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You can build your own coding questions as Custom Tests. Because coding challenges are graded automatically, a small setup mistake can break grading for every candidate.

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Common Problems

Most reported issues trace back to one of these setup mistakes:
An input/output bug does not fail in a way that gets noticed right away. It marks all submissions wrong, and you may only find out after candidates have completed the assessment.
Where possible, use Equip’s own coding content instead. Each question has been attempted by thousands of candidates, so it is proven to work.

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Validating Test Cases

Before inviting anyone, confirm that a correct solution passes every test case in every enabled language.
1

Review the problem statement

State the input format, the output format, and any constraints explicitly.
2

Check the boilerplate for every language

Verify the driver and starter code for each enabled language, not just the one you wrote the question in. See Writing a Boilerplate and Test Cases for a worked example.
3

Verify sample and real test cases

Work through them by hand. Confirm the expected output matches exactly, including spacing and line breaks.
4

Attempt the challenge in Preview

Add the test to an assessment and open it in Preview. Submit a known-correct solution in each enabled language and confirm all test cases pass. Previews are free and unlimited for your whole team.
If you randomize coding questions, validate every variant separately. Each variant must keep at least one enabled language, and the builder will block you otherwise.

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Getting Help

Equip’s support team cannot triage custom coding questions for you. If a custom coding question misbehaves, in almost all cases the question was not set up correctly, and the validation steps above resolve the vast majority of issues.
If the skill you want to test would be broadly useful to other companies, Equip can create the test for you, usually free of charge. Reach out via live chat or email hello@equip.co; turnaround is around 5 business days for most skills. See Can’t Find Your Role or Skill? for details.