Understand Checklist Structure

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At a glance

A checklist in OneClick is a reusable definition that describes a set of tasks, when they need to be completed, and who needs to complete them. When a shift runs, a checklist surfaces to team members working positions the checklist is assigned to. This reference covers the anatomy of a checklist, the lifecycle from creation to review, and how checklists relate to Positions, Shifts, and the Lists panel.

Before you start

This is a reference article. Read it once, return when needed. Companion How-To articles cover the workflows (Create a Checklist, Edit a Checklist, Assign a Checklist to a Position, Review a Completed Checklist, and more).

Core reference content

What a checklist is, and what it is not

A checklist is a definition. Creating a checklist does not immediately put tasks in front of team members; it creates the template that surfaces when the right conditions are met. Three conditions must align:

1. Position assignment. The checklist must be assigned to a position. Team members working that position during a shift see the checklist; team members in other positions do not. Associated Checklists in the Layout Editor make this automatic per position.
2. Schedule. Each checklist has a repeat rule (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Persistent) that controls which shifts it appears on.
3. Permission to view and complete. Each checklist has an optional Required Permission Level. Team members whose role does not carry that permission do not see the checklist. Leaving this blank makes the checklist visible to everyone on shift.

A checklist is not a direct task assignment to an individual team member. Assignment flows through the position occupied during the shift, not through the team member's profile. If a team member works a different position tomorrow, they will see the checklists assigned to that other position, not the ones from today. For single-person single-due-date work, use One-off Tasks instead; those are assigned directly to a team member.

The parts of a checklist

Every checklist definition has the following components.

Name. The display name leaders and team members see. Good names describe the outcome ("Opening Line Setup") rather than the schedule ("Morning List").

Tasks. The items inside the checklist, in order. OneClick supports nine task types:

1. Checkmark. Simple done-or-not-done toggle.
2. Number. Numeric input (counts, quantities, temperatures).
3. Slider. Numeric input with a slider control for ranges.
4. Dropdown. Pre-defined list of options to choose from.
5. Short Answer. Single-line text input.
6. Long Answer. Multi-line text input.
7. Signature. Drawn or typed signature for sign-off.
8. Photo. Image upload for visual proof.
9. Multiple Phase. Tasks with sub-stages, each completed in order.

Each task's text supports Markdown formatting for photos (Google Drive HASH pattern), links (bracket-paren syntax), and bold (double asterisks or double underscores). See Create a Checklist for the syntax details.

Sections. Tasks can be grouped under sections. Sections are how you later assign specific team members to subsets of the checklist and how Auto-Assign distributes work across the team. Each section header in the checklist editor carries a Don't Auto-Assign checkbox. When checked for a section, that section is excluded from the Auto-Assign distribution. team members can still be assigned to it manually, but the Auto-Assign button skips it. VERIFY Q41: confirm exact intent (is "Don't Auto-Assign" for sections that should always be manual, for leader-only sections, or another use case?. pending Jared).

Repeat rule. When the checklist regenerates. Four options:

1. Daily. Generates a new instance every day.
2. Weekly. Generates on specific days of the week.
3. Monthly. Generates once per month on a chosen date (1-31). A new version is generated after the due date.
4. Persistent. Weekly or monthly window where items carry over between days until the single due date at the end. Weekly Persistent uses Sunday-Saturday; Monthly Persistent uses dates 1-31. Use this for work that can be done any day across the window but must be complete by the end.

Timing rules. When inside a shift the checklist needs to be completed (open, mid-shift, close).

Notifications. Optional emails when the checklist is completed or when it is incomplete past its due time.

Non-minor flag. When enabled, the checklist (or specific sections of it) will not be auto-assigned to team members flagged as minors (ages 15 and under, or 16-17 depending on store configuration). Use for tasks with age-restricted equipment or procedures.

Required Permission Level. The permission a role must carry to see and complete the checklist. Permission-based, not role-name-based, since role names are configurable per store. Setting this also auto-disables Auto-Assign for the checklist.

Position assignments (Associated Checklists). Which positions the checklist appears for. Configured in the Layout Editor through the Associated Checklist field on each position; the assignment flows through to running shifts.

Auto-Assign eligibility. Whether this checklist participates in the Auto-Assign distribution flow on the Shifts screen (covered in the next subsection).

Auto-Assign, three-factor logic

The Auto-Assign feature distributes checklists to team members on a shift with one press of the Auto Schedule button on the Checklists screen. It is not random; it considers three factors:

1. Age. Minors are not assigned to checklists flagged as Non-minor.
2. Permissions. By default, Auto-Assign only distributes to team members (not leaders). The setting that controls leader inclusion is the Include [FOH/BOH] Leaders in Auto-Assign toggle in Manage Checklists settings. The toggle label is side-conditional: on the FOH side it reads "Include FOH Leaders in Auto-Assign"; on the BOH side it reads "Include BOH Leaders in Auto-Assign." The label always names the currently active area. When this toggle is on, leaders on that side participate in the Auto-Assign randomization.
3. History. The system checks two sub-factors: whether the team member was already assigned a checklist today, and whether they have been assigned this specific checklist within the repeat window (day, week, or month). The goal is to prevent the same person from repeatedly getting the same checklist.

