Skills and assignment
Plenar assigns every unassigned task automatically — it’s part of computing the plan, not a mode you turn on. Skills let you tell Plenar who’s qualified for what, so it routes work to the right people instead of just whoever’s free.
Defining skills
Skills are defined at the organization or project level. Examples: “Frontend”, “Backend”, “DevOps”, “Design”, “Security”, “Data Engineering”. A member either has a skill or doesn’t — there are no proficiency levels. Model depth with more specific skill names (“React”, “React Native”) rather than levels.
Assigning skills to team members
In the project’s team panel, select a member and check the skills they have. A member can hold any number of skills, and one with no skills can still take tasks that have no skill requirements.
Task skill requirements
Each task can list required skills. When a task requires “Backend” and “Security”, Plenar looks for members who have them. Set requirements from the task detail panel, or include them when creating tasks via plenar_create_plan or plenar_add_tasks.
How Plenar assigns work
When it computes the plan, Plenar picks a member for every unassigned task, weighing:
Skill scheduling is a single on/off control in the Controls sidebar (on by default). When it’s off, skills are ignored and anyone can take any task. When it’s on, skills shape who’s eligible — see below.
Auto vs Locked assignments
Every assignment is one of two kinds:
Assigning someone to a task yourself locks it. To hand a task back to Plenar, clear its assignee and it returns to Auto. This is the same Auto / Locked distinction shown on the task’s assignee field in the Scope tab.
How skill matching works
With Skill scheduling on, Plenar matches each task with required skills along a fallback chain, preferring the closest fit:
- Exact — members who have all the required skills. If any exist, Plenar assigns from this group.
- Partial — if no one has all of them, members who have some. Plenar assigns the best partial match and raises a
partial skill matchwarning. - Anyone — if no one matches at all, Plenar still assigns an available member and raises a
skill mismatchwarning so you can see the gap.
So a task is never left unscheduled just because the perfect person isn’t available — Plenar assigns someone and flags it. (There are no “strict / loose” matching modes to choose; this fallback is automatic.)
When no one has the required skill
The task is still assigned (by fallback) and flagged with a warning — error severity for Must tasks, warning for Nice. A task only goes genuinely unassigned when the project has no team members at all. To clear a skill-mismatch warning: add a qualified member, drop the skill requirement, or lock the task to whoever should do it. See Warnings and conflicts for the full list.
Redistributing assignments
Normally Plenar keeps Auto assignments stable across recomputes — your team doesn’t wake up to reshuffled work after every change. When you want a clean redistribution — a new teammate joined, someone left, or you cut a lot of scope — run a fresh recompute (plenar_recompute, or the recompute action in the dashboard). It clears Auto assignments and redistributes them across the current team; Locked assignments stay put. Plenar also does this automatically the first time it computes a project and whenever you change who’s on the team.
Best practices
Common questions
Do skills have proficiency levels? No — a member either has a skill or doesn’t. Use more specific skill names to capture depth.
Can I stop Plenar from moving a task’s assignee? Yes — assign it yourself. A manual (Locked) assignment is pinned and never reassigned, even on a fresh recompute.
Why was a task assigned to someone without the skill? When no fully-qualified member is free, Plenar assigns the best available person and raises a skill-mismatch warning rather than leaving the task unscheduled.
How do I redistribute work after the team changes? Run a fresh recompute — it reassigns Auto tasks across the current team while leaving Locked ones in place. Plenar triggers this automatically when you add or remove team members.
What to do next
- Team management — add members and the team skill catalog first.
- Availability — capacity and time off that assignment plans around.
- Warnings and conflicts — resolve skill-match and unassigned-task warnings.
- Settings — the Skill scheduling control and other scheduling settings.