Slots come from configured weekly windows, consultant timezone, active offers, buffers, blackouts, holds, and confirmed bookings.
ConsultaAvailability
Availability and calendar status
Consulta already enforces real bookable slots, but the MVP does not yet connect directly to a consultant's Google or Outlook calendar. This page explains what controls availability today and what connected calendar sync will change later.
Confirmed clients receive calendar handoff options from the booking pass, but those links do not create two-way calendar sync.
Google/Outlook connected-calendar sync remains planned until provider identity, conflict rules, and operator proof are ready.
How slots appear today
The public booking profile only shows times that survive Consulta's slot rules. Those rules use consultant configuration and current booking state instead of trusting browser-supplied times.
- Weekly windows define the baseline working days and hours.
- The consultant timezone controls how times are stored and displayed.
- Minimum notice, buffers, and blackout dates remove unsafe or unavailable times.
- Active offers and free-intro settings decide which durations can be booked.
How conflicts are avoided
When a client starts checkout, Consulta temporarily holds the selected slot. A free intro confirms without payment; a paid session confirms only after server-side payment state says it is paid.
- Held slots are removed while checkout is active.
- Confirmed and pending-payment bookings block overlapping times.
- Expired or failed payment attempts release the slot back to availability.
Calendar handoff now
After confirmation, the booking pass offers calendar handoff actions so clients can add the appointment to their own tools.
- The `.ics` download works as the portable calendar file.
- Google and Outlook shortcuts open provider add-to-calendar flows.
- These actions do not yet read or write the consultant's external calendar.
Connected sync later
Connected calendar sync is still a roadmap gate because it changes identity, privacy, conflict rules, and operating expectations.
- Consulta needs provider OAuth and revocation handling before claiming connected calendars.
- The dashboard must show sync status and conflict behavior before operators depend on it.
- Until then, operators should manage availability in the protected dashboard and keep real availability approvals current.