> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.skillsdb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Checklists

> Build, publish, and assign checklists in SkillsDB — define items and sections, set who can check each item, require sign-off or e-signatures, schedule recurring assignments, and track completion.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Quick Summary:** The Checklists library lets administrators build step-by-step checklists, publish them as versions, and assign them to people or to everyone holding a career. Assigned people and their checkers work through the items, submit the finished checklist, and reviewers sign it off. Checklists can repeat on a schedule and can also be assigned automatically by a journey step.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Note:** The Checklists library is being rolled out gradually and may not yet be visible in every organization. If your organization does not have it yet, **Library > Checklists** shows "Checklists isn't available yet."

## Overview

A checklist is a structured list of items that someone must complete, such as an onboarding procedure, a safety walkthrough, an equipment handover, or a quality inspection. Administrators build checklists in **Library > Checklists**, then assign them to people. Each assigned person gets their own copy, called an assignment, which tracks every item that has been checked, who checked it, and when.

Checklists support far more than simple tick boxes. Each item can be required or optional, can have its own due date, and can be blocked until other items are done. You decide who is allowed to check each item: the assigned person, their manager, specific people, anyone holding a career, or anyone at an access level. When the checklist is finished, it can be submitted automatically, submitted by the assigned person, or signed with an e-signature, and it can require one or more reviewers to sign it off.

Checklists are versioned. You edit a draft, then publish it as a numbered version. New assignments receive the latest published version, while open assignments stay on the version they started with, so a published checklist never changes underneath someone who is working through it.

Building and assigning checklists is limited to administrators. The people who work on an assignment — the assigned person, the people allowed to check items, and the reviewers who sign off — reach it from their **Inbox**, from a person's **Checklists** tab, or from a link, without needing access to the library. Checklists also connect to journeys: a journey can include a Checklist step that assigns a checklist automatically as part of a larger process, such as a promotion.

## Prerequisites

Before you use the Checklists library, you need:

* **Permission level**: Administrator role. Managers and employees cannot open **Library > Checklists**.
* **Setup requirement**: The **Checklists** library must be turned on in **Company > Settings > Hide Library Sections**, and Checklists must be available for your organization.
* **Access requirement**: **Library > Checklists** in the left sidebar

To turn the library on or off, navigate to **Company > Settings**, select **Configure** on the **Hide Library Sections** row, and switch **Checklists** in the **Manage Library Visibility** dialog. The row is labeled "Visible to admins only." When the library is off, direct assignments and library pages are unavailable, but people can keep working on checklists that a journey step assigned to them.

## Creating and building a checklist

You build a checklist in the **Builder** view. Your changes save automatically to a draft as you work.

**1. Create the checklist**

Navigate to **Library > Checklists**, open the **Actions** menu, and select **Checklist** under **Add New** (or press ⌘K / Ctrl+K and search for "New checklist"). The new checklist opens in the **Builder** view.

**2. Name and describe it**

Enter the checklist name and, optionally, select **Add a description…** to add an introduction that appears at the top of every assignment.

**3. Add items and sections**

Open the **Actions** menu and use **Item** under **Add New** for each step and **Section** under **Add New** to group the items below it under a heading. Deleting a section heading keeps its items.

**4. Configure each item**

Select an item to open its settings. Set its **Description**, whether it is **Required**, its **Due** date, **Who can check**, and which items it is **Blocked by**. You can also add **Related** items, **References**, and **Links**.

**5. Preview**

Select **Preview** to see the checklist the way an assigned person will see it.

Item settings control how each step behaves:

| Setting | What it does |
| - | - |
| **Required** | Required items must be checked before the checklist can be submitted. Optional items can be skipped. |
| **Due** | **No date**, **A fixed date**, **Days after assignment**, or **Days after another item**. |
| **Who can check** | **Checklist default**, or **Custom for this item** to choose specific checkers. |
| **Blocked by** | The item cannot be checked until the items it is blocked by are checked. An optional item can't block a required item. |
| **References** and **Links** | Skills and other records, or web links, shown with the item. |

To change several items at once, select them and use the bulk actions in the **Actions** menu: **Make required**, **Make optional**, **Set who can check…**, **Set due date…**, **Move to section…**, **Duplicate**, and **Delete**.

## Choosing who can check items

The **Who can check** setting decides which people may check an item. Choose **Custom for this item** to pick one or more of these sources:

* **The assigned person** — the person the checklist is assigned to
* **The assigned person's manager**
* **People** — specific named people
* **Careers** — anyone holding the chosen careers
* **Access levels** — anyone at the chosen access levels

Then choose how many of them must check the item: **Any one**, or **At least…** a number you set. For example, an equipment check can require at least two people from a Safety Officer career.

