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How cohorts work

Quiet competition with people sitting the same exam as you. No friend lists, no chat, no exposed identities.

Auto-assignment​

The first time you open the Cohort tab on a certification, I call ensure_cohort_membership and place you in the cohort for that cert. There is exactly one cohort per certification — everyone studying for AWS SAA, for instance, lands in the same group. You don't pick, invite, or apply.

Membership is idempotent: open the tab again and I return the same cohort, not a new one.

info

Cohorts are scoped to a certification, not a target month. If you have multiple active certifications, you have one cohort per cert. The leaderboard you see is always for your active certification.

Anonymous display names​

You don't appear by your real name. I generate an anonymized handle the first time you join, like:

  • Storage Scholar #4217
  • Network Sentinel #0309
  • Identity Architect #8821

The noun is hinted from your weakest domain at the time of joining (so the handle has some character to it), or pulled from a fallback pool if your domain scores aren't ready yet. The 4-digit suffix is derived from a stable hash of your user ID, so the same user keeps the same handle within the cohort across sessions.

Other members see your handle. They never see your real name, email, profile photo, or target date.

Pro and above only​

Cohorts are a paid-tier feature. On the free plan the Cohort tab shows an upgrade prompt. Once you upgrade to Pro or Exam Ready you're auto-joined the next time you open the tab — no migration step.

What you can do in a cohort​

  • See the live leaderboard — top 50 members by readiness, updated in real time.
  • See the activity feed — milestone completions and 80% crossings from cohortmates.
  • Receive group push notifications when a cohortmate clears a meaningful threshold.

You cannot:

  • Message other members.
  • See their target exam date or country.
  • See their roadmap, sessions, or errors.

This is intentional. The cohort exists to give you a pulse on the field, not a social graph.

Cohort size​

The default cap was lifted to 10,000 members so a popular certification doesn't block new joins. You won't see all of them — the leaderboard renders only the top 50 by readiness — but the activity feed and group notifications cover everyone.

tip

The point of the cohort isn't to win. It's to know whether your pace is real. If you're at rank 5 of 600 with 78% readiness, your prep is on. If you're at rank 200 with 38%, take that signal seriously and tighten the daily plan.