GitHub · GH-900
GitHub Foundations (GH-900) Practice Tests
Validates understanding of foundational topics, products, and concepts of collaborating, contributing, and working on GitHub.
Exam Details
Practice Questions
409
≈ 5 practice exams
Duration
100 minutes
Passing Score
700/1000
Difficulty
FoundationalLast Updated
Jan 2026
Topics Covered
Introduction to Git and GitHubWorking with GitHub RepositoriesCollaboration FeaturesModern DevelopmentProject ManagementPrivacy, Security, and AdministrationBenefits of the GitHub Community
GitHub Foundations (GH-900) Practice Exam Preparation
Use this GH-900 practice exam to prepare for GitHub Foundations (GH-900) with realistic questions, detailed explanations, and focused study modes. The practice bank includes 409 questions for GitHub GH-900, so you can review the exam steadily instead of relying on one long cram session.
As you practice, pay extra attention to recurring topics such as Introduction to Git and GitHub, Working with GitHub Repositories, Collaboration Features, Modern Development, and Project Management. Start with short sessions to identify weak areas, then move into timed quizzes once your accuracy is consistent.
The explanations are especially useful when you want to connect exam wording to the responsibilities and scenarios described in the official certification guidance. Use the free preview first, then unlock the full question bank when you are ready to build a complete study routine.
Exam Domain Breakdown
Understand Git and GitHub basics28%
Work with GitHub repositories13%
Collaborate using GitHub13%
Apply modern development practices13%
Manage projects with GitHub8%
Understand privacy, security, and administration13%
Explore the GitHub community8%
Exam Overview
The GitHub Foundations certification (GH-900) validates a candidate's understanding of the foundational topics, products, and concepts central to collaborating, contributing, and working on GitHub. The exam covers Git version control fundamentals, GitHub repository management, collaboration workflows via issues and pull requests, GitHub Actions for automation, GitHub Copilot's AI-assisted development capabilities, GitHub Codespaces, and core security and administration concepts. As of January 2026, the exam objectives were significantly updated to reflect modern GitHub features including Copilot Agent Mode, multi-model support, Enterprise Managed Users (EMUs), and passkey authentication.
This certification is administered through Pearson VUE and is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Korean, and Japanese. It is designed as a beginner-level credential spanning seven domains, making it accessible to developers and non-developers alike who regularly interact with GitHub in professional settings. GitHub Education also offers verified students the opportunity to take the exam at no cost.
Who Should Take This Exam
The GitHub Foundations certification is designed for a broad range of GitHub users, including software developers, DevOps engineers, solution architects, app makers, and IT administrators who want a formal credential validating their GitHub proficiency. It is equally suitable for non-technical roles such as project managers, technical writers, and open-source contributors who collaborate on GitHub but may not write code daily.
This certification is particularly valuable for early-career professionals and students looking to establish credibility in collaborative development environments, as well as experienced professionals who use GitHub daily but have never formally validated their skills. Anyone preparing for more advanced GitHub certifications—such as GitHub Actions, GitHub Advanced Security, or GitHub Administration—should consider GH-900 as a natural starting point.
Prerequisites
There are no formal prerequisites required to sit for the GitHub Foundations exam. However, candidates are expected to have hands-on familiarity with GitHub's core interface and basic Git operations before attempting the exam. Comfortable navigation of repositories, understanding of commits, branches, and pull requests, and exposure to GitHub's collaboration features (issues, discussions, notifications) will provide a meaningful foundation.
Microsoft Learn recommends completing the official 'GitHub Foundations Part 1' and 'GitHub Foundations Part 2' learning paths before sitting the exam. Candidates who have spent time working on real or practice GitHub repositories—creating branches, submitting pull requests, and reviewing code—will be best positioned to pass without additional study.
Exam Format
The GH-900 exam consists of questions delivered through Pearson VUE's online proctored testing platform and allows 100 minutes to complete. The exam may include a variety of interactive question types in addition to standard multiple-choice questions; candidates can preview the interface and question styles via the official Exam Sandbox at GHCertDemo.starttest.com before their scheduled attempt.
