Appointment availability and conflict rules

Scheduling hierarchy

Availability follows Business calendar → Location calendar → Professional calendar → Service capability → Appointment availability. Child rules may remove time but cannot bypass parent closures.

Occupied interval

A slot is unavailable if any protected interval overlaps the preparation period, service duration, cleanup period, or required travel buffer. An appointment that begins before a lunch or blocker but ends inside it is rejected, as is a buffer that overlaps another appointment.

What the availability engine checks

• Active service, duration, buffers, location, eligible professionals, and customer-selection policy.
• Business and location hours, closures, and blockers.
• Professional hours, lunch, recurring blockers, date exceptions, active/bookable state, and capability.
• External calendar events, existing appointments, and unexpired temporary holds.
• Time zone and daylight-saving validity for the location.
• Alternative-professional policy when a preferred professional is unavailable.

Server-side authority

Displayed times are not trusted as availability by themselves. NevoDesk searches and rechecks availability on the server. If calendars are disconnected or booking availability is disabled, no new slots are offered.