Capabilities are access permissions tied to your worker profile.

They determine:

• Which tasks you can see.

• Which worker pools you belong to.

• What workflows are available to you.

You can think of capabilities as role-based access that evolves as you participate in Alpha. Capabilities are not rankings or status indicators. Their purpose is to match workers with appropriate tasks and testing workflows.

Effect Alpha uses capabilities to:

• Test new workflows safely with smaller groups.

• Match tasks to contributors with relevant skills or experience.

• Maintain dataset quality through skill-based routing.

• Gradually expand access as the platform evolves.

Capabilities allow the system to scale while maintaining consistency and fairness.

During Alpha, capabilities may be granted in several ways.

Assigned During Onboarding

Some capabilities are granted automatically when you join based on:

• Alpha testing phase

• Initial onboarding information

• Early testing cohorts

These provide initial access to available workflows.

Earned Through Participation

You may gain additional capabilities through ongoing activity, such as:

• Completing specific task types

• Participating in testing events

• Demonstrating consistent engagement

Participation helps the system identify workers ready for expanded access.

Earned Through the Capability Marketplace

Effect Alpha includes a Capability Marketplace where you can actively pursue new capabilities.

The marketplace shows:

• Available capabilities you can attempt to unlock.

• Assessments designed to evaluate specific skills or understanding.

These assessments function as structured evaluations.

When you pass an assessment:

• The corresponding capability is granted to your account.

• New workflows or task pools may become available.

This allows workers to intentionally expand their access rather than waiting for assignments.

Temporary or Event-Based Capabilities

Some capabilities may be:

• Time-limited

• Assigned for special testing phases

• Removed after experiments conclude

This is normal during Alpha and does not reflect performance.

If tasks are unavailable, it often relates to capabilities rather than account issues.

Possible reasons include:

• The task requires a capability you do not yet have.

• The task belongs to a limited testing group.

• The worker pool is currently full.

Not seeing tasks usually means access requirements differ, not that something is wrong.

How Capabilities Work Behind the Scenes

Effect Alpha uses capabilities together with manager nodes and dynamic task routing to decide which tasks appear in your dashboard.

Rather than showing a static list of tasks to everyone, the platform distributes work in real time based on several factors.

Dynamic Task Routing

When tasks become available, the system evaluates:

• Which workers are currently online.

• Which capabilities are required for the task.

• Which worker pools are eligible.

• Current testing goals or experiment phases.

Tasks are then routed to matching workers instead of being shown globally.

This helps ensure:

• Higher-quality results.

• Fair distribution of work.

• Controlled testing environments during Alpha.

Capabilities are dynamic and may evolve over time.

You may:

• Gain new capabilities through assessments or participation.

• Be moved between worker pools.

• Lose temporary capabilities after testing phases end.

Changes are part of normal platform development.

While availability varies during Alpha, you can increase opportunities by:

• Completing tasks carefully and consistently.

• Checking the Capability Marketplace regularly.

• Attempting available assessments.

• Participating in new workflows when announced.

Capabilities help expand access gradually.