Azure DevOps Engineer Expert

Exam format

Microsoft logo

Azure DevOps Engineer Expert Exam Format

AZ-400

Everything the official exam blueprint specifies: question count, time limit, scoring and the weight each domain carries. The Azure DevOps Engineer Expert certification validates comprehensive skills in designing and implementing DevOps solutions on Microsoft Azure. This role combines people, processes, and technology to enable continuous delivery of business value. Candidates must demonstrate deep understanding of source control, build automation, release management, security compliance, and telemetry. The exam emphasizes Azure Pipelines heavily, requiring practical knowledge of YAML, multi-stage deployments, and modern deployment strategies. Success in this certification proves that a candidate can drive transformation and operate production-grade DevOps workflows at enterprise scale.

50 questions
120 min
70% to pass
5 domains

Exam facts at a glance

The published specifications for this certification.

SpecificationValue
Questions50
Time limit120 minutes (144s per question)
Passing score70% — 700 or greater (on a scale of 1 to 1,000)
Domains5
LevelExpert
Question bank here50 questions
Published formatNot published by the provider; duration confirmed at registration (Microsoft's table lists 100 or 120 minutes depending on labs)
SourceOfficial exam specification, published by the vendor

Official domain weights

The percentage of the exam each domain carries. Weight your revision by these numbers, not by what you find hardest.

DomainWeightTopicsPractice Qs
Implement an instrumentation strategy8%
  • Define and implement application telemetry and custom metrics
  • Integrate Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and Log Analytics
  • Configure alerts, dashboards, and monitoring for DevOps pipelines
  • +2 more
3
Develop a security and compliance plan13%
  • Design and implement pipeline security, permissions, and service connections
  • Manage secrets, certificates, and Azure Key Vault integration
  • Implement secure software development practices and compliance policies
  • +2 more
6
Design and implement a source control strategy13%
  • Plan and implement branching, merging, and pull request workflows
  • Configure repository permissions, branch policies, and approvals
  • Design a Git strategy including trunk-based, feature, and release flows
  • +2 more
6
Design and implement build and release pipelines53%
  • Design and implement Azure Pipelines using YAML and classic pipelines
  • Configure pipeline triggers, variables, templates, and multi-stage stages
  • Implement continuous integration, test automation, and code quality gates
  • +5 more
29
Design and implement processes and communications13%
  • Design and implement Agile work management in Azure Boards
  • Configure work item types, areas, iterations, and process templates
  • Integrate Azure Boards with GitHub and external issue tracking systems
  • +2 more
6

The heaviest domain is Implement an instrumentation strategy at 8%, and that is where lost points cost you the most. Certilum scores you per domain so you can see the difference between a knowledge gap and a formatting problem.

Note from the vendor record: No retirement date; English version updated 2026-07-27. Prerequisite for the DevOps Engineer Expert credential: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) or Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204 - retired 2026-07-31, so that path is closed). Renewal every 12 months via free assessment; question count not published. Official exam page

More about the Azure DevOps Engineer Expert exam

Explore the rest of this page series: format, cost, difficulty, requirements and how to prepare.

Related certifications

Explore other certifications in the same category and see how they stack up.

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about the Azure DevOps Engineer Expert exam.