# MatchMind Community Guidelines & Platform Handbook

**Last updated:** June 30, 2026
**Applies to:** every MatchMind user — students, coaches, and parents — across all features (profiles, scout notes, shared to‑do lists, AI chat, direct messages, and group chats), on phones, tablets, and computers.
**Contact / reports:** help@vexmatchmind.com

> MatchMind exists to help robotics teams prepare, scout, communicate, and compete at their best. Most of our users are students, many of them minors — so the bar for behavior here is the same as at an event: **respectful, honest, and safe.** These guidelines are part of our [Terms of Service](./TERMS_OF_SERVICE.md); breaking them can lead to content removal, a warning, suspension, or a permanent ban.

> **Reminder:** MatchMind is an independent app with **no affiliation** with VEX Robotics, Innovation First International, the REC Foundation, or RobotEvents. Data and AI answers are unofficial — event officials and official publications are always the authority.

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## 1. The short version

1. **Be respectful.** No harassment, hate, bullying, threats, or humiliation — of any person or team.
2. **Keep it appropriate.** No sexual, graphic, or violent content in any message, chat, note, or AI prompt. Filters are enforced; don't try to evade them.
3. **Protect privacy — yours and others'.** Don't share anyone else's personal information. Don't post photos, video, or audio of people without permission.
4. **Use your real, legal name.** Real name, real role, real team, one account, no impersonation.
5. **Compete with integrity.** Scout fairly, don't sabotage, don't cheat, follow event rules and codes of conduct.
6. **Use AI responsibly.** Verify rules and important decisions with official sources.
7. **Report problems.** See something unsafe or against these rules? Report it in‑app or email help@vexmatchmind.com.

## 2. Respectful conduct

- Treat every user the way competition expects teams to treat each other — courteously, even head‑to‑head.
- **Zero tolerance** for: harassment or bullying; hate speech or slurs of any kind; threats or intimidation; sexual content or advances (this is a youth platform); doxxing; encouragement of self‑harm.
- Trash talk about a *robot's design* is part of robotics culture; attacks on *people or teams* are not. Critique designs, not humans.
- Don't spam, flood chats, mass‑promote, or send repetitive unsolicited content.

## 3. Safety for minors (non‑negotiable)

- **Age & consent.** You must be 13+ for a standard account. Under‑13 users need verifiable parental consent, and until it's on file they can't message or share media with people outside their own team.
- **Never** ask another user for personal contact information, social‑media handles, addresses, school schedules, or private photos.
- **Adults (coaches/parents)** must keep every interaction with students team‑appropriate and competition‑focused. Grooming, or any attempt to move a minor to a private off‑platform channel, results in an immediate permanent ban and, where appropriate, a report to authorities.
- **Identity sharing is limited and disclosed.** When you first contact a new person, only your first name, last initial, and email are shared, and MatchMind asks you to confirm you understand — every time. Full names and profile photos are exchanged only once both people are connected. Don't try to work around these protections.
- If anyone makes you uncomfortable, **block and report them**, and tell a coach, parent, or trusted adult. For emergencies, contact local authorities first.

## 4. Messaging and group chats

- **Direct messages.** Keep them respectful and competition‑relevant. Every message passes through automated content filtering before it sends; filtered messages are blocked and never delivered.
- **Group chats.** You can mute a group (no notifications), leave it, or add other people. Adding someone shares your identity with the group under the same acknowledgment rules — don't add people who don't want to be there. When a group is created with you in it, you'll be notified.
- **Don't share other people's information.** Your own first name/last initial/email is shared by design when you reach out; sharing *someone else's* personal information without permission is a violation.
- **Blocking & reporting** are available in conversations — use them. Retaliating against someone for reporting is itself a violation.

