🎓 Guided — Platform Overview¶
Last updated: 8 May 2026 (Homepage v2 reframe + brand crescent locked)
Guided is the certification prep platform at aguidetocloud.com/guided/.
This section is the working source of truth for:
- platform architecture and page structure
- pricing strategy and business model
- certification catalogue and vendor coverage
- design decisions and their rationale
- brand assets (crescent + lockup pack)
Current Platform Shape¶
Delivery Models¶
- Microsoft certs (35) — Full study guides (free forever, ~920 MDX modules) + practice exams ($9)
- Non-Microsoft certs (91) — Practice-only with dynamic
/practice/pages
Page Types¶
| Page | Route | Template | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homepage | /guided/ |
src/pages/index.astro |
1 |
| Vendor page | /guided/{vendor}/ |
src/pages/[vendor]/index.astro |
13 |
| Cert landing | /guided/{code}/ |
src/pages/[slug]/index.astro |
126 (all dynamic) |
| Practice exam | /guided/{code}/practice/ |
src/pages/[cert]/practice.astro |
126 |
| Study modules | /guided/{cert}/{domain}/{module}/ |
src/pages/[...slug].astro |
~920 |
| Dashboard | /guided/dashboard/ |
src/pages/dashboard/index.astro |
1 |
| Explore | /guided/explore/ |
src/pages/explore/index.astro |
1 |
Note: 34 static Microsoft cert pages (e.g. src/pages/az-900/index.astro) were deleted on 24 April 2026. All certs now use the dynamic [slug] route.
Pricing (Live — homepage leads with $9 only)¶
| Tier | Price | Status as of 8 May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 forever | Study guides + 20 practice questions per cert. Featured everywhere. |
| Single Cert | $9 lifetime | Lead offer. All 126 certs uniformly priced. Featured prominently on homepage. |
| Vendor Pass | $59 | Backend / Stripe still functional via direct cert page checkout. De-featured on homepage per Sush 8 May 2026. |
| All Access | $149 | Same — backend functional, homepage de-featured. |
Tier SKU deletion (removing $59 / $149 from Stripe + backend code paths) deferred to a separate session.
SEO Infrastructure¶
- FAQPage JSON-LD on all 126 cert pages (6–8 questions each), 13 vendor pages (7 each), homepage (12)
- ItemList JSON-LD on 13 vendor pages (cert carousel for Google)
- WebSite + Organization JSON-LD on homepage
- Exam metadata on all 126 cert TOMLs (duration, cost, passing score, etc.)
- Title + description dynamic — uses
totalCerts,activeVendors.slice(0,5)for vendor list
Recent shipping history¶
| Date | What | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 8 May 2026 | Homepage v2 — embedded real PracticeQuiz (AZ-900 free tier) + SME polish (cert codes, vendor proper nouns, FAQ accuracy). Deleted custom SampleExam (was buggy — var(--base) typo broke focus mode). |
0e128e7 |
| 7 May 2026 | Homepage v1 reframe — $9 not $79 paid-product feel, single-column lowercase hero, "what's inside $9" + "why this exists" sections, tier upsells de-featured. Custom <SampleExam> component (later replaced in v2). |
0ca214c |
Key Docs¶
| Doc | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Feature guide | All 30+ quiz features with competitor comparison |
| Certification catalogue | Vendor counts, cert status, parity tracking |
| Homepage design | Section-by-section homepage breakdown (v2 — current state) |
| Brand assets | Crescent logo + lockup pack + wire-up checklist (8 SVGs, ready to ship) |
| Page architecture | Cert landing + vendor page structure, how to add certs |
| Pricing strategy | Pricing tiers, rationale, competitive analysis |
| Platform redesign | IA decisions, redesign history |
| Question enrichment | Automated pipeline for question quality |
| Analytics pipeline | Dual-track GA4 + Analytics Engine, dashboard, events |
| Reliability & redundancy | 9-layer redundancy architecture, alert flow, recovery procedures (post-Michelle incident, 03 May 2026) |
| 🐛 Deferred findings | Tech-debt pick list — 4 open code findings + 2 manual config tasks + 17 closed bugs from 9 May 2026 session. Read first before any tech-debt sprint. |
Key File Paths¶
| What | Path |
|---|---|
| Cert metadata | src/content/certs/*.toml (126 files) |
| Question banks | src/data/questions/*-domain-*.json |
| Vendor data | src/data/vendors.ts (13 vendors, includes logo paths) |
| Vendor SVG logos | public/vendors/*.svg (13 files) |
| Quiz component | src/components/interactive/PracticeQuiz.tsx (~2,300 lines, locked — embedded on homepage as of v2) |
| Dashboard | src/components/interactive/StudyDashboard.tsx |
| Content schema | src/content.config.ts |
| Exam metadata script | scripts/populate-exam-metadata.cjs |
| Brand assets (when wired up) | public/brand/*.svg — see brand-assets |
| Stripe starter prompt | files/stripe-payment-starter-prompt.md |
| Test (homepage) | test-guided-home.cjs (rewritten v2 — 18 checks for embedded PracticeQuiz) |
| Test (practice flow) | test-guided-qa.cjs (4 pre-existing failures, not v1/v2 regressions) |
Next Priorities¶
- Brand asset wire-up — copy 8 SVGs to
public/brand/, render PNG variants, update BaseLayout<head>. See brand-assets.md. Asset pack already designed and ready. - Tier SKU deletion — remove $59 vendor pass + $149 all-access from Stripe / backend code paths.
- Investigate the 4 pre-existing test-guided-qa failures — likely test pattern drift (Fullscreen header / Quiz Complete / Domain breakdown text moved).
- Cert grid polish — sticky filter bar on scroll, more prominent prices, default-vendor unset (currently locked to Microsoft, contradicts "All Certs" framing per rubber-duck).
- Planet ecosystem story — bigger vision: design logos for Cloud Cafe, Plain AI, Claw, Agent, AI for Grandma planets; add to all nav across the universe; write the "how the universe is laid out" story for every about page.