📜 Cert Study Guides (Cert Tracker)¶

Live at: aguidetocloud.com/cert-tracker/ Repo: susanthgit/cert-tracker (pipeline) Built: April 2026 Cost: $0/month (GitHub Actions Free + Azure SWA Free)

What It Does¶

A weekly-updated certification tracker covering 52 Microsoft exams across 7 categories — with study progress tracking, skill breakdowns, study plan generation, and automated change detection when Microsoft updates exam content.

Think of it like a personal exam prep dashboard — track your study progress, see what skills are tested, and get notified when exam content changes.

Architecture Overview¶

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              GitHub Actions (weekly)                       │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                           │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐ │
│  │fetch_exams.py│  │diff_engine.py│  │generate_data.py │ │
│  │ MS Learn API │  │ change detect│  │ index + RSS     │ │
│  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘  └─────────────────┘ │
│                           │                               │
│                    ┌──────────────────┐                   │
│                    │generate_enhanced │                   │
│                    │  _pages.py       │                   │
│                    │ rich MD pages    │                   │
│                    └──────────────────┘                   │
│                           │                               │
│  Output: latest.json, exams/*.json, rss.xml,             │
│          changelog.json, content pages                    │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│    Copy data to main site → hugo build → swa deploy       │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│          aguidetocloud.com/cert-tracker/                   │
│                                                           │
│  List Page: search + filters + category chips + cards     │
│  Detail Page: study checklist + skill sections + planner  │
│                                                           │
│  52 exam pages with study resources + skills measured     │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Current Exam Coverage¶

Category	Exams
AI	Various
Azure	Various
Data	Various
Dynamics 365	Various
Microsoft 365	Various
Power Platform	Various
Security	Various
Total	52 exams

Exam Statuses¶

Status	Count
Active	30
Retiring	10
Beta	9
Retired	3

Pipeline Scripts¶

1. `fetch_exams.py` (~220 lines)¶

Feature	Detail
Data source	Microsoft Learn API (exam metadata)
Output	`site/current_state.json`, `site/previous_state.json`

2. `diff_engine.py` (~208 lines)¶

Feature	Detail
Change detection	Compares current vs previous state
Tracks	New exams, retired exams, content changes, status changes
Output	`site/changelog.json`

3. `generate_data.py` (~233 lines)¶

Feature	Detail
Index	`site/latest.json` with `exam_count`, categories, statuses, change info
Per-exam detail	`site/exams/{code}.json`
RSS feed	`site/rss.xml`

4. `generate_enhanced_pages.py` (~384 lines)¶

Feature	Detail
Rich markdown pages	Auto-generates content for each exam
Sections generated	Quick Facts, Study Resources, Skills at a Glance, Audience, Skills Measured, What to Study Next, Quick Links
Skip list	`SKIP_EXAMS` array — skips manually enhanced pages to preserve hand-crafted content

GitHub Actions Workflow¶

File: .github/workflows/weekly-cert-tracker.yml (~108 lines)

Schedule: Weekly
Triggers: cron + manual dispatch

Steps:
1. Checkout
2. Setup Python
3. Fetch exam data
4. Run diff engine
5. Generate data files
6. Generate enhanced pages
7. Copy to aguidetocloud-revamp/static/data/cert-tracker/
8. Hugo build + swa deploy

Frontend Implementation¶

List Page — `list.html` (~64 lines)¶

Feature	Detail
Data source	Fetches `/data/cert-tracker/latest.json`
sessionStorage	Caches for 30 minutes
Search	Text search across exam titles and codes
Level filter	Filter by certification level
Status filter	Active / Retiring / Beta / Retired
Category chips	Filter by category (AI, Azure, Data, etc.)
Stats	Total exams, freshness indicator
RSS link	Links to `/data/cert-tracker/rss.xml`
Cards	Grouped by category with status badges

Detail Page — `single.html` (~355 lines)¶

Feature	Detail
Breadcrumbs	Back to cert tracker list
Status banner	Active / Retiring / Beta with colour coding
Prep-time estimate	Suggested study duration
Print button	Printer-friendly view
Study progress checklist	Checkbox per skill area — saved in `localStorage`
Study plan generator	Creates a timeline based on exam date
Auto TOC	Generated from page headings
Collapsible skill sections	Expand/collapse per skill area
Related exams	Loaded from `/data/cert-tracker/exams/{code}.json`

JavaScript — `cert-tracker.js` (~260 lines)¶

Feature	Detail
sessionStorage cache	30-minute freshness
Category chip filtering	Dynamic chips with counts
Search + level + status filters	Combined filtering
Card rendering	Grouped by category
Stats display	Exam count, active/retiring/beta counts

CSS — `cert-tracker.css` (~854 lines)¶

Element	Detail
Accent	Green `#10B981`
CSS namespace	`.cert-*` classes
Status badges	Green (active), yellow (retiring), blue (beta), grey (retired)
Progress bar	Study completion indicator
TOC	Sticky sidebar on desktop
Checklist	Custom checkbox styling with localStorage persistence
Print styles	Clean print layout
Mobile	Responsive cards, stacked layout

Content Pages¶

Front Matter¶

type: "cert-tracker"
layout: "single"
exam_code: "AZ-900"
exam_title: "Microsoft Azure Fundamentals"
exam_level: "Fundamentals"
exam_status: "active"
exam_category: "Azure"

Page Content (Auto-generated + Manual)¶

Each exam page includes:

Exam Quick Facts — code, level, cost, languages
Study Resources — MS Learn paths, practice assessments
Skills at a Glance — high-level domain summary
Who is this exam for? — target audience
Skills Measured — detailed skill breakdown with weights
What to Study Next — recommended follow-up exams
Quick Links — exam page, practice test, schedule

Key Design Decisions¶

Decision	Rationale
Weekly cadence	Exam content doesn't change daily — weekly is sufficient
localStorage study progress	Users can track their study without authentication
Skip list for manual pages	Preserves hand-crafted content while auto-generating the rest
Per-exam JSON files	Detail data loaded on-demand, not bundled in index
Change detection	Alerts users when exam content is updated by Microsoft
Enhanced page generation	Bootstraps rich content automatically, then allows manual refinement

Maintenance¶

Task	How
Force a refresh	Trigger `weekly-cert-tracker.yml` manually
Add manual exam content	Edit `content/cert-tracker/<slug>.md` + add to `SKIP_EXAMS` in `generate_enhanced_pages.py`
Check for changes	Review `site/changelog.json` or RSS feed

Last updated: 11 April 2026