Certified Backstage Associate study guide
Certified Backstage Associate · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Backstage Associate (CBA) is a Linux Foundation certification that validates practical skill with Backstage, the open source framework for building internal developer portals and standardized developer platforms. The source page positions it around developer and engineering onboarding, cross-team collaboration, and product innovation, and frames the credential as proof that a holder can work with Backstage to build standardized developer platforms. It is aimed at a beginner experience level, so it suits developers, platform engineers, and DevOps practitioners who are starting to build or operate a Backstage-based portal rather than specialists with years of framework experience. The exam is delivered online with proctoring in multiple-choice format and runs 90 minutes. The Certified Backstage Associate study guide has 4 sections and about 1,732 words.
01Backstage Development Workflow
The Backstage Development Workflow domain tests how you scaffold, run, test, and extend a Backstage app with the official CLI and package conventions. Expect questions on app packages versus plugins, the local dev loop, type checking and tests, and a plugin's public API surface.
450 words, about 2 min02Backstage Infrastructure
The Backstage Infrastructure domain tests how a Backstage app is configured and deployed: config file layering, environment and secret handling, backend runtime settings, database choice, authentication, ingress, and shared storage for TechDocs. Backstage reads app-config.yaml by default and layers additional files passed with --config , such as app-config.production.yaml .
441 words, about 2 min03Backstage Catalog
The Backstage Catalog domain tests the entity model, descriptor files, registration locations, processing and validation, and the relations that connect services, APIs, systems, and teams. It is the data backbone of the developer portal.
420 words, about 2 min04Customizing Backstage
The Customizing Backstage domain tests how you tailor the portal without forking core: themes and layout, app APIs, entity pages, catalog processors, and scaffolder actions. The exam favors knowing which extension point to use and where it is registered.
421 words, about 2 min