- AZ-400 is Microsoft's expert-level exam for the DevOps Engineer Expert certification, priced around $165 USD in the U.S.
- Passing requires a scaled score of 700, plus holding the Azure Administrator or Azure Developer Associate certification first.
- Design and implement build and release pipelines makes up 50-55% of the exam - by far the dominant domain.
- Exam delivery is via Pearson VUE, either in a test center or through online proctoring.
What Is AZ-400, Exactly?
AZ-400 is the exam code Microsoft assigns to Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions, the exam required to earn the Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert credential. It's governed directly by Microsoft Corporation and delivered through Pearson VUE, meaning you can sit it at a physical test center or take it via online proctoring from home or your office.
Unlike associate-level Azure exams that test isolated skills, AZ-400 is explicitly an expert-level exam. It assumes you already administer or develop in Azure and asks you to combine that knowledge with practical experience implementing GitHub and Azure DevOps solutions across an entire software delivery lifecycle - from source control through build, release, security, and monitoring. If you're still deciding whether this exam fits your career path, our broader breakdown in Is the AZ-400 Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 covers the decision from multiple angles.
What AZ-400 Actually Tests
Microsoft doesn't publish a fixed public question count or a single universal duration for AZ-400 - the exact time allotted is shown to you during scheduling and again at exam launch, so don't rely on secondhand numbers you find online. What Microsoft does confirm is the exam format style: expect scenario-based items, and possibly a mix of multiple choice, multiple response, drag and drop, build list, hot area questions, case studies, and hands-on labs.
This format matters because AZ-400 rarely asks "what does this button do." It asks you to read a scenario describing a team's branching structure, deployment cadence, or compliance requirement, then choose the configuration or pipeline design that fits. If you want a full walkthrough of how tough this format actually is in practice, read How Hard Is the AZ-400 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
A passing result requires a scaled score of 700. Microsoft reports your result as a scaled score rather than a raw percentage, so you won't know exactly how many questions you missed - only whether your overall performance cleared the bar.
Registration, Format, and Fee Mechanics
Here's what actually happens when you register for AZ-400:
- Provider: Pearson VUE handles scheduling, identity verification, and delivery - whether in-person at a test center or online with a remote proctor.
- Pricing: Exam cost is tied to the country or region where you're proctored. In the United States, the commonly listed price is $165 USD, but Microsoft confirms final pricing during the scheduling process, and it can change.
- Security rules: Whether online or in-person, Microsoft enforces standard exam security protocols - ID checks, room scans for online proctoring, and restrictions on materials at your desk.
- Accommodations: Microsoft offers accommodations for candidates who need them; these must typically be arranged in advance through the scheduling system.
- Study access: Depending on current exam policies, some candidates may have access to Microsoft Learn resources tied to their exam registration.
For a complete cost picture - including how the fee compares to related certifications and what retake fees look like - see AZ-400 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Don't assume your exam price or duration matches what a blog post from last year says. Confirm both during the actual Pearson VUE scheduling flow, since Microsoft can adjust them by region and over time.
The Prerequisite You Need First
This is the detail that trips up a lot of candidates researching "what is AZ-400": passing the exam alone does not grant the certification. To officially earn Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert, you must also hold one of the following:
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, or
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate
Microsoft built AZ-400 this way because DevOps Engineer Expert is meant to sit on top of hands-on Azure competency, not replace it. If you haven't earned either associate certification yet, that's your actual starting point - not AZ-400 itself. Once that box is checked, you're clear to book AZ-400 and work toward the expert title. For a plain-language explanation of the credential itself (separate from the exam code), see AZ-400 Certification and What Is AZ-400 Certification?.
Domain-by-Domain Breakdown
The Microsoft Learn study guide organizes AZ-400 into five skills-measured domains, current as of the July 27, 2026 update. Weighting is not even - one domain dwarfs the rest, and your study plan should reflect that immediately.
Domain 1: Design and implement processes and communications (10-15%)
Covers how teams plan work, structure communication, and choose collaboration tools across the DevOps lifecycle.
- Agile/Scrum planning constructs in Azure Boards and GitHub
Domain 2: Design and implement a source control strategy (10-15%)
Focuses on branching strategies, repository structure, and migrating or integrating source control across platforms.
