> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://harnesscalendar.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Scheduling links
> Share a link for students to book their own times.
A scheduling link is a page you share so a student or family can pick an open time themselves. They choose a slot, the booking lands on your calendar, and you skip the back-and-forth over email.
Scheduling links are on the Professional plan; on the Hobby plan the **Scheduling** button is hidden (see [Plans and limits](/docs/settings/plans-and-limits)). Creating events on the calendar by hand works on every plan.
## Pick a link type
Start from one of three shapes. Every setting stays editable afterward, so the type is just a starting point.
| Link type | Best for | What happens |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Open Booking** | Drop-in bookings | You publish your weekly availability. Each booking creates one standalone event. |
| **Standing Time** | An ongoing weekly slot | You publish your weekly availability. The booker claims a weekly repeating series up to an end date you set. |
| **One-off** | A single meeting with someone new | You pick specific times on specific dates. The link expires after the first booking. |
## Create and share a link
Click **Scheduling** in the calendar header. The panel slides in on the right and shows your existing links.
Click the **+** (Create link) button, then pick **Open Booking**, **Standing Time**, or **One-off** on the **Create a scheduling link** screen.
Choose when people can book. Pick **Weekly windows** for times that repeat every week, or **Ad-hoc windows** for specific dates. Add windows in the form, or drag on the calendar grid while the link is open.
Two settings matter most: **Event Duration** (how long each booked slot runs) and **Avoid calendar conflicts** (hides slots you're already busy in). The [full settings table](#settings-you-can-change) covers the rest. Changes save as you go.
Use **Copy link** to grab the booking URL, or **Copy with message** to paste it with your note. Hand it to the student or family however you like.
### Settings you can change
| Setting | What it does |
| ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Availability type** | Weekly windows (repeat each week) or ad-hoc windows (specific dates). |
| **Event Duration** | How long each booked slot runs. |
| **Calendar color** | The color of this link's availability bars on the grid. |
| **Source** | Reuse an [annotation](/docs/calendar/annotations)'s availability, or keep **Custom** to set your own windows. |
| **Minimum notice** | How far ahead a slot has to be before someone can book it. |
| **Buffer time** | Padding around each booking so back-to-back slots leave you a break. |
| **Booking horizon** | How far into the future people can book. |
| **Expiration** | A date after which the link stops taking bookings. |
| **Single-use** | The link closes itself after one booking. |
| **Payment** | A rate to show on the booking page, and whether bookings become lessons (see below). |
| **Avoid calendar conflicts** | Hides any slot that overlaps a timed event already on your calendar. |
**Avoid calendar conflicts** only hides slots that overlap **timed** events. All-day events never block bookings. An all-day "vacation" banner will not protect your day. Use a timed event for the time you want held, or pause the link.
## Lesson bookings vs plain bookings
The **Payment** setting decides what a booking becomes, and it's the biggest fork on the link:
* **Bookings become lessons**: the event lands on your calendar right away, and the booking also waits in **Pending Bookings** so you can match the booker to a student. Once matched, the lesson carries attendance and billing like any other.
* **Plain bookings** (not lessons): the event lands on your calendar and that's it. Nothing to review, nothing billed. Use this for consults, trials you don't charge for, or non-teaching appointments.
## When someone books
The booker picks a slot and confirms with their name and email. Then:
* The event appears on your calendar immediately.
* The booker gets a confirmation email with the time (in your studio timezone) and a calendar invite they can add with one tap.
* You get an email with who booked and a link to your calendar. Replying to it replies to the booker.
If two people race for the same slot, only the first booking succeeds; the second is asked to pick another time.
## Availability bars on the calendar
Every active link shows its windows as colored bars in the gutter down the left edge of the week grid, in the color you set on the link. Click a bar to jump to that link's settings. Use the eye icon on a link in the list to hide its bars without deleting anything.
## Pause or delete a link
* **Pause** stops new bookings without removing the link. Resume it any time, for example to stop taking bookings for a stretch.
* **Delete** removes the link and its bookings for good. If a booking is still waiting in your queue, pause instead: deleting takes that work with it.
Both live in the link's settings header and in the **More** menu next to each link in the list.
## Move an existing event instead
To move an event that's already on your calendar (rather than offer open times for a new booking), use a [reschedule link](/docs/calendar/reschedule-links). It's a single-use link tied to one event: the student picks a new time and the event moves to it.
## Review pending bookings
When a booking is set to become a lesson, it waits in **Pending Bookings** at the top of the Scheduling panel so you can tie it to the right student. The event itself is already on your calendar; this step is about who it belongs to.
Each booking shows the booker's name, email, time, and link. Harness checks the email against your roster and flags one of two states:
* **Matches \[Name]**: the email lines up with a student you already have.
* **New contact**: no match yet.
| Action | When you see it | What it does |
| ------------------- | -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Confirm match** | On a matched booking | Attaches the booking to that student. |
| **Create student** | On a new contact | Opens a form to add a new student from the booking. |
| **Link to student** | On a new contact | Search your roster and attach the booking to an existing student. |
| **Dismiss** | Any booking | Clears the booking from the queue without changing your roster. |
Booking surprises (a slot booked over your day off, a booking that doesn't look like a lesson) are covered in [Calendar troubleshooting](/docs/calendar/troubleshooting).