FSL Resource and Skill Data

Core Concepts

Insert Order

The correct sequence:

1. Skill (standalone — defines the skill type, e.g., "Electrical", "HVAC Certified")
2. ServiceResource (represents the technician or crew — linked to a User or Asset)
3. ServiceResourceSkill (junction between ServiceResource and Skill, with level and dates)
4. ServiceResourceCapacity (capacity hours per period — only for IsCapacityBased resources)

SkillLevel — Numeric Scale (0–99999)

ServiceResourceSkill.SkillLevel is a numeric field ranging from 0 to 99999. Source systems typically use text labels ("Beginner", "Intermediate", "Expert") or percentage scores. You must establish an explicit numeric mapping:

Example mapping: Beginner = 1, Intermediate = 50, Expert = 99, Certified = 99999.

SkillRequirement.MinimumSkillLevel on Work Types sets the minimum skill level a resource must have to be scheduled for that work type. If a resource's SkillLevel < MinimumSkillLevel, the scheduling policy will exclude that resource.

Certification Tracking via Date Range

FSL does not have a dedicated certification object. Certifications are tracked by the EffectiveStartDate and EffectiveEndDate fields on ServiceResourceSkill:

• A skill with no EffectiveEndDate is considered currently active
• A skill with EffectiveEndDate in the past is expired but the record is NOT auto-deleted
• Expired skill records remain in the database and must be queried with date filters to exclude them from active skill reporting

Critical: If a certification expires (EffectiveEndDate reached), the resource will no longer match SkillRequirements for work types that require that skill — but only if the scheduling policy evaluates certification dates.

Capacity-Based Resources

Capacity-based resources represent crews or shift-based workers who are scheduled by capacity (hours available) rather than by individual appointment slot. To configure:

1. Set ServiceResource.IsCapacityBased = true on the resource record
2. Load ServiceResourceCapacity records specifying capacity hours per time period

Attempting to create ServiceResourceCapacity records for a resource where IsCapacityBased = false fails with a validation error.

Common Patterns

Bulk Skill and ServiceResourceSkill Load

When to use: Migrating technician skill data from a legacy field service system or HR system.

How it works:

1. Extract distinct skill types from source. Load as Skill records with External IDs.
2. Load ServiceResource records, linking to existing User records via User.FederationIdentifier or External ID.
3. Load ServiceResourceSkill records mapping ServiceResource External ID + Skill External ID + SkillLevel + dates.

SkillLevel mapping example:

Source: "Certified HVAC Technician"
FSL SkillLevel: 99
FSL SkillRequirement.MinimumSkillLevel on HVAC Work Type: 90
Result: Resource qualifies for HVAC appointments

Certification Expiry Tracking

When to use: Source system tracks certification expiry dates that affect scheduling eligibility.

How it works: Load ServiceResourceSkill.EffectiveEndDate from the source certification expiry date. Build a scheduled report or Flow that queries skills with EffectiveEndDate < TODAY() and notifies the operations team to arrange recertification.

SELECT ServiceResource.Name, Skill.MasterLabel, EffectiveEndDate
FROM ServiceResourceSkill
WHERE EffectiveEndDate < TODAY()
ORDER BY EffectiveEndDate ASC

Decision Guidance

Recommended Workflow

1. Extract distinct skill types — Build a deduplicated list of all skill types in the source data. Create a numeric SkillLevel mapping table.
2. Load Skill records — One record per skill type. Add External IDs.
3. Load ServiceResource records — Map to existing User records. Set ResourceType and IsCapacityBased correctly. Add External IDs.
4. Load ServiceResourceSkill records — Map ServiceResourceId, SkillId, SkillLevel (numeric), EffectiveStartDate, EffectiveEndDate (if applicable).
5. Load ServiceResourceCapacity (if capacity-based) — Only after ServiceResource records have IsCapacityBased = true.
6. Validate SkillRequirement alignment — Query Work Types to confirm SkillRequirement.MinimumSkillLevel values align with the loaded SkillLevel scale.
7. Test scheduling eligibility — Create test ServiceAppointments and verify that resources with the correct skills appear as candidates in the Book Appointment action.

Review Checklist

• Skill records loaded before ServiceResourceSkill
• ServiceResource records loaded before ServiceResourceSkill
• SkillLevel numeric mapping table documented and applied
• IsCapacityBased = true set before ServiceResourceCapacity load
• EffectiveStartDate populated for all ServiceResourceSkill records
• EffectiveEndDate populated for expired/expiring certifications
• SkillRequirement MinimumSkillLevel values on Work Types reviewed against loaded SkillLevel scale
• Test scheduling confirms resource skill eligibility

Salesforce-Specific Gotchas

Non-obvious platform behaviors that cause real production problems:

1. Expired ServiceResourceSkill records are NOT auto-deleted — They remain in the database indefinitely. Reporting on "current" skills must filter by EffectiveEndDate > TODAY() OR EffectiveEndDate = NULL.
2. SkillLevel is numeric 0–99999 — text values throw a type error — Source systems that store skill levels as "Expert" or "Level 3" must be transformed to numbers before loading.
3. IsCapacityBased must be true BEFORE ServiceResourceCapacity is created — Setting IsCapacityBased after attempting to load capacity records fails. The field must be set on the ServiceResource at creation time.
4. ServiceResource links to User or Asset, not Contact — A common migration error is trying to link ServiceResource to a Contact record. Only User and Asset are valid related-record types.

Output Artifacts

Related Skills

• data/fsl-territory-data-setup — ServiceTerritoryMember setup that follows ServiceResource load
• architect/fsl-optimization-architecture — How skill requirements factor into scheduling policy and optimization engine