Microsoft Certified: Azure Cosmos DB AI Developer Associate (DP-420)
The DP-420 exam is designed for professionals who implement and configure Azure. It validates your ability to design and develop database solutions, secure, optimize, and deploy database solutions, and implement AI and analytics capabilities in database solutions.
Exam details
- Certification
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Cosmos DB AI Developer Associate
- Application
- Azure
- Exam code
- DP-420
- Level
- Associate
- Duration
- Approximately 100 minutes
- Questions
- Typically 40–60 questions
- Passing score
- 700 out of 1000
- Cost
- USD $165 — typical price; the exact fee varies by country/region and currency, and local taxes may apply.
- Prerequisites
- None required
- Languages
- English (also available in Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Traditional) and Italian)
- Delivered by
- Pearson VUE
- Renewal
- Free online assessment, every 12 months
Skills measured for the upcoming exam version
Design and develop database solutions (40–45%)
- Evaluate consistency, Request Unit (RU) consumption, throughput, account and container settings, and SDK connections.
- Implement queries, point reads, data operations, bulk and transactional operations, TTL, concurrency control, and change feed.
- Design data models and partitioning strategies, and use Azure Cosmos DB Agent Kit for AI-assisted development.
Secure, optimize, and deploy database solutions (30–35%)
- Configure authentication, authorization, network security, and dynamic data masking.
- Implement backup and restore, multi-region reads and writes, and partition failover.
- Optimize query and index performance, monitor latency and logs, configure alerts, and manage database fleets.
Implement AI and analytics capabilities in database solutions (20–25%)
- Design full-text, vector, and hybrid search solutions, including Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
- Build agent memory stores for durable memory, conversation state, and semantic memory.
- Use Microsoft Fabric for Cosmos DB mirroring and operational analytics with T-SQL and Spark.
Study Resources
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Frequently asked questions
Who should take DP-420?
DP-420 is for developers who build and optimize scalable applications with Azure Cosmos DB. The certification is now Azure Cosmos DB AI Developer Associate and includes database development, AI retrieval and RAG, agent memory, and analytics with Microsoft Fabric. Candidates should have application-development experience with C# or Python and be familiar with Azure and generative AI concepts.
What is the average salary for an Azure Cosmos DB Developer?
For U.S. Azure Developer roles, ZipRecruiter reports an average annual salary of about $121,476. In the UK, Azure Cosmos DB roles had a £65,000 median advertised salary in the six months to 11 October 2026. These are different roles and measures; pay varies by experience and location.
How should I prepare for DP-420?
Access the free DP-420T00 Course on Microsoft Learn. Then use Microsoft's free Practice Assessment or the MeasureUp DP-420 practice test.
The current DP-420 study guide covers AI retrieval, agent memory, and analytics. The MeasureUp listing still uses earlier objective names, so compare it with Microsoft's current DP-420 study guide before relying on it for the updated exam. Avoid exam dumps: using them can invalidate your score, revoke certifications you already hold, and bar you from future exams.
You can also search the Microsoft Training Services Partners directory for instructor-led options. The DP-420T00 course takes four days; New Horizons lists the course at $2,495 in the U.S. Prices vary by provider and format.
Does the exam include official labs I can use to practice?
Microsoft does not publish a fixed list of exams that include labs, and a lab may be removed if the live environment is unavailable. Check your exam overview when you start; any interactive component is part of the exam, not a practice lab. The self-paced DP-420T00 course on Microsoft Learn may include some tasks using a lab.
If you purchase Instructor-led training, Microsoft Training Partners usually provide access to official labs for about 90 days. Always checks the labs are from Microsoft Partners like Skillable.
Depending on the exam, you could get a trial licence which could include demo data you can use to practice, but that is not always guaranteed and Microsoft often changes policies about free trials with demo data. If you prefer hand-on learning using labs, contact a Microsoft Training Services Partner for Instructor-led training.