New: Catch Placement Problems Before You Generate

Few things sour a placement session like clicking Generate, waiting for a result, and getting back a vague "couldn't build an assignment" message with no clue what went wrong. So we fixed it. Shibutz now checks your class list the moment you hit Generate and tells you exactly what needs to change before you spend time waiting.

What's New

Every generation now starts with a quick class-list check. If your setup can't produce a valid result, Shibutz stops right there and shows a plain-language message naming the problem and how to resolve it. The checks cover the situations that quietly break placements:

• Empty rosters or no classes — a friendly nudge when there are no students to place or nowhere to place them.
• Capacity overflow— when your total seats, or a single class, can't fit the students assigned to it.
• Impossible gender balance — when the boy/girl gap is simply too wide to split across your classes within the allowed gender difference.
• Broken pre-assignments — a pre-assignment pointing at a student or class that no longer exists.
• Contradictory rules — the same pair listed as both a preference and a restriction, or restricted students forced together.

Why It Matters

Class placement is stressful enough without guessing games. Catching a capacity gap or a tangled restriction up front means you fix the real issue in seconds instead of trying again and hoping. The result is fewer dead ends, faster iteration, and more confidence that the balanced class lists you generate hold up to scrutiny.

Risk-only situations — like a student separated from more peers than you have classes — stay as warnings, not blocks. You can still generate on purpose when you know best. The Constraint Health card on your class overview also flags constraint conflicts while you build your list, so plenty of trouble shows up long before you reach the Generate button.

Getting Started

There's nothing to turn on. Open your dashboard, build your class list as usual, and click Generate — the checks run automatically. For the full walkthrough, see Generating Assignments.

New to Shibutz? Sign up free and start building balanced class lists that catch problems before they cost you time.