CPSA Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield CPSA facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What is the primary purpose of a case type in Pega? → To represent a business process and manage its lifecycle
2. Which tool in Pega would you use to identify which rules are executed most frequently and consume the most time? → Performance Analyzer (PAL)
3. In Pega, which authentication mechanism allows users to log in using credentials from an external identity provider without re-entering passwords? → OAuth 2.0 / SAML-based SSO
4. How does Pega support application scalability? → By using reusable rules and hierarchical design
5. Which Pega feature allows developers to create automated validations that confirm a rule produces expected outputs for given inputs? → Unit Test Cases
6. What is the purpose of using a Data Transform in Pega business logic? → To transform and map data between pages
7. In Pega, 'personas' defined during the application design phase map to which runtime security construct? → Access Groups
8. What is the main benefit of using templates in UI design? → They help standardize and accelerate UI creation
9. Which tool in Pega Dev Studio allows architects to view effective security rules and resolved privileges for a specific access group? → Access of Role to Objects (ARO) viewer
10. What does the 'Urgency' property represent in a Pega work item? → A numeric value (0–100) indicating how urgently a work item needs attention
11. In Pega, what is the effect of setting 'Work Queue' versus 'Work List' on an assignment routing rule? → Work Queue sends to a shared pool; Work List sends to a specific operator
12. Which Pega mechanism automatically updates a searchable index when case data changes, enabling fast report queries? → Declare Index
13. What is the purpose of the Performance Analyzer (PAL) tool in Pega? → To profile server-side rule execution and identify performance bottlenecks
14. What is the purpose of a section rule in Pega? → To define reusable UI layouts
15. In Pega, which best practice reduces database load when the same reference data (e.g., a list of countries) is needed repeatedly across a session? → Storing data in a thread-scope Data Page with 'Reload once per interaction'
16. Which component is used in Pega to organize multiple views in a single layout? → Harness
17. Why are data pages used in Pega? → To retrieve and cache data efficiently
18. When is it preferable to use a Data Transform instead of an Activity for data manipulation? → When setting default values, copying pages, or mapping data between objects.
19. Which Pega SLA rule interval is triggered when the work item has not been completed even after the Deadline has passed? → Passed Deadline
20. In Pega, which rule type is used to create a list report that retrieves case data from the database? → List View
21. What is the recommended approach in Pega to display key performance indicators (KPIs) on a manager dashboard using live case data? → Summary Reports embedded in a Dashboard harness section
22. What is the primary purpose of the Tracer tool in Pega Platform? → To trace and debug rule execution step-by-step during runtime
23. What is the role of a skin in Pega UI design? → To define UI themes and styles
24. Which of the following is an example of an 'automation' shape that can be added as a step in a process to perform an action without requiring user interaction? → Create PDF
25. Which Pega tool provides a visual summary of a case's SLA status, showing goal and deadline thresholds relative to the current time? → Case Manager portal SLA indicator
26. What does a high Pega Guardrail compliance score indicate about an application? → The application follows Pega best practices and platform standards
27. In Pega, what is the primary purpose of a Service Level Agreement (SLA) rule? → To set time-based deadlines and escalation actions for assignments or cases
28. What is the generally recommended minimum Pega Guardrail compliance score for a production-ready application? → At least 80%
29. What is the recommended approach in Pega to grant temporary elevated access to a specific operator without permanently modifying their access group? → Use delegated administration to temporarily assign an additional access group
30. What is the Pega Security Checklist used for? → Identifying common security vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in a Pega application