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The moment it happens

Take table or appointment bookings in WhatsApp

Customers pick a free slot in the chat, it's marked as taken, and you get the reservation by email.

Runs
The moment it happens
Apps
WhatsApp Business
AI
Not needed
Access
whatsapp_business_messaging

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: when a customer asks to book on WhatsApp, offer the free slots from this list for Friday and Saturday evening, confirm the one they pick, and email me the name, party size and time.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

Small restaurants, barbers and tutors take bookings through WhatsApp because customers prefer it to phone calls and web forms. The owner then spends evenings replying to messages like 'is 7 pm free on Friday?', checking a paper diary, and writing the answer back. Double bookings happen when two people ask for the same slot within minutes, and a customer who gets no reply until morning books somewhere else.

The automation runs the booking conversation itself. It tracks where each customer is in the conversation, offers the free slots it has stored, confirms the one they pick and marks it as taken, so the next person does not see it. When a booking is confirmed, it emails you the details.

It is built for businesses with a limited number of slots, such as tables, chairs or lesson times.

What you get out of it

  • Bookings come in while you are busy

    Customers book at midnight or during a rush, and the conversation completes without you. Evenings stop being spent answering availability questions one message at a time. Replying in seconds is also a better first impression of a small business than a voicemail greeting.

  • No double bookings

    Once a slot is confirmed it is marked as taken, so the next person only sees what remains. That protects you from the awkward apology call and the lost goodwill of an overbooked evening. A customer deciding where to eat tonight picks whoever answers first, and an instant reply makes you that place.

  • Customers get answers immediately

    People who ask for a table and get free times in a few seconds usually book on the spot. Delay is what sends them to a competitor who replied first.

  • You receive every booking by email

    Each confirmed reservation is mailed to you with the name, time and contact, giving you a clean list for the day and a record that does not depend on a chat you must scroll.

  • Fits how customers already communicate

    Nobody installs an app or fills in a web form. The conversation happens in WhatsApp, where they already are, which raises the share of enquiries that end in a booking.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. When a customer messages your WhatsApp Business number, ClickRuntime replies with a list of free times to choose from.

  2. When they pick one, the slot is marked as taken so nobody else can book it.

  3. The customer gets a WhatsApp confirmation of their booking.

  4. You get an email with the reservation time and the customer's name and number.

Before it runs live

  • Connect WhatsApp Business
  • Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens
Take table or appointment bookings in WhatsAppjust nowSucceeded
Email · Reservation: Fri 19:30From +447700900123 (Sam Lee)

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
  • Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
  • Combine it with other WhatsApp Business steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
take_reservations_over_whatsapp.pyexample
from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, state, notify

PHONE_NUMBER_ID = "123456789012345"

def send(to, body, rows=None):
    msg = {"type": "text", "text": {"body": body}} if not rows else {"type": "interactive", "interactive": {
        "type": "list", "body": {"text": body}, "action": {"button": "Pick a time",
        "sections": [{"title": "Free slots", "rows": [{"id": r, "title": r} for r in rows[:10]]}]}}}
    http.post(f"https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/{PHONE_NUMBER_ID}/messages",
              headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {credentials.secret('WHATSAPP_TOKEN')}"},
              json={"messaging_product": "whatsapp", "to": to, **msg})

@on_event
def handle(event):
    value = event.json["entry"][0]["changes"][0]["value"]
    if "messages" not in value:
        return {"skipped": True}
    m = value["messages"][0]
    slots = state.get("free_slots") or []  # e.g. ["Fri 19:00", "Fri 19:30", ...]
    picked = m.get("interactive", {}).get("list_reply", {}).get("id")
    if picked in slots:
        slots.remove(picked)
        state.set("free_slots", slots)
        send(m["from"], f"Booked for {picked}. See you then!")
        notify.email_me(f"Reservation: {picked}", f"From +{m['from']} ({value['contacts'][0]['profile']['name']})")
        return {"booked": picked}
    send(m["from"], "Hi! Which time would you like?", slots) if slots else send(m["from"], "Sorry, we're fully booked.")
    return {"offered": len(slots)}

FAQ

Common questions

How does it know which slots are free?
The available slots are stored in the automation's state, and a slot is removed when someone books it. You or your AI assistant update the list when your schedule changes, for example when you add a new Saturday opening.
What happens if a customer wants to cancel?
A cancel keyword can return the slot to the free list and send you an email, so the time is available again. Tell your AI assistant to include cancellations when setting it up, since they are not automatic.
Can it handle party sizes or different services?
Yes, if you want it to. The conversation can ask for the number of guests or the service wanted and offer only slots that fit. Each extra question adds a step, so keep it to what you really need.
What permissions does it need?
whatsapp_business_messaging. Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run for each event the app sends.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Take table or appointment bookings in WhatsApp” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.