GitHub Actions Certification (GH-200) Study Guide [112 Minute Read]

A First-Principles Approach to CI/CD Automation with GitHub Actions

Welcome! This guide builds a working mental model of GitHub Actions from the ground up — not a list of YAML keys to memorize, but the why behind the execution model, so you can reason your way through scenario questions you've never seen before. Every section starts from first principles, connects them to the knobs the exam actually tests, and flags the traps that catch experienced engineers.

Official Exam Objectives: Study guide for Exam GH-200: GitHub Actions

The GH-200 leans heavily on scenario questions: you'll read a workflow snippet or a failure description and pick the configuration, diagnosis, or fix. Expect multiple-choice and multi-select items alongside interactive ones — drag-and-drop, ordered lists, and active-screen items that ask you to complete a YAML snippet — with the January 2026 revision adding newer topics — YAML anchors, immutable actions, OIDC federation, artifact attestations, and service containers — that older prep materials often miss.

Exam details: typically 40–60 questions (Microsoft does not publish a fixed count) · 100 minutes · passing score 700/1000 · $99 USD · delivered online or in-person via Pearson VUE · no formal prerequisites (intermediate GitHub experience recommended) · annual free renewal through Microsoft Learn.

Exam Domain Weights

Nearly half the exam sits in just two domains — authoring workflows and managing Actions at enterprise scale — so those get the deepest treatment here. Security is the smallest domain by weight but punches above it: security reasoning threads through enterprise policy, action authoring, and troubleshooting questions too.