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GitHub Actions Quick Facts
The GitHub Actions Certification helps professionals build confidence in creating, securing, and optimizing automation. This quick guide brings together the essential details you need to prepare successfully, understand the exam focus areas, and strengthen your workflow automation expertise.
What does the GitHub Actions Certification validate?
This certification demonstrates your ability to design, build, and manage automated workflows using GitHub Actions to support enterprise-scale DevOps practices. You will learn how to author and troubleshoot workflows, create custom and reusable actions, secure automation environments, and manage runners and resources. The certification also affirms your understanding of workflow optimization and governance, giving you the skills to support efficient, compliant, and collaborative automation practices across teams and organizations.
Who should pursue the GitHub Actions Certification?
The GitHub Actions Certification is designed for DevOps engineers, developers, and IT professionals who want to prove their ability to create efficient, secure, and automated CI/CD workflows using GitHub. It’s ideal for anyone responsible for developing automation pipelines, integrating third-party services, or managing GitHub Actions across teams or enterprises. Even if you are an administrator or a student exploring modern DevOps practices, this certification provides a strong validation of your workflow automation expertise.
What is the exam code and what does it represent?
The official exam code for this certification is GH-200. This code identifies the GitHub Actions Certification within Microsoft’s certification portfolio. The exam aligns with intermediate-level skills, focusing on practical hands-on scenarios that demonstrate your ability to author, secure, and manage workflows at scale.
What professional roles benefit most from this certification?
Earning the GitHub Actions Certification can significantly enhance your prospects in roles such as:
- DevOps Engineer or Automation Engineer
- Software Developer or Build Engineer
- IT Administrator or Platform Engineer
- GitHub Enterprise Administrator
- Technical Lead or Solution Architect
Holding this certification confirms your ability to streamline development lifecycles, enforce CI/CD best practices, and improve deployment speed across projects.
How many questions are on the GH-200 exam?
The GitHub Actions Certification (GH-200) exam includes 65 questions. These are a mix of multiple-choice, multi-select, and case study-based questions designed to mirror real-life DevOps and automation challenges. Each question assesses your ability to apply knowledge, not just recall it, ensuring you can design and maintain automation workflows confidently.
How long do I have to complete the exam?
You’ll have 100 minutes to complete the exam. Time management is essential, especially for scenario questions that require analyzing complex workflow configurations. It’s best to review all questions once before submission to ensure completeness and accuracy.
What score do I need to pass?
You need a minimum score of 700 out of 1000 to pass. The exam uses a balanced scoring model—so even if you are stronger in some domains and not as much in others, your overall performance will determine your final result. A well-rounded preparation across all domains gives you the best chance of success.
How much does the GitHub Actions Certification exam cost?
The exam costs $99 USD. Pricing may slightly vary by location or local currency. For those retaking the exam, Microsoft provides clear retake policies to help learners plan another attempt quickly. It’s a worthwhile investment considering this certification’s focus on automation—the core of modern DevOps practices.
In which languages is the exam available?
The GitHub Actions Certification exam is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Korean, and Japanese. This multilingual availability ensures professionals across the globe can pursue the exam in their preferred language, aiding comprehension and comfort during testing.
What type of questions should I expect?
The exam includes a mix of multiple-choice, multi-select, and case study questions. These question types are designed to measure both conceptual understanding and applied problem solving. You may encounter interactive components that simulate real-world configurations, promoting hands-on thinking for workflow management and troubleshooting.
What topics are covered in the exam domains?
The exam domains measure your practical and theoretical knowledge across five key areas:
- Author and Manage Workflows (20–25%) – Creating and organizing YAML workflows with triggers, events, and reusable components.
- Consume and Troubleshoot Workflows (15–20%) – Interpreting logs, debugging workflows, and managing artifacts.
- Author and Maintain Actions (15–20%) – Building, versioning, and distributing actions.
- Manage GitHub Actions for the Enterprise (20–25%) – Configuring runners, policies, and governance across organizations.
- Secure and Optimize Automation (10–15%) – Pinning actions, protecting secrets, and performance optimization.
This structure ensures comprehensive coverage of both the developer and administrative aspects of GitHub Actions.
Is any prior experience required?
While there are no formal prerequisites, candidates should have intermediate experience with GitHub—particularly in building and maintaining workflows, automation scripts, and CI/CD pipelines. Familiarity with GitHub Packages, reusable workflows, and secrets management will also be beneficial. Hands-on experience in DevOps or software deployment environments will make learning even more rewarding.
What skills does this certification validate?
This certification verifies your ability to:
- Design secure, maintainable, and efficient GitHub workflows
- Troubleshoot CI/CD pipelines and optimize runs
- Manage GitHub Actions at scale for organizations and enterprises
- Understand permissions, scopes, and runner configurations
- Secure automation using tokens, OIDC, and artifact provenance
It proves that you can confidently implement automation strategies using GitHub’s native tools and practices.
How can I best prepare for the GH-200 exam?
Begin with Microsoft Learn’s official course “Automate your workflow with GitHub Actions”, which offers guided lessons and exercises. Follow up with hands-on experimentation in your own repositories to reinforce real-world understanding. To evaluate your readiness, it helps to review realistic GitHub Actions practice exams that simulate the question style and complexity of the official test.
Does the exam include practical or interactive content?
Yes. The GH-200 exam may include interactive items that replicate real-life workflow editing or troubleshooting. While not all exam questions are hands-on, these items ensure you’re comfortable configuring and securing workflows in a dynamic and realistic environment.
How is the exam administered?
The exam is proctored and available both online and in-person via Pearson VUE. The online option provides flexibility for remote testing, while test centers offer a traditional setup with secure supervision. Be sure to verify your system requirements in advance if testing remotely.
What’s the structure of each exam question?
Each question is designed to assess your practical decision-making. Many are scenario-based, where you must choose the best solution from multiple valid options. Expect to interpret YAML snippets, identify correct triggers, and troubleshoot workflow behaviors—all within GitHub’s automation context.
How long will my certification remain valid?
The GitHub Actions Certification typically requires annual renewal to keep your credential active. Renewals are free and offered as quick online assessments through Microsoft Learn. This ensures your knowledge stays up to date with GitHub’s evolving features and best practices.
Does Microsoft provide retake opportunities?
Absolutely. If you don’t pass on the first attempt, you can retake the exam after 24 hours. For additional attempts, the waiting period increases slightly, giving you time to revisit your study plan. The retake policy is designed to help learners improve continuously toward success.
How does this certification fit within the Microsoft Credentials framework?
The GitHub Actions Certification is part of Microsoft’s certification ecosystem. It supports career growth in DevOps and automation, often complementing other credentials such as GitHub Advanced Security (GH-500) or cloud-based Microsoft Solutions certifications. Together, they showcase a professional’s readiness to manage full CI/CD and security pipelines effectively.
How can this certification impact my career?
Earning the GH-200 certification can open doors to career advancement in DevOps and automation-focused roles. GitHub Actions is widely adopted in both open-source and enterprise environments, and certified professionals demonstrate verified expertise that employers value highly. Whether you aim to boost internal automation initiatives or pursue specialized DevOps positions, this certification makes you stand out.
Where can I find the official GitHub Actions Certification details?
You can explore all official exam policies, training options, and scheduling links on the official GitHub Actions Certification page by Microsoft. This is the authoritative source for updates, language availability, retake rules, and renewal procedures so you can stay completely informed before scheduling your GH-200 exam.