Auto-Assign cannot be disabled globally. A store can simply not use the button. Per-checklist disable is controlled by the Required Permission Level field (setting a permission level auto-disables Auto-Assign for that checklist). Per-section disable is controlled by the Don't Auto-Assign checkbox on each section header in the checklist editor.

Completion tracking and name-stamping

When a team member completes a task, the system records a name stamp based on how the store is authenticated:

1. PIN login. The task records the name of the team member whose PIN was used.
2. Service Account without PINs. Tasks record as "Anonymous" when the store uses a shared Service Account and has disabled PIN usage.

Stores that need task-level accountability should enable PIN usage; stores that prioritize speed of completion over attribution use the Service Account path.

Visual indicators on the Shifts screen

Checklists surface on the Shifts screen with three visual signals that leaders can scan quickly:

Progress bar. Top of every checklist card. Dark blue indicates in progress (some tasks done, more to go). Green indicates almost completed (most tasks done).

Section dots. Next to the checklist name, one dot per section. Grey means the section is not assigned to anyone. Orange means the section is assigned and in progress. Green means the section is completed.

Time stamp indicator. A badge (like "Within 4h" or "Wait 1h") showing when the checklist needs to be complete. Follows the same color rules as break stamps.

The checklist lifecycle

A checklist moves through defined states over its lifetime. [VERIFY: confirm exact state names against the Checklist Manager UI.]

1. Draft. Created but not yet active. Will not surface on shifts.
2. Active. Surfaces on shifts according to its repeat rule and position assignments.
3. In progress. A team member has started completing it during a current shift.
4. Completed. All tasks marked complete during the shift.
5. Reviewed. A leader has opened the completed checklist and reviewed the work.
6. Archived or deactivated. No longer surfaces on future shifts; history is preserved. See Deactivate a Checklist.

A checklist can be Reset during a shift if needed (for example, the wrong team member started it). [VERIFY: confirm whether Reset is a feature in the Checklists module and its exact location and behavior.]

Auto-Save, and why Save is still needed

The Checklist Manager auto-saves individual text edits when you click outside a text field. This prevents lost work on minor edits (fixing a typo, rewording a task). Structural changes (adding or removing tasks, changing task types, renaming sections, toggling notifications) still require the Save button at the top of the expanded checklist to commit. The split exists because structural changes can cascade to every running checklist instance, so OneClick asks for an explicit commit; text-only changes do not cascade and are committed on blur.

Where checklists surface in the daily workflow

Understanding where checklists show up matters more than understanding the underlying data model. Three surfaces matter:

Shifts screen, Checklists quick-button. A quick-access button near the top of the Shifts page. Badges with a number when checklists are due during the current shift time.

Layout Editor, Associated Checklists. Where a checklist is tied to a position. Once associated, any team member placed into the position on the Shifts screen automatically receives the checklist on their device.

Checklist review. After a shift, a leader opens the completed checklist and reviews the work. See Review a Completed Checklist.

How checklists relate to other modules

Permissions. Every checklist has an optional Required Permission Level. See Understand Permission Levels.

Positions (Layout Editor). Checklists are associated to positions, not roles or team members. Changing position configuration in the Layout Editor affects which checklists surface on running shifts.

Shifts and Layouts. Which checklists surface on a given shift depends on the layout template for that shift time (which positions are filled) and which team members are scheduled into those positions.

Training Ratings. No direct dependency. A team member can be rated on a position regardless of whether a checklist was completed that shift.

Training Passports. No direct dependency. Passports track position certification; checklists track shift-level task completion. They can run in parallel for the same team member.

One-off Tasks. A sibling feature in the Checklists module, for single-person single-due-date work that does not fit the repeating-checklist model.

Video

Not planned.

Common gotchas

I created a checklist and it is not appearing on the Shifts screen.

Creating a checklist does not assign it. Open the Layout Editor, find the position, and set the Associated Checklist field. Or on the Shifts screen, drag-and-drop a team member onto a checklist section to assign them manually. See Associate a Checklist with a Position and Assign a Checklist to a Position.

A team member says they cannot see the checklist on their device.

Four likely causes. First, the checklist is not associated with the position they are working today. Second, the team member's role does not carry the Required Permission Level. Third, the checklist is flagged Non-minor and the team member is a minor. Fourth, device cache: ask them to log out and back in.

Two checklists have the same name, and I do not know which is which.

Position associations disambiguate. Open the Layout Editor, check each position's Associated Checklist field, and see which checklist is actually running on which position.

I deactivated a checklist but the completion history seems to be gone.

