Anthropic's Free Courses: The Claude Academy Checklist
TL;DR
Anthropic teaches Claude for free on Claude Academy (academy.claude.com). Below are the 4 courses from the video with official links, the rest of the Claude Code track, and a copy-paste checklist to work through them in order. The courses are free. The official Claude certification exams are paid ($99 to $175) and right now are only open to people at Claude Partner Network companies.
👉 https://www.skool.com/claudecodeclub
Where Anthropic's free courses live
Anthropic's course hub is now called Claude Academy, at academy.claude.com. The old anthropic.com/learn link sends you there. Anthropic describes it as free AI education, and it lists 27 courses today. The older Anthropic Academy site on Skilljar still works and marks its courses FREE.
The official course list from Anthropic. Filter by product or role.
The 4 courses from the video
These are the four courses named in the reel, in the order we would take them.
14 lessons, 1 quiz, about 4 hr. How to work with AI using the 4D framework: Delegation, Description, Discernment, Diligence.
13 lessons, 1 quiz, about 2.5 hr. Your first chat, good prompts, projects, artifacts, skills and connected tools.
9 lessons, 1 quiz, about 1 hr. Long, hands-off Claude Code sessions: plan mode, CLAUDE.md, skills, hooks, routines, the GitHub action.
10 lessons, 1 quiz, about 1 hr. Build your own MCP servers and clients in Python: tools, resources and prompts.
The rest of the Claude Code track
- Claude Code 101 - 12 lessons, about 1.5 hr. What Claude Code is and the core workflows. academy.claude.com/courses/claude-code-101
- Introduction to agent skills - 6 lessons, about 1 hr. Build, configure and share skills. academy.claude.com/courses/introduction-to-agent-skills
- Introduction to subagents - 4 lessons, about 45 min. Split big tasks across parallel subagents. academy.claude.com/courses/introduction-to-subagents
- Model Context Protocol: Advanced topics - 11 lessons, 1 quiz. Sampling, notifications, roots and transports. academy.claude.com/courses/model-context-protocol-advanced-topics
- Building with the Claude API - 67 lessons, 8 quizzes, about 9 hr. Prompting, tool use, RAG, agents and production patterns. academy.claude.com/courses/building-with-the-claude-api
Copy this study checklist
Paste it into your notes app and tick it off. Times are Anthropic's own estimates.
checklistANTHROPIC FREE COURSES - STUDY CHECKLIST
Home: https://academy.claude.com
WEEK 1: FOUNDATIONS
[ ] AI Fluency: Framework and Foundations (~4 hr)
https://academy.claude.com/courses/ai-fluency-framework-foundations
[ ] Claude 101 (~2.5 hr)
https://academy.claude.com/courses/claude-101
WEEK 2: CLAUDE CODE
[ ] Claude Code 101 (~1.5 hr)
https://academy.claude.com/courses/claude-code-101
[ ] Claude Code in Action (~1 hr)
https://academy.claude.com/courses/claude-code-in-action
[ ] Introduction to agent skills (~1 hr)
https://academy.claude.com/courses/introduction-to-agent-skills
[ ] Introduction to subagents (~45 min)
https://academy.claude.com/courses/introduction-to-subagents
WEEK 3: BUILD YOUR OWN MCP SERVERS
[ ] Introduction to Model Context Protocol (~1 hr)
https://academy.claude.com/courses/introduction-to-model-context-protocol
[ ] Model Context Protocol: Advanced topics
https://academy.claude.com/courses/model-context-protocol-advanced-topics
BONUS: BUILDING ON THE API
[ ] Building with the Claude API (~9 hr)
https://academy.claude.com/courses/building-with-the-claude-apiThe certification exam: what is paid and who can take it
The courses are free. The official Claude certification exams are paid. Anthropic's free courses are listed as prep for them, and Anthropic says the Architect Foundations prep courses cover the exam domains.
- Claude Certified Associate - Foundations: $99 USD
- Claude Certified Developer - Foundations: $125 USD
- Claude Certified Architect - Foundations: $125 USD
- Claude Certified Architect - Professional: $175 USD
- Prices are before any partner discount. A retake costs the full fee again.
- 120 minutes, multiple choice and multiple response, closed book. Pass mark 720 on a 100 to 1,000 scale.
- Taken online with a proctor or at a Pearson test center. The certification is valid for 12 months.
Prices, exam guides and prep courses for all four certifications.
👉 https://www.skool.com/claudecodeclub
Common questions
Are Anthropic's courses really free?
Yes. Anthropic calls Claude Academy free AI education, and the courses on its Skilljar site are marked FREE. The certification exams are the paid part.
How much is the Claude certification exam?
Between $99 and $175 USD per attempt: Associate $99, Developer Foundations $125, Architect Foundations $125, Architect Professional $175. Those are prices before partner discounts, and a retake is the full fee.
Can anyone take the Claude certification exam?
Not right now. Anthropic says certification is only available to people at Claude Partner Network companies, and you register with a partner company email. The courses are open to everyone.
Which Anthropic course should I start with?
AI Fluency: Framework and Foundations or Claude 101 if you are new to Claude. If you already use Claude Code, go to Claude Code 101 and then Claude Code in Action.
Is there a course on building MCP servers?
Yes. Introduction to Model Context Protocol teaches you to build MCP servers and clients in Python, and Model Context Protocol: Advanced topics covers sampling, notifications, roots and transports.
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