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Architecture & Workflow — CCAR-F Practice Question

A representative Claude Certified Architect - Foundations (CCAR-F) exam question on Architecture & Workflow. Work through it below, then read why each option is right or wrong.

This question is part of the free Claude Certified Architect - Foundations practice test.

Short answer

The correct answer is D. A deterministic state machine where Claude handles ambiguous extraction and explanation and code enforces transitions and approval.

The process has known stages and high-impact transitions. Deterministic orchestration creates auditability while reserving model judgment for the genuinely ambiguous steps.

The Question

A claims process has a fixed sequence and each transition must be auditable: intake, extraction, rule validation, human approval, and payment. Which architecture best fits?

AA swarm of peer agents that each vote on the payment decision, with the majority result applied automatically

BA single long prompt that asks Claude to memorize every policy rule and then follow each rule in order

CA single autonomous agent that holds unrestricted tools and decides every step of the process on its own

DA deterministic state machine where Claude handles ambiguous extraction and explanation and code enforces transitions and approvalCorrect

Why D is correct

The process has known stages and high-impact transitions. Deterministic orchestration creates auditability while reserving model judgment for the genuinely ambiguous steps.

Why the other options are wrong

Option A: A swarm of peer agents that each vote on the payment decision, with the majority result applied automatically

Option A does not satisfy the requirement in the scenario. Review the explanation above: the correct choice (D) is the only one that fully meets every constraint stated in the question.

Option B: A single long prompt that asks Claude to memorize every policy rule and then follow each rule in order

Option B does not satisfy the requirement in the scenario. Review the explanation above: the correct choice (D) is the only one that fully meets every constraint stated in the question.

Option C: A single autonomous agent that holds unrestricted tools and decides every step of the process on its own

Option C does not satisfy the requirement in the scenario. Review the explanation above: the correct choice (D) is the only one that fully meets every constraint stated in the question.

Key idea: Architecture & Workflow

The process has known stages and high-impact transitions. Deterministic orchestration creates auditability while reserving model judgment for the genuinely ambiguous steps. On the CCAR-F exam, questions in the "Agentic Architecture and Orchestration" domain test whether you can map a scenario's constraints to the right choice. Read the requirement carefully, eliminate options that violate any single constraint, and pick the one that satisfies all of them with the least operational overhead.

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