# Appointments

"Appointments" is an appointment journal for a salon, clinic, studio or any business where clients come to a specialist at a set time. In this section you manage services and specialists, set their schedule, book clients yourself and accept bookings through a mini app.

The section is in the project's menu — the "Appointments" item.

## How the section works

The main unit is the **branch**: a salon, an office or a location with its own address, time zone, services, specialists and journal. A project can have several branches. The client base is shared by all branches of the project.

Inside a branch there is a menu:

| Item | What is in it |
|---|---|
| "Journal" | Appointments by day and week, new appointment, rescheduling, cancellation, the "Attended" and "No-show" marks |
| "Clients" | The project's client base with the history of visits |
| "Reviews" | Visit ratings and specialists' rating |
| "Schedule" | Working days and hours of specialists |
| "Specialists" | Who accepts clients and which services they provide |
| "Services" | The catalogue of services with duration and price |
| "Settings" | Address and time zone, booking rules, notifications |
| "AI help" | The AI chat about this branch — see [Setting up booking in the AI chat](https://support.watbot.org/booking/ai-builder) |

![Branch menu](https://support.watbot.org/_media/en/06-booking/_images/branch-menu.webp?v=1791781230)

## What is available without Pro

- **Without a subscription:** branches, services and specialists, schedule, the journal with manual booking, the client base, reviews, e-mails to clients.
- **With Pro:** booking through a mini app and messages to clients in the messenger — confirmations, reminders, a request to rate the visit.

More about the subscription is on the [What is available without Pro](https://support.watbot.org/billing/without-pro) page.

## Where to start

1. [Create a branch](https://support.watbot.org/booking/branches) and enter its address, phone and time zone.
2. [Add services and specialists](https://support.watbot.org/booking/catalog).
3. [Set the work schedule](https://support.watbot.org/booking/schedule) for each specialist.
4. Check the [booking rules](https://support.watbot.org/booking/rules): the time step, how far in advance clients can book and cancel.
5. Book clients in the [journal](https://support.watbot.org/booking/journal) or set up [booking through a mini app](https://support.watbot.org/booking/mini-app).
6. Set up [notifications and reminders](https://support.watbot.org/booking/notifications).

Steps 1–4 can also be done in words — in the AI chat: see [Setting up booking in the AI chat](https://support.watbot.org/booking/ai-builder).

## Pages of this section

- [Branches](https://support.watbot.org/booking/branches) — creating a branch, address and time zone, copy, moving to another project.
- [Services and specialists](https://support.watbot.org/booking/catalog) — categories, duration and price of services, the specialist card.
- [Work schedule](https://support.watbot.org/booking/schedule) — templates by weekday and in shifts, breaks, days off, single days.
- [Booking rules and free time](https://support.watbot.org/booking/rules) — booking settings and how the platform finds free slots.
- [Appointment journal](https://support.watbot.org/booking/journal) — calendar, manual booking, rescheduling, cancellation, statuses.
- [Clients](https://support.watbot.org/booking/clients) — the client base, the card, the history of visits.
- [Booking through a mini app](https://support.watbot.org/booking/mini-app) — booking elements, choosing a branch, cancellation and rescheduling by the client.
- [Notifications and reviews](https://support.watbot.org/booking/notifications) — messages to clients, reminders, visit rating.
- [Specialist access](https://support.watbot.org/booking/masters) — the specialist's calendar in the account and in the mini app.
- [Setting up booking in the AI chat](https://support.watbot.org/booking/ai-builder) — how to ask the AI to create a branch, add services and specialists, set the schedule and booking rules.

## What team members can do

The project owner can do everything. A team member can do what is checked in their role in the "Appointments" block:

| Group | Permission | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| "Administration" | "Create branches" | Create branches in the project |
| | "Configure branches" | Change the name, address, time zone, booking rules and notifications, the order of branches in the list |
| | "Delete branches" | Delete branches |
| "Appointment journal" | "View appointments and clients" | See appointments with all specialists of the branch |
| | "Manage appointments" | Book, reschedule, cancel, change statuses, edit clients, hide reviews |
| | "Manages own appointments" | The same, but only with their own appointments |
| | "Sees own appointments" | See their own appointments, mark the visit and leave a note |
| | "Sees client contacts" | See clients' phone and email and the "Clients" item |
| "Branch work" | "Services and specialists" | Edit services, categories and specialist cards |
| | "Work schedule" | Change the specialists' schedule |

A team member with any of these permissions can open a branch. How to give a specialist permissions for their own appointments is on the [Specialist access](https://support.watbot.org/booking/masters) page. How to add a team member and set up a role is in the [Account and projects](https://support.watbot.org/account) section.

## Limits

- A project can have no more than 100 branches, and no more than 20 can be created per day.
- A branch can have no more than 500 services, 100 categories and 100 specialists.