## 5. Content rules for specific features

- **Scout notes & attachments:** competition‑relevant photos/videos only (robots, fields, matches). No inappropriate or off‑topic media, and no recording personal details about students.
- **Shared to‑do lists:** keep tasks and comments team‑appropriate; the same conduct rules apply.
- **Shared media (images, audio, video up to 400 MB):** you must have the right to share it, and consent from anyone identifiable in it. No sexual, violent, or harassing media.
- **AI chat:** don't try to make the AI produce hateful, sexual, dangerous, or rule‑breaking content; don't submit other people's personal information; remember AI answers are unofficial.

## 6. Competition integrity

- **Scouting** means observing public matches and public information — fair game, and what MatchMind is built for.
- It does **not** mean accessing other teams' private data, deceiving teams to extract strategy, interfering with robots/equipment, or manipulating match data.
- Don't use MatchMind to violate any event rule or code of conduct. If MatchMind data or AI output ever conflicts with officials — **officials win, full stop.**
- Alliance discussions and offers through the app must be honest. Don't make offers you don't intend to honor, and don't impersonate another team.

## 7. Honest accounts, roles, and names

- One person, one account. Use your **legal name**, your real role (student, coach, or parent), and your real team(s). Misrepresenting a team affiliation, a role (e.g., an unrelated adult posing as a coach), or your name is grounds for an immediate ban.
- You're responsible for what happens on your account. Keep your sign‑in secure and don't share it.

## 8. App rules — warnings, suspensions, and bans

MatchMind checks every message and AI prompt with an automated content filter (which catches common misspellings, spacing, and leetspeak evasions) **before** it is sent. **Flagged content is blocked and never delivered.** Beyond blocking, enforcement escalates with severity and history, and **penalties never reset**:

- **Mild inappropriate language (first time)** → a **recorded warning**. The message is blocked and you're told it was recorded. Do it again and it becomes a suspension.
- **Repeat mild language** → **suspension** (starting around one week and growing with each prior violation).
- **Profanity / abusive language** → **suspension starting at ~3 weeks**, increasing by roughly a week for every prior suspension on your record.
- **Severe content — slurs, hate speech, sexual content, or violent threats** → **permanent ban**, appealable only by email.
- **Trying to evade the filter** (spacing out words, substitutions, etc.) is a violation on its own.

A suspension locks the whole app for your account (your saved data is preserved, never deleted) until it expires or is lifted. We also keep a private moderation record of flagged content for the operator, to enforce these rules and handle appeals. Where safety requires it — especially anything involving a minor — we may preserve and disclose content and notify a coach/organization or authorities.

**Appeals:** if you believe we got it wrong, email **help@vexmatchmind.com** from your account email. A human will review.

## 9. Reporting

- Use in‑app report/block options where available, or email **help@vexmatchmind.com** with the time of the incident, the user/team involved, and screenshots or what was said.
- Reports are confidential. For emergencies or immediate danger, contact local authorities first.

## 10. Platform handbook — using MatchMind well

- **Cross‑device.** Your account and data sync across your phone, tablet, and computer — start a note at an event and finish it at home.
- **Coaches & parents get tailored tools.** Your role shapes what you see and can do (e.g., team limits, parent invites). Pick the role that's actually true for you.
- **End‑of‑year transfer.** At the end of a school year you can move your AI chats, scout notes, to‑dos, and other data to a new team, and change or close your team, **without deleting** your messages or personal content. The app shows you what's happening before you confirm.
- **Data freshness:** competition data comes from the public RobotEvents API and may lag the venue — treat in‑app schedules/scores as helpful, not authoritative.
- **Predictions are estimates**, and the **AI cites sources** where possible — click them. For rules, the official manual and Q&A are the only authority.
- **Be a good alliance citizen:** respond to offers respectfully — a polite decline keeps the community healthy.

## 11. Changes

We may update these guidelines as features evolve (e.g., as messaging, group chats, or media sharing change). Material changes will be announced in‑app. Continued use means acceptance.

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*These guidelines are part of the MatchMind [Terms of Service](./TERMS_OF_SERVICE.md). See the [Privacy Policy](./PRIVACY_POLICY.md) for how we handle data.*
*MatchMind is not affiliated with VEX Robotics, Innovation First International, the REC Foundation, or RobotEvents.*