come from Microsoft's official outline (AZ-400 study guide, skills measured as of July 27, 2026 (current)). Question counts and study hours are editorial planning estimates, not official figures. Last reviewed October 2026.