Docs About Instinctor Booking and Appointments

Booking and Appointments

Instinctor includes a full booking system for service-based businesses: salons, spas, clinics, fitness studios, consultants, and similar. No third-party booking plugin or app required.

What the booking system does

  • Define services (name, duration, price, deposit, buffer time)
  • Set team member schedules with per-staff hours and time-off
  • Let customers book through a visual booking widget embedded in any page
  • Let customers choose a specific staff member (stylist, therapist, trainer) by name
  • Receive booking notifications by email or SMS
  • Manage all appointments in the admin dashboard
  • Accept deposit payments via Stripe to hold appointments

How customers book

There are two booking flows:

1. Visual booking widget (Impulse)

The booking block in the Impulse page builder places a full booking UI directly on any page. No external link, no redirect. Customers stay on the site and book through a clean 3-step flow:

Step 1: Pick a service, choose a stylist, select date and time

  • Customer selects a service from the dropdown
  • If the business has team members configured, a stylist picker appears: photo or initial, first name, title. "Any available" is always the first option.
  • Selecting a stylist filters the calendar to show only their available slots
  • Customer picks a date, then a time slot

Step 2: Enter contact details

  • Name, email, phone, optional note
  • If the service has a deposit, Stripe payment element loads automatically

Step 3: Confirmation

  • Booking created. Confirmation message shows service, stylist name, date, and time.

2. Smart chat (Instagent)

Customers can also book through the Instagent chat widget by asking about availability. Instagent checks live slots and confirms the booking through conversation.

Staff (team member) management

Team members are configured in Admin > Bookings > Team. Each staff member has:

  • Name, title, photo
  • Per-day working hours (what days and hours they work)
  • Service assignments (which services they can perform)
  • Calendar color
  • Bookable toggle (can be turned off for admin-only staff)

When at least one bookable team member is configured, the staff picker appears in the booking widget automatically. Customers see each stylist's photo and first name. Clicking "Any available" finds the first open slot across all qualified staff.

Slot availability is computed per staff member. A slot is available only if the selected staff member (or any available one) is:

  • Within their configured working hours for that day
  • Not already booked during that time (including buffer time)
  • Not on approved time off

    • Service setup

    In Admin > Bookings > Services. Each service has:

    • Name (e.g., "Haircut", "Balayage", "Deep tissue massage")
    • Duration in minutes
    • Price
    • Deposit amount (optional, charged via Stripe to hold the slot)
    • Buffer time before and after (prep and cleanup)
    • Capacity (for group services)

    Deposit payments

    If a service has a deposit amount set and Stripe is connected, the booking widget requests payment before completing the booking. The deposit holds the slot. If the customer cancels, deposit handling follows the refund policy configured in Bookings > Settings.

    Notifications

    When a booking is created:

    • Email to the business owner (and to the assigned staff member if configured)
    • SMS to the owner (if configured)
    • Confirmation shown in the booking widget / chat thread

    Admin dashboard

    All bookings appear in Admin > Bookings. Each booking shows: customer name, service, assigned staff member, date, time, status (pending, confirmed, cancelled), deposit status, and customer note. Bookings can be confirmed, rescheduled, or cancelled.

    Booking system availability

    The booking system is included in the free version of the Instinctor plugin. Staff management and deposit payments are available without a Pro license.