- Git branching models and pull request workflows
Domain 3: Design and implement build and release pipelines (50-55%)
The dominant domain by a wide margin - roughly half the exam. This is where YAML pipelines, GitHub Actions, deployment strategies, package management, testing integration, gates, and infrastructure as code all live.
- YAML-based Azure Pipelines vs. classic pipelines
- Deployment strategies: blue-green, canary, ring-based
- Pipeline maintenance, artifacts, and package feeds
Domain 4: Develop a security and compliance plan (10-15%)
Tests your ability to embed security scanning, secrets management, and compliance checks directly into the pipeline.
- Secret management with Key Vault and pipeline variable groups
Domain 5: Implement an instrumentation strategy (5-10%)
The smallest domain, covering monitoring, logging, and telemetry to close the feedback loop after release.
- Application Insights and log-based alerting
Because Domain 3 alone can represent over half the scored content, it deserves more than half your prep time. We break each domain down in far more depth in AZ-400 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas, and there are dedicated deep dives for the two heaviest areas: the build and release pipelines domain guide and the processes and communications domain guide.
| Domain | Weight | Core Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Processes and communications | 10-15% | Planning tools, team workflows |
| Source control strategy | 10-15% | Branching, repo migration |
| Build and release pipelines | 50-55% | YAML, CI/CD, IaC, deployment strategies |
| Security and compliance plan | 10-15% | Secrets, scanning, policy-as-code |
| Instrumentation strategy | 5-10% | Monitoring, telemetry, alerting |
Who Hires AZ-400-Certified Professionals
Because AZ-400 sits at the intersection of Azure infrastructure and software delivery process, the certification tends to matter most for roles like DevOps engineer, release manager, platform engineer, site reliability engineer, and senior cloud engineer positions that own CI/CD pipelines end to end. Organizations already running production workloads on Azure DevOps or GitHub Enterprise are the most likely to list it as a preferred or required credential, since the exam content maps directly onto tasks like pipeline design, artifact management, and release gating that these teams handle daily.
If you're mapping the certification to actual job postings and compensation ranges, AZ-400 Jobs and AZ-400 Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis go deeper into that specific research.
How to Sequence Your Study Time
Generic study techniques only help if they're applied against the actual weight of each AZ-400 domain. Given that Domain 3 is worth as much as the other four domains combined, a sensible sequence front-loads the smaller domains early - while your energy is highest - and reserves the largest, most technical block of time for pipelines.
Processes, Communications, and Source Control
- Cover Domain 1 and Domain 2 together since both are lighter-weight and conceptually related
- Practice branching-strategy scenario questions
Build and Release Pipelines
- Dedicate the largest single block of study time to Domain 3
- Build actual YAML pipelines and GitHub Actions workflows, not just read about them
- Practice deployment-strategy and IaC scenario questions repeatedly
Security, Compliance, and Instrumentation
- Cover Domain 4 and Domain 5
- Focus on secrets management and telemetry-based alerting scenarios
Full-Length Practice and Review
- Run full timed practice sets on ../ to simulate scenario pacing
- Revisit weak domains identified from practice results
For a more complete week-by-week study plan with resource recommendations, see AZ-400 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And if you're still calibrating how much time this whole process realistically takes, AZ-400 Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows is useful context before you lock in a date.
Renewal and Staying Current
Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert follows Microsoft's standard role-based and expert certification lifecycle: it expires annually. Renewal doesn't require retaking AZ-400 from scratch - instead, Microsoft lets you renew for free by passing an online renewal assessment through Microsoft Learn before your expiration date. This keeps the credential aligned with the platform's evolving DevOps tooling, since Azure DevOps and GitHub features shift meaningfully year over year.
Given that the skills-measured guide itself was refreshed for July 27, 2026, treat the certification as a living credential rather than a one-time achievement - the renewal assessment will reflect whatever the current domain weighting looks like at that time.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. It's an expert-level exam that requires you to already hold Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate or Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate before the DevOps Engineer Expert certification is granted.
Pricing depends on the country or region where you're proctored. In the U.S., it's commonly listed at $165 USD, though Microsoft confirms the final price during scheduling and it may change.
You need a scaled score of 700. Microsoft reports results as a scaled score rather than a raw percentage correct.
Design and implement build and release pipelines, which represents 50-55% of the exam - more than the other four domains combined.
Yes, it expires annually, but you can renew it for free by passing an online renewal assessment on Microsoft Learn before expiration.