If no one on an item's rule can act on a particular person's copy — for example, because the named checker has been deactivated — the assigned person's active manager steps in. If there is no active manager either, an administrator can complete the item by override.

## Configuring checklist settings

Open the **Settings** view of a checklist to control how it is completed, when it is due, and whether it repeats.

**Per-item completion.** **Record type** is **Checkbox**, where each item is ticked off when it's done, or **Signature**, where each item is signed and the finished checklist is sealed with a certificate. A Signature checklist uses a **Signing statement** that each signer confirms. The default is `I verify that {person} has completed this step.`, where `{person}` is replaced with the assigned person's name. **Show item numbers** numbers the items; signed items are always numbered.

**Checklist completion.** **Submission type** decides how the finished checklist is submitted:

| Submission type | Behavior |
| - | - |
| **Automatic** | The checklist submits itself as soon as the last required item is checked. |
| **Simple** | The assigned person presses **Submit** once the required items are done. |
| **E-signature** | The assigned person signs to submit once the required items are done. |

**Require sign-off** can be **Off**, **Simple**, or **E-signature**. When sign-off is on, reviewers confirm the finished checklist, and you choose **Who signs off** with the same sources as **Who can check**. The assigned person can never sign off their own checklist.

**Timeline.** **Due** sets the checklist's due date. After the due date, the assignment shows **Past Due**, and whoever it is waiting on gets a daily reminder. **Repeats** controls recurring assignments, described in the next section.

**Linked records.** **References** are shown at the top of each assignment. A referenced skill's page lists the checklists that reference it.

## Making a checklist repeat

Recurring checklists suit inspections, audits, and refreshers that must be done regularly. Set **Repeats** in the **Settings** view to one of these options:

| Option | Behavior |
| - | - |
| **Doesn't repeat** | You assign it again by hand whenever it's needed. |
| **On a schedule** | Each person gets the next one at a fixed interval, such as every 2 weeks. |
| **After each is completed** | Each person gets the next one a set time after finishing the last. |
| **On calendar dates** | Each person gets one on the same dates every year. |

For repeating checklists you can also set **Assign early**, the number of days before each date that the new assignment arrives, and **If the last is open**, which decides what happens when the previous assignment is still unfinished: **Wait until it's done**, **Skip that date**, or **Cancel and assign new**. **Ends** can be **Never**, **After a number** of assignments, or **On a date**.

## Publishing a checklist

A checklist must be published before it can be assigned. Publishing turns the current draft into a numbered version.

**1. Open the builder**

Navigate to **Library > Checklists** and open the checklist.

**2. Publish**

Open the **Actions** menu and select **Publish v1** (or the next version number).

**3. Fix any problems**

If something is incomplete, SkillsDB lists what to fix before you can publish. For example, every item needs a title, the checklist needs at least one required item, and sign-off needs at least one person who can sign off.

**4. Confirm**

Review the summary and select **Publish v1** in the dialog.

A published version cannot be changed. To make changes later, edit the checklist again, which starts a new draft, then publish the next version. The publish dialog lists the items that were **Added**, **Changed**, and **Removed** since the current version. New assignments get the new version, while open assignments stay on their version unless you move them. To throw away unpublished changes, select **Discard draft**; the published version stays exactly as it is.

The **Versions** view lists every published version. From it you can **Open** a version, **Compare** two versions, or **Start draft from this version**.

## Assigning a checklist

Once a checklist is published, you can assign it to individual people or to everyone holding a career.

**1. Open the checklist**

Navigate to **Library > Checklists** and open the published checklist.

**2. Start the assignment**

Open the **Actions** menu and select **Assign…**.

**3. Choose people**

In **People**, select **Add people** to pick individuals. In **Careers**, select **Add everyone holding a career** to add everyone who holds that career today.

**4. Assign**

Review the list and select **Assign**. The button shows how many people will be assigned.

Each person receives their own assignment of the latest published version. People who already have an open assignment of the same checklist are skipped, and the dialog lists them by name. Adding a career assigns only the people who hold it today; people who join the career later are not added automatically. To assign a checklist automatically as part of a process, add a Checklist step to a journey instead.

You cannot assign a checklist that has never been published or that is archived.

## Working on an assignment

People who are part of an assignment find it in their **Inbox**. The Inbox shows rows such as "Waiting on you" when you are allowed to check items, "Ready to submit" when all required items are done, and "Sign-off needed" when you are a reviewer. A person's profile also shows a **Checklists** tab when they have an assignment the viewer can open.

