GitHub · GH-900
GitHub Foundations (GH-900) Practice Test
Validates understanding of foundational topics, products, and concepts of collaborating, contributing, and working on GitHub.
Exam Details
Questions
409
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. Start a practice session to test yourself across all 409 questions.
Preview — answers shown1. MegaCorp's development team accidentally committed API keys and passwords to their repository. The incident response team needs to understand secret detection capabilities. How does GitHub's secret scanning help protect repositories from exposed credentials and sensitive information?
ABy scanning commits for known secret patterns and alerting administrators when credentials are detected
BBy automatically encrypting all files in the repository to hide sensitive information
CBy replacing all sensitive information with placeholder values automatically
DBy preventing any text strings that look like passwords from being committed to repositories
Explanation
GitHub's secret scanning automatically scans commits for known patterns of secrets like API keys, tokens, passwords, and other credentials, then alerts repository administrators when potentially sensitive information is detected. This helps teams quickly identify and remediate accidental exposure of credentials. The scanning recognizes patterns from popular services and can detect various types of secrets. It doesn't encrypt repository files, doesn't prevent commits with password-like strings (which could block legitimate code), and doesn't automatically replace information - it provides detection and alerting so teams can take appropriate remediation action.
2. IterativeDevelopment Corp is using GitHub Copilot and wants to explore multiple code suggestion options before choosing the best one for their specific use case. They want to see alternative approaches that Copilot might suggest. How can they cycle through multiple suggestions from GitHub Copilot?
APress Tab repeatedly to cycle through options
BPress Escape to see more options
CType the same prompt multiple times
DPress Ctrl+Enter (or Cmd+Enter on Mac) to cycle through alternative suggestions
Explanation
When GitHub Copilot offers multiple suggestions, developers can cycle through alternatives by pressing Ctrl+Enter (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Enter (Mac). This allows exploration of different coding approaches and selection of the most appropriate suggestion for the specific use case. Tab only accepts the current suggestion without showing alternatives.
3. CommunityCode wants to create a space for open-ended conversations about their project that aren't tied to specific code changes or actionable tasks. They need a forum for Q&A sessions, sharing ideas, and general project-related discussions. Which GitHub feature is most appropriate?
AGitHub Issues
BGitHub Pull Requests
CGitHub Wikis
DGitHub Discussions
Explanation
GitHub Discussions are designed for conversations that aren't necessarily tied to code, such as Q&A, ideas, or general feedback. They provide an open forum for ongoing communication and can be organized into different categories like announcements, general discussion, ideas, polls, and show-and-tell. Unlike Issues which are for tracking specific tasks, Discussions are for broader community conversations.
4. TechFlow Industries is implementing Git workflows for their development team and needs to understand merge conflict resolution. The senior developer wants to train junior team members on conflict handling. What happens when Git encounters conflicting changes during a merge operation?
AGit stops the merge process and marks conflicted areas for manual resolution
BGit sends email notifications to all contributors asking them to vote on the changes
CGit creates separate branches for each conflicting version
DGit automatically chooses the most recent changes and discards older versions
Explanation
When Git encounters conflicting changes during a merge operation, it stops the merge process and marks the conflicted areas in the affected files with special conflict markers, requiring manual resolution before the merge can be completed. Developers must examine the conflicting sections, decide which changes to keep, edit the files to resolve conflicts, and then complete the merge. Git doesn't automatically choose recent changes, doesn't create separate branches for conflicts, and doesn't send email notifications - it requires human intervention to resolve conflicts because Git cannot determine the developer's intent when the same lines of code have been modified differently in different branches.
5. CodeMasters company has created several repositories and needs to organize and control access to them. The project manager wants to understand repository management capabilities. Which repository setting controls who can access and contribute to a repository?
ARepository description and tags
BBranch protection rules and merge settings
CRepository permissions and collaborator settings
DIssue and pull request templates
Explanation
Repository permissions and collaborator settings control who can access and contribute to a repository. These settings allow you to specify whether a repository is public (accessible to everyone) or private (restricted access), and you can invite specific collaborators with different permission levels such as read, write, or admin access. You can also manage team access if you're using GitHub organizations. Repository descriptions and tags are for organization and discovery, branch protection rules control how changes are made to specific branches, and templates help standardize how issues and pull requests are created - but none of these control basic access permissions to the repository itself.
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