Agentic AI Foundation announces MCPA, a Linux Foundation-administered MCP certification

The Agentic AI Foundation announced the Model Context Protocol Associate (MCPA) on July 10, describing it as the first official certification dedicated to MCP. The credential is administered through the Linux Foundation, of which the AAIF is part, and the announcement positions it as "a vendor-neutral, foundational credential" demonstrating understanding of MCP concepts, architecture, and implementation considerations.

The exam covers five domains, weighted per the Linux Foundation's listing: MCP Fundamentals (16%), Architecture & Components (14%), Interactions & Execution (26%), Security & Governance (24%), and Use Cases & Ecosystem (20%). The format is an online proctored multiple-choice exam running 120 minutes, at beginner level, with the certification valid for two years and the purchase including twelve months of exam eligibility and one retake. The listing directs candidates to the 2026-07-28 specification when preparing.

The AAIF states the certification was shaped by an advisory council with representatives from Anthropic, Google, AWS, Microsoft, Block, GitHub, and Hugging Face, among others.

One availability caveat: at the time of writing, the exam is not yet open for individual purchase. The Linux Foundation page shows a notify-me control and routes early purchase through AAIF events (AGNTCon and MCPCon) at a 20% discount, so this records as an announcement rather than an availability milestone.