CNCF · Official Blueprint · Last reviewed May 2026
The official CNCF CKAD exam covers 5 domains. Domain weights tell you exactly how much of the exam each topic represents — and where to invest your study time.
Covers the topics, concepts, and applied skills examined under the Application Design and Build domain. Study the official exam objectives and practise questions in this area to build confidence and accuracy before your exam.
Covers the topics, concepts, and applied skills examined under the Application Deployment domain. Study the official exam objectives and practise questions in this area to build confidence and accuracy before your exam.
Covers the topics, concepts, and applied skills examined under the Application Observability and Maintenance domain. Study the official exam objectives and practise questions in this area to build confidence and accuracy before your exam.
Covers the topics, concepts, and applied skills examined under the Application Environment, Configuration, and Security domain. Study the official exam objectives and practise questions in this area to build confidence and accuracy before your exam.
Covers the topics, concepts, and applied skills examined under the Services and Networking domain. Study the official exam objectives and practise questions in this area to build confidence and accuracy before your exam.
The heaviest domain on the CKAD is "Application Design and Build" at null%. Start here and return to it regularly.
Allocate study time proportional to domain weight — a 25% domain deserves roughly 25% of your prep hours.
Never skip a low-weight domain. A 10% domain still represents 5–7 exam questions — enough to make the difference between pass and fail.
Use Courseiva domain analytics to track your accuracy per domain automatically. The system routes extra questions to your weak areas.
Courseiva tracks your accuracy per domain automatically and routes you toward your weakest areas — no manual configuration needed.