The invite email
A candidate receives an email with a short invite code in the format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX and a link to download the free TestHike desktop app for their operating system. No account or password is required.
Opening the app
After installing, the candidate opens TestHike and enters their invite code. This immediately loads their specific assessment — the correct programming language, the correct questions, and any time limit already configured. There's no separate setup step or account creation.
Taking the assessment
From here it works like a normal code editor: syntax highlighting, the ability to run code and see test output, and — for coding questions — a visible pass/fail result per test case as they work. If the assessment includes multiple-choice or written questions, those appear alongside the coding tasks in the same session.
If a real (not mock) assessment has activity information or session locking enabled, this runs quietly in the background — the candidate keeps working normally.
What happens if something goes wrong
Progress saves locally roughly every 10 seconds, encrypted, regardless of internet connectivity. If the connection drops or the app closes unexpectedly, reopening it and re-entering the invite code resumes from the last save point — nothing is lost.
Submitting
When the candidate submits, TestHike attaches a checksum and device fingerprint to the result and sends it to your dashboard. Coding and multiple-choice results are available to your team immediately; anything needing manual review follows once a reviewer scores it.
Mock assessments
If your organization offers a mock assessment first, the flow is identical except for the ending: correct answers are shown immediately, nothing is scored toward a real result, and the desktop security controls aren't used at all.
For the technical detail behind all of this, see the Security overview and Privacy Policy.