Advanced Availability Rules are available on the Ultimate plan. You can upgrade from Settings > Advanced Availability Rules > Enable in the app.
Most service businesses don't have uniform demand. A wine tasting room is quiet midweek and packed on Saturday afternoons. A restaurant hosts intimate dinners on Friday nights with fewer seats than the rest of the week. A fitness studio runs lean through summer and gets slammed in January.
Setting a single fixed capacity for every date and time forces a bad trade-off: cap too low and you turn people away on your busiest days, cap too high and you end up with half-empty sessions.
Advanced Availability Rules solve this by letting you change how your event behaves on specific dates and times of day without touching your defaults. You keep your regular setup for the majority of dates, and add a rule only where reality diverges.
For a given date range and optional time window, a rule lets you:
Change the capacity - raise or lower how many attendees each availability can take per timeslot.
Target specific times of day - apply the rule only during certain hours (for example, only Friday evenings from 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM).
Set a repeating schedule - repeat the rule weekly on specific days so you don't need to create a new rule each week.
Change the availabilities - pick a different set of staff, rooms, or resources to use during that range.
Now, for example, you can set your Friday evenings to be lower capacity than the rest of your day
When to use a rule
Scenario | How to set it up |
Friday night limited seating | Repeat weekly on Fridays, target 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM, lower capacity from 6 to 5 |
Peak season demand | Date range across June - August, raise capacity per availability |
Weekend-only higher capacity | Repeat weekly on Saturday and Sunday with increased capacity |
Seasonal staff | Date range and assign only your summer instructors as availabilities |
Holiday week special event | One-time date range with custom capacity and staff |
Quiet midweek mornings | Repeat weekly on Tue/Wed, target 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM, lower capacity |
Step 1: Enable the feature
Advanced Availability Rules are off by default. Turn them on once at the store level before they appear on individual events.
1. In the app, go to Settings.
2. Find the Advanced Availability Rules card and click into it.
3. Click Enable.
Once enabled, every event's Availability tab gains a Capacity by date section where you can add and manage rules.
Step 2: Add a rule to your event
1. Go to Dashboard and click Edit on the event.
2. Click the Availability tab.
3. Scroll to the Number of Attendees card. Below the default attendee count, you'll see Capacity by date with a Set up link.
4. Click Set up, then + Add rule.
5. In the New capacity rule modal, fill in:
Rule name - a label only you see (e.g. "Varying Capacity Fridays")
Starts on - the date this rule begins.
Repeats (optional)
For Fridays at lower capacity: Set to Weekly, Pick Friday, choose when the repetition ends.
Time of day (optional) - toggle this on to restrict the rule to specific hours. Set the From and To times to target a window like 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM.
Set a custom capacity - toggle on and set the number of attendees per timeslot per availability. The helper text shows what the event's default is.
Availabilities for this rule - optionally choose which staff, rooms, or resources should be active during this rule.
6. Click Add rule. You'll see a summary of the changes right before adding the rule.
Once the rule is saved, you can see it listed under Date-based rules with its status, schedule, and capacity summary. The Calendar Preview on the right updates in real time: notice how the 9:00 PM slot on Friday June 5 shows 5 available while the earlier slots outside the rule's time window still show 6 available (the event default).
Tip: Total capacity for a timeslot is always capacity per availability x number of selected availabilities. If you want a slot to hold up to 30 people and you have 3 availabilities active, set the capacity to 10.
Example scenarios
Scenario 1: Limited Friday night seating
A restaurant normally allows 6 attendees per timeslot but wants to cap Friday evenings at 5 for a more intimate experience.
Rule name: Varying Capacity Fridays
Starts on: the upcoming Friday
Repeats: Weekly on Friday
Ends: Never (or a specific end date)
Time of day: 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Custom capacity: 5
Result: Every Friday from 8:30 PM onward shows 5 available spots per timeslot instead of 6. All other days and times keep the default.
Scenario 2: Peak summer season
A tour company runs at higher capacity during the summer because they have more guides available.
Rule name: Summer season
Starts on: June 1
Repeats: None (continuous date range through Aug 31) OR Annually, ends on Aug 31 if you want it to repeat
Time of day: Off (applies all day)
Custom capacity: 12 (up from a default of 6)
Availabilities: Add the relevant availabilities
Result: Every timeslot from June 1 through the end date allows 12 attendees. When the rule ends, everything reverts to the default.
Scenario 3: Quiet weekday mornings
A fitness studio wants fewer spots on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings because only one instructor works those shifts.
Rule name: Midweek mornings
Starts on: the upcoming Tuesday
Repeats: Weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday
Time of day: 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Custom capacity: 4 (down from 8)
Availabilities: Assign only the single morning instructor
Result: Tuesday and Wednesday morning slots show 4 spots with one instructor. Afternoon slots on those same days, and all slots on other days, keep the default capacity and full staff.
Managing your rules
Each row in the rules list shows a status pill (Active now, Upcoming, Past, or Disabled), the selected availabilities, the schedule, and the per-availability capacity. Use the toggle to disable a rule without deleting it, the pencil icon to edit, and the trash icon to remove. Changes save immediately.
Overlapping rules
Keep each rule's date and time ranges distinct when possible. If two rules cover the same dates but target different times of day (for example, one for mornings and one for evenings), they work side by side without conflict.
If two rules overlap on both date and time, the rule listed first applies. The modal shows a yellow warning when it detects an overlap.
Important: Lowering capacity or removing availabilities does not cancel existing bookings. The rule only prevents new bookings from pushing the count higher. Review the Bookings tab before tightening a rule that covers upcoming dates.
Frequently asked questions
Do rules apply to all events or just one?
Rules are per event. If you want the same change across several events, add a rule to each one.
What time zone do the dates and times use?
Your event's time zone. If your event is locked to America/New_York, a rule targeting 8:30 PM means 8:30 PM Eastern regardless of where the customer is browsing from.
Can I have a rule repeat on multiple days?
Yes. Set Repeats to Weekly and select multiple days (for example, Tuesday and Wednesday). The rule fires on each selected day within the date range.
What happens outside the time-of-day window?
Your event's default capacity applies. A rule targeting 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM has no effect on morning or afternoon slots.
Can I close days entirely with a rule?
Uncheck every availability in the rule. For a hard block regardless of availability setup, use a date override instead.
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