Scoring uses a scaled score model with a maximum of 1000 points, and a passing score of 700 is required. The exact number of scored questions is not publicly disclosed by GitHub. The exam is fully proctored and available for remote delivery. If a candidate fails on the first attempt, a 24-hour waiting period is required before retaking; subsequent retake intervals vary per policy. Candidates are strongly advised to register using a personal Microsoft Account (MSA) rather than a work or school Azure AD account to ensure exam records are retained.
Skills Measured
- 1.Understand Git and GitHub basics (25–30%): Covers version control fundamentals including the purpose of Git and GitHub, key concepts such as repositories, commits, and branches, GitHub accounts and enterprise options, GitHub Flow, Markdown usage, and recognition of GitHub Desktop and GitHub Mobile use cases.
- 2.Work with GitHub repositories (10–15%): Covers repository structure and key files (README, LICENSE, CONTRIBUTING, CODEOWNERS, SECURITY), creating and managing repositories using templates and branches, managing files, repository insights, stars, metrics dashboards, dependency insights, and maintenance best practices.
- 3.Collaborate using GitHub (10–15%): Covers use of issues, pull requests, and discussions for collaboration, linking pull requests to issues, managing templates and assignments, configuring notifications, and using Gists, Wikis, and GitHub Pages for documentation and information sharing.
- 4.Apply modern development practices (10–15%): Covers GitHub Actions for automation, GitHub Copilot's AI code suggestions including Copilot agents, Agent Mode, and multi-model support, Copilot tier differences (Individual, Business, Enterprise), GitHub Codespaces and dev containers, and the github.dev editor versus Codespaces.
- 5.Manage projects with GitHub (5–10%): Covers GitHub Projects layout options, configuring projects, labels, milestones, workflows, using saved replies and assignees, and using project insights to track progress and productivity.
- 6.Understand privacy, security, and administration (10–15%): Covers securing accounts with 2FA and passkeys, access permissions and roles for repositories and organizations, Enterprise Managed Users (EMUs), Copilot policy management, repository privacy and visibility settings, branch protection rules, and managing organization settings, teams, and roles.
- 7.Explore the GitHub community (5–10%): Covers open-source benefits, GitHub Sponsors, InnerSource principles, following users and organizations, the GitHub Marketplace, and the use of forks, templates, and discoverable repositories to promote collaboration.
Study Tips
- Complete the official Microsoft Learn learning paths 'GitHub Foundations Part 1' and 'GitHub Foundations Part 2' in full — these were created in direct collaboration with GitHub and map directly to all seven exam domains.
- Use the free Practice Assessment available on the GitHub Foundations certification page at Microsoft Learn (assessment ID 954809103) to identify weak areas before your exam date, as it mirrors the style and difficulty of real exam questions.
- Prioritize the 'Understand Git and GitHub basics' domain (25–30% of the exam) by practicing Git workflows hands-on: create branches, commit changes, open pull requests, and merge using both the GitHub web interface and GitHub Desktop.
- Familiarize yourself with GitHub Copilot's latest capabilities, including Agent Mode and multi-model support, as these were added in the January 2026 exam update and now fall under the 'Apply modern development practices' domain.
- Use the official Exam Sandbox at GHCertDemo.starttest.com before your scheduled exam to experience the interface and interactive question types — this reduces exam-day friction and ensures you are comfortable with non-standard question formats.
- Review the official GitHub documentation for each domain topic area, particularly for security concepts such as 2FA, passkeys, branch protection rules, and Enterprise Managed Users (EMUs), which appear under the 10–15% weighted security domain.
- Create a free GitHub account and practice project management features hands-on: set up a GitHub Project board, configure labels and milestones, open issues, and link them to pull requests to reinforce the project management domain content.
Career Benefits
The GitHub Foundations certification demonstrates verified proficiency with the world's most widely used code collaboration platform, strengthening a candidate's profile for roles such as software developer, DevOps engineer, technical project manager, solution architect, and IT administrator. Because GitHub is a near-universal tool in modern software development, this credential holds relevance across industries and company sizes. GitHub Education also allows verified students to sit the exam for free, making it an accessible early-career credential.
As an entry-level certification, GH-900 is best viewed as a career foundation rather than a standalone salary driver. It serves as a recognized stepping stone toward more advanced GitHub certifications—GitHub Actions, GitHub Advanced Security, and GitHub Administration—which carry greater weight for senior engineering and DevOps roles. For professionals transitioning into tech or those in non-coding roles who collaborate on GitHub, the certification provides concrete evidence of platform proficiency that differentiates candidates in competitive hiring processes.
