Build & Match — how the two platforms work together
Goal: Understand how Skilladder's Build and Match platforms connect, what data flows between them, and what that means for question quality reporting.
What Build and Match are
Skilladder runs on two distinct platforms that serve different purposes:
| Platform | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Build | Where assessments, templates, the question bank, and candidate results are managed. Company admins, Directory admins, and Platform admins work here — this is the internal tool you're reading about now. |
| Match | Where candidates take kitchen assessments in a focused, standalone environment. Participants access Match via a short access code and complete assessments without access to the Build interface. |
The two platforms are connected. Content flows from Build to Match, and candidate response data flows from Match back to Build automatically.
How an assessment moves from Build to Match
Deploying to Match is a manual step done by a Platform or Directory admin from within Build.
- Open the assessment on Build.
- Go to its Settings tab → Match Platform Deployment section.
- Click Deploy to Match.
On success:
- A kitchen assessment is created on Match using the questions from the Build assessment.
- An access code (short alphanumeric) is shown — this is what participants enter on Match to start the assessment.
- The access code does not change if you re-deploy an updated version later.
See Deploy an assessment to Match for the full step-by-step.
How response data flows back from Match to Build
When a participant completes an assessment on Match, their answers are sent to Build. This is what makes it possible to run Item Analysis on Match questions from within the Build question bank.
There are two mechanisms:
| Mechanism | When it runs |
|---|---|
| Real-time sync | Triggers immediately when a participant submits on Match. Usually lands in Build within a few minutes. |
| Nightly backup sync | Runs at 03:00 UTC each night. Covers a 25-hour window, catching any sessions the real-time trigger may have missed. |
The nightly schedule in full:
| Time (UTC) | Direction | What syncs |
|---|---|---|
| 02:00 | Build → Match | Active assessment templates |
| 02:20 | Build → Match | Live validated questions |
| 02:40 | Match → Build | Match-native templates (arrive on Build as drafts) |
| 03:00 | Match → Build | Completed candidate sessions |
What this means for the Question Bank
Because Build collects response data from both platforms, the Item Analysis tab in the Question Bank includes psychometric metrics for questions used in both Build and Match assessments — in a single unified view.
The Assessment dropdown in Item Analysis lists every assessment that has response data, regardless of which platform it ran on. Match assessments appear alongside Build assessments, labelled by their name.
This means you can:
- Run analysis on a Match kitchen assessment to see question difficulty and discrimination.
- Compare the same question's performance across a Build version and a Match version.
- Use real Match candidate data to inform which bank questions to promote, monitor, or retire.
See Question bank — Item Analysis for how to read and act on the metrics.
Common questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| A candidate just finished on Match — why isn't the data showing in Item Analysis yet? | Real-time sync usually lands within minutes. If it hasn't appeared after 15 minutes, ask a platform admin to check Admin → Sync command center (platform-admin only) for the health badges on Session ingest (event queue) (channel 7) and Session import (nightly) (channel 8). If either shows a warning or error, the card shows what failed and the platform admin can use the Re-trigger button to process the queue immediately. If the command center looks healthy but data is still missing after the 03:00 UTC nightly sync window, escalate to #producttech_cooking with the assessment name and approximate completion time. |
| I re-deployed an assessment to Match with new questions. Will Item Analysis update? | Yes. The 02:20 UTC sync pushes updated questions to Match nightly. Once candidates complete sessions with the new questions, response data accumulates and you can re-run analysis. |
| A Match assessment isn't showing in the Item Analysis dropdown. | No candidate response data exists for it yet — either no one has completed it, or the real-time sync hasn't fired. Check again after the 03:00 UTC nightly sync. |
| I see "Match Assessment #[id]" instead of a name in the dropdown. | That assessment was imported before the platform started storing names. The metrics are correct — it's only the display label that's missing. |
| Can company admins see Match assessment data in Item Analysis? | Yes, as long as they have Question Bank access. Item Analysis is read-only for non-operators. Only Platform and Directory admins can trigger a Run Analysis. |