CakePHP 4.x : How to create a set of form controls that list all of the values in a HABTM (through) association? - has-and-belongs-to-many

Question

I'm trying to create single edit form based on contacts that allows me to update/add skill levels for all the skills even if the contact doesn't already have a rating.
Something like:
Edit Contact
Name [TextBox: John Doe]
Skills
C# [TextBox: empty]
C/C++ [TextBox: empty]
Data Analysis [TextBox: 5]
Graphic Design [TextBox: empty]
Javascript [TextBox: 8]
Photography [TextBox: empty]
HTML [TextBox: empty]
Json [TextBox: empty]
Jquery [TextBox: empty]
My tables are configured like this:
Contacts
TABLE `contacts` (
`id` bigint(20) NOT NULL,
`name` varchar(100) NOT NULL
)
(1, 'John Doe')
$this->belongsToMany('Skills', [
'foreignKey' => 'contact_id',
'targetForeignKey' => 'skill_id',
'joinTable' => 'contacts_skills', (Tried with and without)
'through' => 'ContactsSkills', (Tried with and without)
]);
Skills
TABLE `skills` (
`id` bigint(20) NOT NULL,
`name` text NOT NULL
)
(1,'C#'),
(2,'C/C++'),
(3,'Data Analysis'),
(4,'Graphic Design'),
(5,'Javascript'),
(6,'Photography'),
(7,'HTML'),
(8,'Json'),
(9,'Jquery')
$this->belongsToMany('Contacts', [
'foreignKey' => 'skill_id',
'targetForeignKey' => 'contact_id',
'joinTable' => 'contacts_skills', (Tried with and without)
'through' => 'ContactsSkills', (Tried with and without)
]);
ContactsSkills
TABLE `contacts_skills` (
`id` bigint(20) NOT NULL,
`contact_id` bigint(20) NOT NULL,
`skill_id` bigint(20) NOT NULL,
`level` tinyint(1) DEFAULT NULL
)
(1,1,3,5),
(2,1,5,8)
$this->belongsTo('Contacts', [
'foreignKey' => 'contact_id',
'joinType' => 'INNER',
]);
$this->belongsTo('Skills', [
'foreignKey' => 'skill_id',
'joinType' => 'INNER',
]);
I've already dug though the documentation:
https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/orm/saving-data.html
https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/form.html (where I learned about _joinData) NOTE: The multiple select element doesn't
work for _joinData.
And many more. : )
I've tried just about every combination of associations to connect the three tables together, to no avail.
I know I can use _joinData to get the skills that already have a level:
echo $this->Form->control('skills.0._joinData.level');
echo $this->Form->control('skills.1._joinData.level', ['label' => ?????]);
though I'm having issues setting the label to the skill name.
My assumption is that I have to iterate the skills table and build the controls that way, but I don't know how to reference the join table from within the iteration.
Any suggestions?