Sample Questions
5 sample questions with answers and explanations. The full bank has 409 questions, enough for 5 full-length practice exams.
Preview — answers shown1. DeveloperDocs Corp needs to include complex HTML elements in their GitHub Pages documentation that aren't supported by standard Markdown syntax. They want to embed custom styling and interactive elements alongside their Markdown content. What approach should they use for this mixed content requirement?
ACreate separate HTML files for complex content
BConvert all content to HTML and abandon Markdown
CRequest new Markdown features for their needs
DInclude HTML inline within Markdown documents
Explanation
Markdown allows HTML to be included inline when encountering scenarios not supported by standard Markdown syntax. This flexibility enables content creators to use Markdown for most formatting while adding specific HTML elements when needed for custom styling, interactive elements, or complex layouts. This approach provides the best of both worlds - Markdown simplicity with HTML power when required.
2. StartupTech is building their development workflow using GitHub. The technical lead explains that their platform builds on Git but adds additional collaboration features. Which statement best describes the relationship between Git and GitHub?
AGit and GitHub are the same technology with different names
BGitHub is a version control system, while Git provides the web interface
CGit is only for individual developers, while GitHub is for teams
DGit is a distributed version control system, while GitHub is a cloud platform that uses Git as its core technology
Explanation
Git is a distributed version control system that provides the foundational technology for tracking changes and managing repositories. GitHub is a cloud platform that uses Git as its core technology and adds collaboration features like pull requests, issues, discussions, and project management tools. GitHub acts as a remote repository service and provides a web interface for Git operations, but Git can function independently of GitHub.
3. CodeCraft company needs to establish proper team management permissions within their GitHub organization. The team administrator wants to understand team permission levels. You want to grant a user permissions to add and remove organization members to and from a team. Which permission would you need to grant that user?
ARepository admin
BTeam maintainer
COrganization owner
DTeam member
Explanation
The team maintainer permission is specifically designed for adding and removing organization members to and from a team. Team maintainers can manage team membership, edit team discussions, and coordinate team activities without requiring full organization owner privileges. Organization owner has broader permissions than needed for team management, repository admin permissions are focused on individual repositories rather than team membership, and team member permissions don't include the ability to manage team membership. Team maintainer provides the right level of access for team membership management.
4. FastTrack Development wants to understand GitHub's integration ecosystem for their development toolchain. The tools integration specialist needs to map integration options. What types of third-party integrations can be connected to GitHub repositories? (Select two)
Multiple correct answersAContinuous integration and deployment services
BProject management and issue tracking tools
CSocial media platforms for personal networking
DGaming platforms for developer entertainment
EDating applications for team building
FCryptocurrency trading platforms for payments
Explanation
GitHub repositories can integrate with continuous integration and deployment services like Jenkins, CircleCI, and Travis CI to automate testing and deployment workflows. They can also integrate with project management and issue tracking tools like Jira, Trello, and Azure DevOps to synchronize work items and project status. These integrations enhance development workflows and project coordination. Social media platforms, gaming platforms, dating applications, and cryptocurrency trading platforms aren't typical development tool integrations that support software development workflows. GitHub's integration ecosystem focuses on tools that enhance development, collaboration, and project management.
5. DevStudio Inc. wants to implement proper backup and disaster recovery for their GitHub repositories. The business continuity manager needs to understand data protection options. What options does GitHub provide for backing up and protecting repository data?
ARepository data cannot be backed up and relies entirely on GitHub's infrastructure
BManual copying of files is the only way to protect repository data
COnly paid enterprise accounts receive backup protection for their repositories
DGit's distributed nature, repository exports, and GitHub's infrastructure provide multiple protection layers
Explanation
GitHub repository protection comes from multiple layers including Git's distributed nature where every clone is a complete backup, repository export capabilities that allow downloading complete repository data, and GitHub's own infrastructure that provides redundancy and backup systems. The distributed nature of Git means that repository data exists in multiple locations by design. Protection isn't limited to paid accounts, doesn't require manual file copying, and isn't entirely dependent on GitHub's infrastructure alone - the combination of Git's design and GitHub's features provides comprehensive data protection options.
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