Introduction to Bookings
This guide explains the fundamental concepts of Shelf's Bookings feature, which enables users to reserve equipment for specific time periods while preventing double-bookings.
Overview
With bookings, users can reserve equipment for designated periods. Assets or kits added to a booking are assigned to a custodian during the specified timeframe. During this period, items receive a "Checked out" status and become unavailable for overlapping bookings. This system prevents conflicts and ensures equipment availability when needed.
Required Booking Information
A booking requires four essential components:
- A Name
- Start and End date/time
- Selection of Assets and/or Kits
- A Custodian
Booking States
1. Draft
The booking is being configured. To proceed, you must fill in the Name, Start/End dates, and Custodian. You can then add assets or kits and perform a Reserve action. Deletion is still possible at this stage.
2. Reserved
The booking is fully configured. Assets become unavailable for overlapping bookings. The booking period is in the future and hasn't been checked out yet -- assets retain an Available status. Administrators can still take or assign custody. Options include Check-out, Delete, or Cancel.
A reserved booking can also be sent back to Draft from the Actions menu with Revert to Draft — the way a reservation request is handed back for changes rather than refused. The booking keeps everything on it and becomes editable again, and Shelf emails the custodian to say so. See Booking Notification Settings.
You can check out the whole booking at once with Check Out, or hand items out as they're picked up using Scan to check out (or Actions > Check out selected items). See Progressive Checkout.
3. Ongoing
The Check-out action has been performed. Assets now have a Checked out status and are in the custodian's possession. The booking becomes Ongoing as soon as the first item is checked out, so a booking can be Ongoing while some items are still being handed out — those still read Available until they leave. A segmented Booked / Partial / Fully out / Returned lifecycle bar tracks where everything is (Partial only ever holds a quantity-tracked line with some of its units out). Administrators cannot take or assign custody during this phase. A Check-in action moves the booking to Completed, but only once every line that went out has been checked back in. You can also Delete or Cancel.
4. Overdue
The booking's end date/time has passed without check-in. The system automatically changes the status to Overdue. Assets remain Checked out, potentially creating conflicts with other bookings. Perform Check-in to complete the booking, or Delete or Cancel it.
5. Completed
Assets have been returned and Checked in. The booking status changes to Completed, and asset statuses return to Available. You can now Delete or Archive the booking.
A booking reaches Completed once everything that actually went out has been checked back in. Shelf reads that per line: an item that was never checked out has nothing to return and never holds the booking open, while an item that did go out has to be reconciled first, whichever way it left. Check-in is only offered while a booking is Ongoing or Overdue, which is why the booking waits rather than closing early. See Progressive Checkout.
6. Archived
Bookings can be archived to organize the index. Two kinds qualify: Completed bookings, and Reserved bookings whose end date has already passed (the reservations teams make without ever running a formal check-out). Ongoing and Overdue bookings cannot be archived, since their assets are still checked out.
Archived bookings are hidden in the default view but accessible via dropdown filter selection. Administrators can also have Shelf archive them automatically after a set number of days.
See: Archiving Bookings
7. Cancelled
Equipment managers can cancel non-completed bookings when they're no longer needed. Cancelled bookings remain logged but are hidden from the default index view.
Notification Emails
The system sends automated emails to relevant team members at key stages:
- Confirmation: Sent when a booking reaches Reserved status
- Reverted to draft: Sent when a reserved booking is sent back to Draft with Revert to Draft, so the custodian knows their reservation needs another look
- Check-out Reminder: Sent 1 hour before the Start date/time
- Check-in Reminder: Sent 1 hour before the End date/time
- Overdue: Sent when the End date/time passes without check-in
- Completed: Sent when the booking is checked in
- Cancelled: Sent when an administrator cancels the booking
- Deleted: Sent when an administrator deletes the booking
By default, the booking custodian, booking creator, and all admins (reservation event only) receive notifications. Admins can configure workspace-level notification defaults and add per-booking recipients in the notification settings.
See: Booking Notification Settings
Related Resources
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