Exam Overview

Prepare for success on the Certified Backstage Associate exam by understanding its format, timing, and domain breakdown. This guide covers each exam domain, the percentage weightings, and the key skills you’ll need to demonstrate.

Exam Domains and Weightings

1. Backstage Development Workflow (24%)

In this domain, you’ll demonstrate your ability to set up and iterate on a Backstage app in your local development environment.

• Build and launch a Backstage project locally
• Navigate the Backstage CLI and development server
• Compile code with TypeScript and fix type errors
• Manage dependencies using NPM and Yarn
• Create a Dockerfile and build a container image

2. Backstage Infrastructure (22%)

This section focuses on deploying and configuring Backstage at scale across multiple environments.

• Understand Backstage core architecture and microservices
• Configure app-config.yaml for development, staging, and production
• Deploy Backstage using Docker, Kubernetes, or serverless platforms
• Secure connections, manage secrets, and enable TLS
• Explain the client-server communication model

3. Backstage Catalog (22%)

Master the Backstage Catalog to inventory and manage your software components.

• Define and register entities in catalog-info.yaml
• Apply annotations for metadata enrichment
• Set up and troubleshoot automated ingestion pipelines
• Manually add entity locations and resolve ingestion errors
• Use the Catalog API for advanced integrations

4. Customizing Backstage (32%)

Extend and tailor Backstage to fit your organization’s needs by creating and modifying plugins.

• Differentiate between front-end and back-end plugins
• Scaffold a new plugin with the Backstage CLI
• Extend existing plugins and contribute code back to the community
• Make React component changes within your Backstage app
• Leverage Material UI to style and enhance user interfaces

Links and References

• Backstage Documentation
• Backstage CLI Reference
• Material UI Components
• TypeScript Handbook