Anthropic·Software Engineer·Online Assessment (OA)·Intermediate

IntermediatePass

Jun 2026Remote

Summary

Took the Anthropic SWE online assessment and came out feeling pretty good about it. The question pool is small enough that grinding the known problems beforehand basically guarantees you'll recognize whatever shows up. Finished well ahead of time with full marks.

Questions Asked (1)

Implement a Recipe Manager system with the required functionality.

API & IntegrationsTechnical Trade-offs

Author's notes

This one's in the known pool so I'd seen it before going in.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying requirements and constraints, then design a modular system with clear APIs and data models. Discuss trade-offs between different architectural choices, such as SQL vs NoSQL, and outline a scalable, maintainable solution.

Pro tip: Demonstrate awareness of real-world constraints by discussing how you would handle data consistency, concurrency, and API versioning, and mention how you would test and monitor the system.

1. Clarify Requirements

Ask questions to understand the scope: expected scale, user roles, key features (CRUD, search, sharing), and non-functional requirements like performance and security.

2. Design Data Model and API

Define core entities (Recipe, Ingredient, User) and their relationships. Sketch RESTful API endpoints for main operations, considering versioning and pagination.

3. Choose Architecture and Tech Stack

Select appropriate technologies (e.g., PostgreSQL for relational data, Redis for caching) and justify choices based on trade-offs like consistency, scalability, and development speed.

4. Address Scalability and Reliability

Discuss how to handle growth: caching, database indexing, sharding, and load balancing. Mention monitoring, logging, and error handling.

5. Outline Testing and Deployment

Describe testing strategy (unit, integration, end-to-end) and deployment approach (CI/CD, containerization, blue-green deployment).

Key Points to Mention

RESTful API design with proper HTTP methods and status codes
Database choice: SQL vs NoSQL and trade-offs (e.g., ACID vs scalability)
Caching strategies to improve read performance
Handling concurrent updates and data consistency
API versioning and backward compatibility
Security considerations: authentication, authorization, input validation

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.