Prerequisites

Prerequisites control which candidates can access a step and when. A step can be gated by three independent mechanisms, configured together in the step editor's Prerequisites section: Programs, Stages, and Preconditions (results from other steps). All configured conditions must be satisfied before the step becomes available to a candidate.

Programs

Programs are named groups defined at the assessment level. Candidates are assigned to programs when they are invited. In the step's Prerequisites section, you can require program membership: select one or more programs, and only candidates assigned to those programs can access the step.

• If no programs are selected in the step's prerequisites, the program check does not apply — the step is available to every candidate.
• If one or more programs are selected, a candidate can only access the step when they are assigned to all of the selected programs.
• Candidates who don't qualify never see the step — it is hidden from their workspace entirely.

Use programs to run different tracks inside one assessment — for example, a hiring process where developer candidates and designer candidates each see a different set of steps, or a training program where only enrolled participants see an advanced module.

Stages

Stages represent phases of an assessment process, defined at the assessment level. Each candidate can be placed in a stage (or left stageless), and a candidate's stage can change as they progress through your process.

In the step's Prerequisites section, you can require a stage: select one or more allowed stages, and only candidates currently in one of those stages can access the step.

• If no stages are selected in the step's prerequisites (or the assessment defines no stages), the stage check does not apply — the step is available to every candidate.
• If one or more stages are selected, a candidate can only access the step while they are in one of the selected stages.
• Allow stageless candidates — optionally also admit candidates who have no stage assigned.
• Candidates who don't qualify never see the step — it is hidden from their workspace entirely.

This lets you reveal steps progressively: move candidates to the “Interview” stage and the interview-related steps appear in their workspace automatically.

Preconditions — results from other steps

Preconditions gate a step behind the candidate's performance on other steps of the same assessment. You can add multiple preconditions; the candidate must satisfy all of them. Each precondition references another step and defines what the candidate must have achieved on it:

• Complete — the candidate must have at least one successfully completed session of the referenced step.
• Score — the candidate's overall score on the referenced step must meet a threshold.
• Dimension score — the candidate's score on a specific dimension (a named scoring category) of the referenced step must meet a threshold.

Score thresholds

For score-based preconditions, you configure how the score is computed across the candidate's completed sessions of the referenced step, and what it must be compared against:

• Operation — how multiple attempts are aggregated: Last (most recent attempt), Max (best attempt), Min (worst attempt), Average, Sum, or Count (number of completed attempts).
• Comparison — Greater (the computed value must be at or above the target) or Smaller (strictly below the target).
• Target — the threshold. Scores are expressed as percentages (0–100); for the Count operation the target is a plain number of attempts.

For example: “Max score of Step 1 ≥ 70%” admits candidates whose best attempt at Step 1 reached 70 percent, while “Count of Step 2 ≥ 3” requires at least three completed sessions of Step 2.

Show condition — hidden vs. visible while locked

Each precondition also controls what the candidate sees while the condition is not yet met:

• Hide the step — the step does not appear in the candidate's workspace until the condition is satisfied. Use this when candidates shouldn't know the step exists (for example, a second-round test only passers should see).
• Show the step — the step is listed but stays locked until the condition is met. Use this when you want candidates to see what lies ahead and understand why it's not yet available.

Per-candidate overrides

Prerequisites can be relaxed for individual candidates through step customization:

• Always on — marks the step as unconditionally available for that candidate, bypassing all preconditions.
• Pass over — marks a step as skippable for a candidate; any precondition that references the passed-over step is then ignored for them.

Programs, stages, and preconditions are evaluated live in the candidate's workspace — the moment a candidate completes a qualifying session, changes stage, or gains a program, the gated step appears (or unlocks) automatically without any manual action. Deleted programs and stages are ignored in the evaluation, so cleaning up assessment-level definitions never accidentally locks candidates out.

Good to know