---
name: certification-setup
description: Create a certification program from scratch, or import an existing program into resumable records with explicit scope and evidence.
license: MIT
---

# Certification Setup

Read the [shared contract](../certification-workshop/references/operating-contract.md) and [program method](../certification-workshop/references/method.md). Establish the intended credential claim, target role/audience, performance level, owner, available sources/SMEs, and immediate outcome. Distinguish a competence credential from a course-completion certificate; do not silently convert one into the other. Propose scope and exclusions when needed, marking them for owner decision.

Use the init helper from [helpers](../certification-workshop/references/helpers.md) to create a new program folder. It produces empty records and working templates, not a completed certification. Draft the charter and development plan using the supplied materials now. Inventory evidence with location, version, rights/restrictions and real/synthetic status. Register unknowns and decision owners. A program without source material can still get a charter, candidate task hypotheses, interview guide, and collection plan; label those hypotheses.

For import, preserve originals, map the existing artifacts to [records](../certification-workshop/references/records.md), report unmapped fields and contradictions, and validate before treating the result as the working copy. Do not silently replace user data. A collection of existing questions does not establish a blueprint or JTA. Finish with a usable charter, current-state summary, and the next concrete development artifact. Route new programs to job analysis.