Deactivation preserves history. If history is missing, it may be filtered out of the current view. [VERIFY: confirm the default visibility of deactivated checklists in history and review surfaces.]

Auto-Assign did not distribute to a leader I expected.

By default, Auto-Assign only distributes to team members, not leaders. Check Manage Checklists settings for the Include [FOH/BOH] Leaders in Auto-Assign toggle. The toggle label names the current active area. make sure you are on the correct FOH or BOH side when checking this. If the toggle is on and leaders are still not receiving, verify the checklist does not have a Required Permission Level set (which disables Auto-Assign entirely) and that the leader has not already been assigned a checklist today.

A section of the checklist is not getting auto-assigned even though the checklist itself is active.

Check whether the "Don't Auto-Assign" checkbox is enabled on that section header in the checklist editor. When checked, that section is excluded from Auto-Assign distribution. Uncheck it to allow Auto-Assign to distribute the section.

Task completion shows as Anonymous instead of a team member's name.

The store is using a shared Service Account with PIN usage disabled. Task-level name stamping requires PIN login. If you need name stamps, enable PINs in the Service Account configuration.

The Persistent repeat rule is confusing me.

Persistent is the odd one. Daily, Weekly, and Monthly all generate a fresh instance of the checklist on a schedule and do not carry unfinished work forward. Persistent uses the same weekly or monthly window but leaves unfinished items in place across days until the end-of-window due date. Use Persistent for deep-clean work that can be knocked out on any day of the window; use Daily, Weekly, or Monthly for time-boxed work that resets each cycle.

Related articles

1. Create a Checklist (How-To)
2. Edit a Checklist (How-To)
3. Duplicate an Existing Checklist (How-To)
4. Deactivate a Checklist (How-To)
5. Assign a Checklist to a Position (How-To)
6. Associate a Checklist with a Position (How-To). Layout Editor side of the position-to-checklist association.
7. Review a Completed Checklist (How-To)
8. Set Up Auto-Schedule for Checklists (How-To)
9. Create a One-off Task (How-To). Single-person single-due-date companion.
10. Restrict a Checklist to Leaders Only (How-To). Required Permission Level workflow.
11. Turn Off Email Notifications for a Checklist (How-To)
12. Why a Checklist Is Not Appearing (Troubleshooting)
13. Understand Permission Levels (Reference)
14. Understand the Layout Editor (Reference)

Still stuck

If checklist behavior does not match this reference, submit a support ticket and include your store number, the name of the checklist, the position and shift involved, and a screenshot of what you expected versus what you saw.

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Pre-publish checklist status

37 9c08f816-2dc8-46d6-bb07-a1d3d1f30891 complete Seven sections filled (Reference adaptation).

38 d1113cb0-5c18-426d-97e0-df596f7c2dba complete At a glance within template spec.

39 f078b5e7-87b7-4d4b-a65a-95b30bf270d9 complete No em dashes, no hedge words, permission-based throughout.

40 e7d931ee-a943-4e3c-a39c-785b091a0f61 complete Flag 24 enrichment: nine task types, four repeat rules with Persistent semantics, Auto-Assign three-factor logic, Non-minor gating, Anonymous vs PIN name-stamping, progress-bar and dot-indicator visual semantics, Auto-Save behavior, Markdown formatting reference.

41 49a3cc79-fe62-4e20-841d-84b7a465ba89 complete Related article links activated.

42 fd5b8e1f-1639-41e2-819c-e014ae919e24 complete v3 2026-05-05: Auto-Assign toggle label = side-conditional ("Include FOH Leaders in Auto-Assign" / "Include BOH Leaders in Auto-Assign"). Per-section Don't Auto-Assign checkbox documented (VERIFY Q41 pending Jared for intent). Source: F-51, F-55.

43 0b1d38bb-7938-437f-b1c6-5924cfd1be9a incomplete VERIFY Q41: Don't Auto-Assign per-section checkbox. confirm intent (manual-only vs leader-only vs other).

44 306ca364-c1c0-431e-9752-b5b2b8433384 incomplete VERIFY: exact lifecycle state names against Checklist Manager UI.

45 3a15d6a3-1dcb-4473-b903-696840a90752 incomplete VERIFY: Reset behavior.

46 6d90c175-ecc2-49a8-977f-c0709f932e80 incomplete VERIFY: deactivated history visibility.

47 94ea6bb7-ec55-42da-834f-f1fab0ec4c2e incomplete UI verified against Production.

48 2f0b65ec-26d2-413e-9975-a20864563b9c incomplete Reviewed by Jared and Kevin.

Source

v1 drew from alpha-verified Create a Checklist drafting observations. v2 Flag 24 enrichment draws from the kb.oneclickapp.com Checklists article uploaded to KBRW Turn 26 (April 24, 2026). v3 live-UI gaps sourced from the 2026-05-02 clickthrough log (store 99997), findings F-51 and F-55.