Docs About Instinctor Booking and Appointments

Booking and Appointments

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

What the booking system does

  • Define services (name, duration, price, description)
  • Set available hours and days per service
  • Let customers check availability and book through the AI chat widget (Instagent)
  • Receive booking notifications by email or SMS
  • Manage appointments in the admin dashboard

How customers book

Customers interact with the Instagent chat widget on the site. They ask about availability ("Do you have anything this week?"), Instagent checks the live slot database and responds with actual available times. When the customer confirms a service, date, time, and their name, Instagent creates the booking.

The customer receives a confirmation in the chat. The business receives a notification via email or SMS (configured in Settings > Notifications).

Setting up services

In the admin, go to Bookings > Services. Add each service with:

  • Name (e.g., "Haircut", "60-min massage", "Consultation")
  • Duration in minutes
  • Price
  • Available days and hours

Once services are active, Instagent can check availability automatically.

No separate booking page required

The booking flow happens entirely within the chat widget. Customers do not need to navigate to a separate booking page or calendar UI. They book through conversation. A standalone booking page can be built in Impulse if the business prefers a form-based approach, but the chat-based flow is the default.

Availability checking

Instagent queries availability in real time when a customer asks. It filters by:

  • Service (if the customer specifies one)
  • Date (if the customer specifies one)
  • Business hours

If no date is specified, Instagent can show the next available slots across all services.

Notifications

When a booking is created, notifications go out via:

  • Email (to the address set in Settings > Notifications)
  • SMS (if configured)
  • WhatsApp (if configured)

The customer receives a confirmation in the chat thread. Email confirmation to the customer is configurable.

Booking system availability

The booking system is a Pro feature, included in the $29.90/month platform license. It is not available in the free WordPress plugin tier.