Converting a soft assignment to a hard assignment

Summary: Confirm LYNX-X's recommended resource into a named one, by choosing the resource yourself, or by letting the start of the task do it for you.

Applies to

Property	Value
Product	LYNX-X
Version	28.10.9809.0
Required permissions	Read and write access to the project
Last updated	2026-09-04
Owner	Support

Before you start

The task needs a soft assignment already: a resource LYNX-X has recommended against a skill, which nobody has confirmed. In the Assignments tab, a soft assignment shows an asterisk in front of the resource's name. See Choosing how to assign work.

A soft assignment: the asterisk sits on the resource, not on the skill

Note
If you have worked with the older documentation, this is the tab it calls Resource requirements. In LYNX-X the tab is called Assignments. The old phrase still surfaces in one place: the Ettc field reads see resource requirements once a task has started.

Which route do you need?

Both routes below end with the same thing: a named resource and no asterisk. They differ in who makes the decision.

Route	Use it when	Who chooses the resource
Choose the resource	A specific person must do this task.	The person editing the plan, who needs read and write access to the project
Start the task	The plan is running and confirming is a formality.	LYNX-X, by keeping the resource it recommended when the task's status is set to Started

Procedure

Choosing the resource yourself

Select the task and open its Assignments tab.
Select the resource's name.

The resource selector opens. Resources are grouped under match: (the ones who hold the skill) and other:, which is everyone else in the space.

The resource selector, with the people who hold the skill listed under 'match:'

Select the resource you want.
Select OK.

The dialog states what this does in its own words: Pressing OK will 'hard' assign the selected resource(s) to the task.

Letting the start of the task do it

Select the task and open its General tab.
Set Status to Started.
Save.

LYNX-X confirms the resource it had recommended, and begins tracking the work against it.

Expected outcome

The asterisk is gone and the resource is named. The Gantt label changes in the same moment: a soft assignment shows only the skill, a hard one shows the resource in brackets after it.

After confirming: no asterisk, and the task now tracks effort against the named resource

Starting the task also begins tracking it: effort becomes the amount remaining rather than the amount planned, and an ETTC appears.

Undoing a confirmation

Setting the task back to Not started does not return the assignment to soft. It restores the progress figures (effort, status and ETTC), but the resource stays named.

To hand the choice back to LYNX-X:

Open the Assignments tab and select the resource's name.
Select Let Lynx decide.

The current selection clears and the button greys out.

Select OK.

The asterisk returns and the assignment is soft again.

Additional information

Note
The older documentation lists three further routes: entering an ETTC, confirming from Active tasks, and confirming from My activities. They may well exist, but none has been checked against LYNX-X, so none is written up here as a procedure. Use the two routes above, which have been.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Resolution
The asterisk is still showing after you saved.	The detail panel does not always refresh in place. Select another task and come back to this one.
Nobody is listed under match:.	No resource in the space holds that skill. Add the skill to a resource under Configuration > Resources, or pick someone from other:.
Let Lynx decide is greyed out.	It has already been used: the selection is cleared. Select OK to apply it.

Revision history

Version	Date	Author	Changes
1.0	2026-09-04	Support	New article. Notes that Resource requirements has been renamed Assignments.

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