On the assignment, check each item you are allowed to check. The header shows the status, the due date, and progress as the number of required items done. Assignments move through these statuses:

| Status | Meaning |
| - | - |
| **Not Started** | No item has been checked yet. |
| **In Progress** | At least one item is checked. |
| **Ready to Submit** | All required items are checked and the assigned person must submit. |
| **Awaiting Sign-off** | The checklist was submitted and is waiting for reviewers. |
| **Completed** | The checklist is complete and needs no sign-off. |
| **Signed Off** | Reviewers have signed off the checklist. |
| **Canceled** | An administrator canceled the assignment. |

When the submission type is **Simple** or **E-signature**, the assigned person selects **Submit your checklist** and can add an optional comment. A reviewer then selects **Sign off** to make the checklist final, or **Send back** to return it. When sending back, the reviewer picks the items that need redoing and writes a note answering "What needs to change?". Those items are unchecked, and the assigned person sees the note. For a **Signature** checklist, a **Certificate of completion** is issued when every step is signed; the certificate is shareable and verifiable by its code.

## Tracking assignments and activity

The **Assignments** view of a checklist lists every assignment with its **Status**, **Person**, **Progress**, **Due** date, **Assigned** date, **Version**, and **Repeats** setting. Filter by **Not started**, **In progress**, **Past due**, **Completed**, or **Canceled**.

From the **Actions** menu, administrators can **Nudge all open** assignments, **Export** the list, or select assignments to **Nudge** or **Cancel assignment…**. On a single assignment, the **Actions** menu also offers **Copy link** and **Move to** the latest version. The **Activity** view records every check, submission, and sign-off, and can be exported with **Export** under **Export** in the **Actions** menu.

## Managing the library

The library table shows **Checklist Name**, **Status**, **Version**, **Items (#)**, **Open assignments (#)**, and **Last updated**. A checklist's status is **Draft** until it is first published, then **Published**. A published checklist with edits that are not yet published also shows **Unpublished changes**. Use the view menu to switch between **Active**, **Archived**, and **All** checklists.

From the **Actions** menu you can select **Export** under **Export**, and with rows selected you can **Open**, **Duplicate**, **Archive**, **Restore**, or **Delete**. Importing checklists from a spreadsheet or file isn't available yet.

* **Archive** — An archived checklist can't be assigned, but open assignments continue. You can restore it at any time. Drafts that were never published can't be archived; delete them instead.
* **Delete** — Only drafts that have never been published can be deleted. Published checklists can't be deleted, so archive them instead.

> [!WARNING]
>
> **Warning:** If a journey uses a checklist in one of its steps, SkillsDB blocks archiving and shows "This checklist is used by" the listed journeys. Remove the checklist from those journeys first, so no one gets stuck on a step that can't start.

## Common Questions

> **Can managers create or assign checklists?**
>
> No. Building, publishing, and assigning checklists is limited to administrators in **Library > Checklists**. Managers can still take part in checklists — for example, as the assigned person's manager who checks items or signs off — and they find that work in their **Inbox**.

> **If I publish a new version, what happens to people who already started?**
>
> Nothing changes for them. Open assignments stay on the version they were assigned, and new assignments get the new version. An administrator can move an individual open assignment to the latest version from its **Actions** menu.

> **Can the assigned person sign off their own checklist?**
>
> No. Sign-off is always done by reviewers, never the assigned person. The assigned person can submit the checklist when the submission type is **Simple** or **E-signature**, and then waits for sign-off.

> **What happens when someone holding a career joins after I assigned the checklist?**
>
> They are not added automatically. Assigning by career adds everyone who holds the career at that moment. To assign checklists automatically as people move through a process, use a journey with a Checklist step.

> **Why can't I delete a checklist?**
>
> Published checklists can't be deleted because their assignments and history depend on them. Archive the checklist instead to stop new assignments while open assignments continue. Only drafts that were never published can be deleted.

> **Can I import checklists from a spreadsheet?**
>
> No. Importing checklists from a spreadsheet or file isn't available yet. You can export the library with **Export** under **Export** in the **Actions** menu and duplicate an existing checklist with **Duplicate** to start a similar one.

## Related Articles

> **[Journeys](https://help.skillsdb.com/core-concepts/journeys.md)**
>
> Assign checklists automatically with a Checklist step

> **[Inbox](https://help.skillsdb.com/core-concepts/inbox.md)**
>
> Where checkers and reviewers find their checklist work

> **[Questions](https://help.skillsdb.com/libraries/questions.md)**
>
> Another admin-only library, for reusable assessment and survey questions

> **[Navigation and Shortcuts](https://help.skillsdb.com/core-concepts/navigation-and-shortcuts.md)**
>
> Use the Actions menu and the command menu

## Need More Help?

If you need additional assistance:

* Email [support@skillsdb.com](mailto:support@skillsdb.com)
* Use the in-app help chat
* Schedule a training session with your account manager


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