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Domain 1: Agentic Architecture & Orchestration (27%)

7 lessons, each ending with a practice scenario

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  1. ✓1.1 — Agentic LoopsOn its own, Claude answers one request with one response. To act, such as looking up an order, it needs tools: functions in your code that you describe to Claude in the request. Claude does not run a tool you define. When it needs one, its response asks for the call, and your code runs the function and sends the result back. An agent is Claude, its tools and the code that keeps this exchange going.
  2. ✓1.2 — Multi-Agent OrchestrationMulti-agent orchestration is several Claude agents working together on one complex task. A coordinator agent receives the task and splits it up. Subagents each handle one specialised task. In the hub-and-spoke pattern, the coordinator is the hub and the subagents are the spokes. The coordinator's split of a task into subtopics is its decomposition.
  3. ✓1.3 — Subagent Invocation and Context PassingA coordinator is the agent that runs a multi-agent task and hands parts of it to subagents. Invocation is how it starts a subagent. Context passing is how it gives that subagent the information it needs.
  4. ✓1.4 — Workflow Enforcement and HandoffSome agent workflows have steps that must run in a set order. Prompt-based guidance sets that order with a system prompt instruction. Programmatic enforcement sets it in code: hooks, prerequisite gates or code-level checks that physically block downstream tools until their prerequisites complete.
  5. ✓1.5 — Agent SDK HooksAn Agent SDK hook is code that intercepts a tool call or a tool result. Hooks are deterministic; the model is probabilistic. Hooks sit at the boundary between the model's decisions and the real world.
  6. ✓1.6 — Task Decomposition StrategiesTask decomposition breaks complex work into pieces an agentic system can handle. Fixed Sequential Pipelines (Prompt Chaining): Each step takes the previous step's output as input. The sequence does not change based on intermediate results.
  7. ✓1.7 — Session State and ResumptionA session is one conversation with an agent that you can come back to. Session management determines how an agent keeps continuity across work sessions.
Domain recapQuick overview of all lessons

7 Task Statements / Lessons

1.1 Agentic Loops

Core idea: An agent = Claude + tools + the deterministic code that runs the loop.

Lifecycle:

  1. Send Messages API request (system + history + tool definitions)
  2. Read stop_reason
  3. "tool_use" → execute tool(s), append tool_result user message, loop
  4. "end_turn" → present final answer and stop

Key rule: stop_reason is the only reliable control signal. Never rely on:

  • Natural language completion phrases
  • Presence of text content
  • Fixed iteration limits as primary stop

Exam trap: “Stop after N iterations” is offered as a fix for premature termination — reject it. Caps are safety nets only.

1.2 Multi-Agent Orchestration

Patterns for coordinating multiple specialised agents (supervisor, hierarchical, peer-to-peer, sequential pipelines).
Decide when a single agent with tools is sufficient vs when sub-agents earn their own context.

1.3 Subagent Invocation and Context Passing

How to invoke a subagent, what context to pass, what to keep private, how results return to the parent.

1.4 Workflow Enforcement and Handoff

When to enforce deterministic business rules in code vs letting the model decide.
Handoff protocols between agents or between agent and human.

1.5 Agent SDK Hooks

Using hooks for pre/post tool execution, logging, guardrails, and custom control flow inside the Agent SDK.

1.6 Task Decomposition Strategies

Breaking complex goals into subtasks that map cleanly to agents/tools.
Avoid over-decomposition that multiplies context-switching cost.

1.7 Session State and Resumption

Persisting conversation / tool state across sessions, resuming long-running agent work, handling interrupted turns (pause_turn etc.).

Study priority: Domain 1 is the single highest-weighted area. Master the loop lifecycle and the three anti-patterns before anything else.

Next domain

Domain 2: Tool design & MCP integration →