The Vibe Coding Foundation certificate is a private academy certificate from BUILT IN CLASS that you receive after passing a written project exam. It confirms that you have used an AI agent such as Claude Code or Codex to build, secure and explain a simple application, and a verification link lets anyone check the programme, version, date and status online.
If you are looking for proof of your skills for a job application or for your employer, it is worth taking a close look at what stands behind it. Here you will find out which skills are assessed, how the exam works and where the certificate's limits lie.
What does the Vibe Coding Foundation certificate confirm?
Vibe coding means developing software with the help of AI. The Foundation level stands for guided work on a clearly defined task. The certificate states the programme level, the skills assessed and the date. Four competencies are assessed, always on your own practical project, a contact and follow-up app for a small company:
- K1, breaking down tasks: You break a work task down into verifiable steps and describe them as acceptance cases. For example: a contact whose follow-up is overdue should be recognisable in the list.
- K2, building with an AI agent: You create a simple application with an AI agent and change it in a traceable way, for instance when you add a status change or a filter.
- K3, testing and securing: You test error cases, data validation, access and secrets. This includes the question of what your app does when the simulated interface returns an empty response, reports an error or keeps you waiting.
- K4, explaining and transferring: You explain your solution, name its limits and apply it to a new requirement.
K4 in particular is what separates this certificate from a certificate of attendance. It shows that you understand what the AI built for you, rather than simply handing in a result.
What the certificate is not
For a job application, it matters that you describe the certificate accurately. It is not a state-recognised qualification. There is no ID check: the certificate refers to the work submitted under your account.
Its content also has clear limits:
- Foundation means guided work on a clearly defined task. The certificate says nothing about whether you can develop large systems on your own.
- The learning project stores data in the browser and is not a product for real company data.
- Building your own company application is not part of the course.
On your CV, the best approach is to describe it exactly as it is: private academy certificate Vibe Coding Foundation from BUILT IN CLASS, awarded after passing a project exam, with the date. Whether and how much weight an employer gives it is up to them.
How does the project exam work?
The exam is written and takes place entirely online. There are no interviews and no fixed dates.
Requirements before you start
- You have passed Mission 6 on the server. From that point, your project is frozen.
- Your full name is in your profile, because it appears on the certificate.
- You have an exam attempt available.
Six questions in 14 days
Once you start, you have 14 days. You answer six questions: five relate to your own project, one is a transfer question. Each answer is between 300 and 3000 characters long, and you can save drafts. You might write, for example, why your contact list rejects invalid input or how you narrowed down a prepared bug in Mission 5. You can withdraw from the exam before you submit. All the details are in exam procedure and rules (in German).
Who assesses your answers?
An AI, Claude from Anthropic, prepares the assessment. A human examiner then reviews your answers, your code and the AI's suggestion, sets the points and releases the result. The AI decides nothing. The aim is to release results within five working days.
Assessment follows a rubric worth 100 points, and passing is based on published criteria. You can read the exam rubric with all points (in German) in advance, so you know what matters. If you do not pass, you receive a reasoned assessment and can appeal within 14 days.
On data protection: submissions are assessed in isolation and deleted on request, and the servers are located in the EU. For the pre-assessment, answers and project excerpts are sent to Anthropic in the USA.
How can the certificate be verified online?
Every certificate comes with a verification link. Anyone who opens it sees the programme, version, date and status. An HR department does not need to contact the academy to confirm the details in your application. You can read more in the section certificate and exam.
The verification link confirms the key facts. What you can actually do is best explained by you. These points will help:
- Put the verification link right next to the entry on your CV.
- Describe in two or three sentences what your app does: contact list with detail view, input validation, status changes and filters, handling a simulated interface, exporting overdue follow-ups as a CSV file.
- Mention your AI log. It shows what the AI contributed and what you changed yourself.
- Be open about the limits: a learning project with sample data, stored in the browser.
That last point in particular comes across as credible, because it shows that you really have mastered competency K4.
How the Vibe Coding Foundation course leads to the exam
The certificate is the final step of the Vibe Coding Foundation programme. The course is aimed at working adults and small teams with no programming experience, aged 18 and over. You work online, at your own pace, with no fixed dates and no videos to sit through.
Over eight missions you build the app step by step: setting up your tools, turning an idea into a clear brief, building the interface, saving contacts and defining workflows, connecting a simulated interface, finding bugs and checking access, and documenting the project for handover. In the transfer mission, you extend the app with a CSV export. The course overview with all missions (in German) shows the goals and planned times in detail.
Each mission has criteria in the form of tests. On your computer, a command checks whether you meet them. What counts, though, is the check on the academy's server, in an isolated environment with no network access. This means admission to the project exam is also based on verified results.
The planned time is around 30 hours: 28 hours for the missions and transfer, about 2 hours for the exam. At roughly five hours a week, you could finish in six weeks, for example. Access lasts three months.
The course and project exam cost CHF 199 as a one-off payment including VAT. This covers all missions and checks plus one exam attempt including a competency report. A further exam attempt costs CHF 149. For Claude Code or Codex you need your own account, and its costs come on top of the course price. On the technical side, you need a laptop or desktop running Windows, macOS or Linux, permission to install programs, Node.js version 20 or later and Git. Everything included is listed under price and what's included.
If your employer supports the certificate
Some people want to bill the course to their company or take it together with colleagues. On request, places can be invoiced and a shared course group with a coordinated exam window can be set up. You will find the details in the offer for teams. Each person takes their own exam and receives their own certificate, which refers to the work they submitted.
Foundation is the first level of a certification path. Vibe Coding Advanced, Vibe Coding Business Professional and Vibe Coding Expert are being planned. The content, prices and start dates of these programmes are not yet known. If you need a certificate now, plan with the Foundation level.