CCDV-F Claude API Mechanics Practice Question
A developer wants to reduce latency and costs for a high-traffic application that sends a large, static set of instructions in every request. Which API feature should they implement to achieve this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often try to implement custom caching layers at the application level instead of utilizing the built-in 'cache_control' feature, leading to higher latency and unnecessary token costs.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Prompt Caching using cache_control.
Prompt Caching is a specialized feature designed to optimize performance for repetitive content. By marking specific parts of the prompt as cacheable, developers can significantly reduce the processing time for the 'prefill' phase and take advantage of lower pricing for cached tokens. This is particularly effective for large system prompts or complex context documents.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Batch API processing.
Why it's wrong here
Batch processing is designed for asynchronous execution of many independent requests at a lower cost, but it does not reduce latency. In fact, batch processing typically has a higher turnaround time (up to 24 hours), making it unsuitable for applications requiring immediate real-time responses from the assistant.
- ✓
Prompt Caching using cache_control.
Why this is correct
Prompt Caching allows the developer to mark static content with a 'cache_control' block. When subsequent requests share the same cached prefix, Claude can skip the computation for those tokens. This reduces the time-to-first-token and provides a substantial discount on the input token costs for the cached portion.
- ✗
Top-k sampling reduction.
Why it's wrong here
Top-k sampling is a parameter that limits the model's vocabulary choices during generation. While it can influence the quality and variety of the output, it has no impact on the cost of input tokens or the latency associated with processing a large static system prompt or context window.
- ✗
System prompt compression.
Why it's wrong here
There is no native 'system prompt compression' feature in the Claude API. While manually shortening a prompt reduces token count and cost, it does not offer the performance benefits or the specific 'cached token' pricing model that the dedicated Prompt Caching feature provides for developers.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every CCDV-F question from scratch — 257 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Anthropic exam blueprint
This CCDV-F practice question is part of Courseiva's free Anthropic certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CCDV-F exam.