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CCAR-P · Domain 1 of 7 · 6 lessons · about 134 min

Domain 1: Solution Design & Architecture

Designing Claude solutions: from business problem to architecture, choosing workflow or agent, multi-agent design and business value. 17% of CCAR-P.

This domain is 17% of CCAR-P, about 11 of the 63 questions. It is where an architect earns the title: turning "we want AI for claims" into a system with a defined input, a defined output and a way to learn from its mistakes.

The vocabulary: an augmented LLM is a model call given retrieval, tools and memory, the building block of everything else. A workflow runs model calls along paths your code defines in advance. An agent lets the model decide its own next step in a loop until the task is done. A multi-agent system splits work between a coordinating agent and specialised ones. Business value pillars are the outcomes a solution is judged on: efficiency, transformation, productivity, cost and performance commitments.

The recurring test: the simplest design that meets the requirement, justified by the requirement. A predictable, well-defined task wants a workflow, not an agent; a task that splits cleanly into independent parts may want parallel workers; a design is only as good as the business outcome it moves. Options that add agents, models or steps without a requirement behind them are usually the distractors.

What the exam guide tests

The official CCAR-P guide lists 6 objectives for this domain. Exam questions are written against them, and so are the lessons: each row says where it is covered.

Lessons

1. 1.1 Turning a business problem into a Claude solutionHow an architect turns a vague request into a scoped Claude solution: frame the problem, test LLM fit, choose app or build, and prove it on real data.24 min
2. 1.2 End-to-end architecture: input, processing, output and feedback loopsHow to design a Claude solution as four stages with checked boundaries, where failures and state are handled, and how to spot the stage a design is missing.21 min
3. 1.3 Augmented LLM, workflow or agent: choosing the patternHow to choose between one augmented LLM call, a workflow and an agent: the five workflow patterns, when autonomy pays off, and what frameworks hide.25 min
4. 1.4 Multi-agent systems: when to split the work and how to orchestrate itWhen several Claude agents beat one, how a lead agent briefs, budgets and merges its workers, and the orchestration choices an architect must justify.22 min
5. 1.5 Decomposition: cutting complex work into steps you can testHow to cut a complex task into steps Claude does well: where to cut, typed handoffs with provenance, gates, the human checkpoint and how many steps to use.21 min
6. 1.6 Aligning a Claude solution to business value pillarsHow to map a Claude solution to efficiency, transformation, productivity, cost and SLA pillars, with baselines, cost per outcome and stop rules.21 min

Practice question

From the CCAR-P bank, tagged to this domain. Every answer option is explained. Nothing is stored, nothing to sign up for.