Certified Cloud Native Platform Engineer: exam-style tasks on a real kubeadm cluster on your own Mac, built and graded by the GoldenKube CLI. Each card shows the domain, the cluster topology it needs, the recommended time and its points; the scenario page has the full task text. Scenarios run on Kubernetes 1.35, the version the CNPE exam environment runs.
The Linux Foundation describes CNPE as "an online, proctored, performance-based test" that "requires solving multiple tasks from within a Linux-based remote desktop using the terminal and web-based interfaces". The candidate instructions say "The exams consist of 15-20 performance-based tasks" and that "The CNPE environment is currently running Kubernetes v1.35"; the general documentation allowed is kubernetes.io. The GoldenKube CNPE scenarios run on a local Kubernetes cluster and are graded from the cluster state, so a task that the exam might solve in a web interface is written so that its result can be checked in the cluster.
The scenarios are written against the five official domains: networking, storage and compute best practices, right-sizing and multi-tenancy (platform architecture and infrastructure); GitOps workflows, CI/CD pipelines and progressive delivery such as blue/green or canary (GitOps and continuous delivery); custom resource definitions, self-service provisioning, operators and automation frameworks (platform APIs and self-service capabilities); monitoring, alerting, logging and tracing, deployment metrics and incident remediation (observability and operations); and service-to-service security, RBAC, audit trails and compliance, policy engines and admission control, and security scanning in pipelines (security and policy enforcement).
| Questions | 15-20 performance-based tasks source |
|---|---|
| Duration (minutes) | 120 source |
| Passing score | 64% source |
| Price (USD) | 445 source |
| Validity (years) | 2 source |
| Delivery | Online, proctored, performance-based source |
| Prerequisites | None source |
| Retake policy | One retake per exam purchase if a passing score is not achieved source |
| Curriculum version | Exam environment runs Kubernetes v1.35 source |
Published scenarios per official CNPE domain, next to the domain's exam weight (checked 2026-10-28 on the official page). 20 published scenarios today.
| Domain | Exam weight | Published scenarios |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Architecture and Infrastructure | 15% | 3 |
| GitOps and Continuous Delivery | 25% | 5 |
| Platform APIs and Self-Service Capabilities | 25% | 5 |
| Observability and Operations | 20% | 4 |
| Security and Policy Enforcement | 15% | 3 |
goldenkube exam cnpe draws a curriculum-weighted set: 15 tasks in 120 minutes, pass at 64%. Solutions and hints are hidden in exam mode.
5 of 20 scenarios match · Clear filters
Offer databases as a platform API: a namespaced CustomResourceDefinition with an enum-validated schema, a status subresource and printer columns, plus the first claim.
Single node · ~15 min · 10 points
goldenkube start cnpe-api-001
Expose app configuration as a Crossplane v2 namespaced composite API: define the XRD, write a pipeline Composition with patch-and-transform, and provision the first composite.
Single node · ~20 min · 10 points
goldenkube start cnpe-api-002
Use the Prometheus Operator as a platform automation: declare an Alertmanager and a namespaced AlertmanagerConfig, and confirm the operator reconciled them into a running, configured instance.
Single node · ~15 min · 8 points
goldenkube start cnpe-api-003
A team gets a working namespace by labelling it: a Kyverno ClusterPolicy generates the quota and the admin RoleBinding for every namespace carrying the team label and keeps them in sync.
Single node · ~15 min · 10 points
goldenkube start cnpe-api-004
Offer environment provisioning as a reusable Argo WorkflowTemplate with a parameter and a resource step, then provision the blue environment through it.
Single node · ~15 min · 8 points
goldenkube start cnpe-api-005
goldenkube doctor.goldenkube login (free account).goldenkube submit; the result appears on your dashboard.Grading happens on your machine and is practice feedback, not an official score. Tasks are public; hints, reference solutions and grader internals are not.
Not yet. The CNPE scenarios are published and readable here, but the first signed build of the CLI is not on the Homebrew tap, so the catalog is a preview. Running a scenario needs that release and a free account.
The CNPE curriculum names tools only as examples, among them Argo, Crossplane, Flux, Gatekeeper, Kyverno, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus and Tekton, and says candidates are not tested on deep tool-specific knowledge beyond the listed competencies. Each scenario page shows the full task text, so you can see what a task asks before you run it.
No. The Linux Foundation lists no prerequisite for CNPE. CNPA is the multiple-choice platform engineering exam and covers much of the same vocabulary, so its GoldenKube question bank is a useful warm-up for the CNPE labs.