ArcGIS API for Python Associate 2026 Exam Information Guide
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Exam Details
- Exam Questions: 75
- Exam Duration: 1 Hour, 45 Minutes
- Exam Format: Multiple Choice
- Exam Language: English
- Certification Code: EPYA_2026
- Exam State: In Development
- Operational exam will launch 25 June 2026
Exam Purpose
The ArcGIS API for Python Associate 2026 exam expects the candidate to have 2–4 years of experience in GIS administration, content management, visualization, and analysis using the ArcGIS API for Python.
Target Candidate Audience
The ArcGIS API for Python Associate 2026 exam is intended for candidates with 2–4 years of programming experience seeking to demonstrate knowledge and application of the ArcGIS API for Python. Typical roles of the target candidate may include (but are not limited to):
- Data analysts
- Data scientists
- GIS professionals
- Web GIS users and administrators
- Content publishers
Description of Qualified Candidate
Qualified candidates should demonstrate ArcGIS API for Python programming proficiency in:
- Automating administrative tasks such as managing groups, users, identifying organization settings, and accessing GIS properties
- Implementing content management strategies such as searching content, managing items, controlling sharing, publishing content, and performing bulk content operations
- Creating, updating, and saving web maps and layers, applying rendering methods for spatially enabled DataFrames (SEDF) and feature layers, and plotting charts
- Identifying and using appropriate methods for spatial analysis, which include simple feature and raster analysis
Candidate Qualifications
A qualified candidate should be able to perform the following tasks:
- Publish and overwrite
- Clone content
- Manage content/groups/users
- Create hosted layer views
- Retrieve data from web GIS layers
- Access feature attributes
- Use imagery data
- Perform spatial analysis
- Feature
- Basic raster calculations
- Use Pandas
- Table filter
- DataFrame manipulation
- Select records based on criteria
- Add layers to a web map
- Manage web map components
- Display web map
- Add content to web map/web scenes
- Edit features and records
- Manage package dependencies
- Recommend authentication options
- Perform basic geometry tasks
The following tasks are considered beyond the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the qualified candidate:
- Configure distributed collaboration
- Use advanced modules
- arcgis.learn
- arcgis.network
- arcgis.geoenrichment
- arcgis.realtime
- arcgis.graph
- arcgis.schematics
- arcgis.ai
- arcgis.apps
- Schedule a notebook task
- Perform advanced geometry functions and filter
- Configure JupyterLab environment
- Create and configure Python environment
- Clone users and groups
- Define advanced data structures (abstract syntax trees)
- Define third-party libraries other than Pandas
- Apply intermediate and advanced raster analysis, including orthomapping, segmentation, etc.
- Use ArcGIS Pro and ArcPy
- Perform tasks that require a license
- Network analysis
- Geoenrichment
- Realtime
- Define advanced customizable rendering methods (Autocasting)
A qualified candidate should be familiar with the following:
- ArcGIS API for Python version: 2.4.2 (October 13, 2025 release)
- ArcGIS Online Q3 2025
- ArcGIS Enterprise version: 11.5 (May 22, 2025 release)
Skills Measured
Candidates should use the exam content sections below as a checklist to identify gaps between their knowledge and the skills measured by the exam. The relative weight indicates the approximate size of each section. It is recommended that preparation be focused in areas where knowledge gaps are found.
Administration 31%
- Identify portal/organization settings
- Identify techniques for managing items, groups, and users
- Given a scenario, use the GIS module to manage items, groups, and users
Content Management 32%
- Identify tools for managing content
- Describe the process for managing content
- Given a scenario, use the map and features modules to create and manage web map layers
- Given a set of requirements, use the gis module to publish and update items
Visualization 20%
- Identify tools for creating and editing web map and web scene layers
- Identify strategies for visualizing non-spatial data
- Given a scenario, use the map and features modules to visualize map content
Analyze 17%
- Given a scenario, identify the appropriate type of analysis
- Given a scenario, use the geocode, geometry, features, and raster modules to analyze data
- Use spatially enabled DataFrames to prepare data for analysis (GeoAccessor, GeoSeriesAccessor, pandas DataFrame)
Resources
To help prepare for the exam, we recommend candidates use the training resources provided below, along with reviewing the list of exam objectives, to identify and fill any knowledge gaps. Completing the recommended training courses does not guarantee a passing score on a certification exam.
The Esri-curated learning plan for this exam is updated regularly to reflect the latest Esri Academy resources and resource retirement schedules.
Esri Academy
Esri Community
Link to ArcGIS Documentation
Esri Press Book Resources
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