Available to all Direct Book customers. Setup is admin-only. Both controls apply only to bookings guests submit through the Direct Book form. Bookings a venue's team enters directly in Tripleseat are not affected.
How does Direct Book Capacity Planning work?
Capacity Planning caps how many Direct Book bookings a venue takes by event style, day, and time window. Once a slot reaches its limit, it drops off the guest-facing form automatically, so guests only see times the venue can still take.
Setting up a capacity rule
- Go to Settings > Direct Book > Configuration.
- Open the Capacity tab.
- Create a default rule and set the numeric limit for an event style, day or days, and time window.
- Save. Default rules are always on and enforce in real time.
Adding a seasonal override (optional)
- In the same Capacity tab, add a seasonal rule.
- Set the date range it covers. The range is inclusive.
- Save. While active, the seasonal rule takes priority over the default rule for those dates.
- To pause it later, use the enable/disable toggle instead of deleting it.
Good to know:
- A limit of 0 closes a slot completely, so nothing is accepted for that window.
- Which capacity block a booking counts against is decided by its start time. An event starting at 5:30pm does not count against a 6-10pm block.
- The system blocks you from saving two rules with overlapping time windows for the same event style and day.
- Rules can be set for one location, all locations, or copied to specific locations.
How does Direct Book Auto-Approval work?
Auto-Approval confirms a booking the moment it comes in when it meets the criteria set for that event style. Approved guests get the same confirmation email as a manually approved booking, so there is no visible difference to them.
Setting up an auto-approval rule
- Go to Settings > Direct Book > Configuration and open the Capacity tab.
- Create an auto-approval rule for the event style.
- Set at least one criterion:
- order value range (minimum and maximum dollar amount), and/or
- guest count range (minimum and maximum guests).
- Save. If more than one criterion is set, all of them must be met for a booking to auto-approve.
Good to know:
- Only one auto-approval rule is allowed per event style.
- At least one criterion is required. A rule with no criteria will not save.
- Auto-approved bookings skip the pending queue and go to the location's default Direct Book event owner.
A booking met every auto-approval criterion but still didn't approve. Why?
Check whether the slot was already at capacity when the booking came in. Capacity always takes priority. A full slot is blocked even when the booking meets every auto-approval criterion.
A guest says a time slot disappeared from the booking form. What happened?
The slot most likely hit its capacity limit and dropped off the form automatically. Check the Capacity tab for that event style, day, and time window to confirm the limit was reached.
Does a new capacity rule affect bookings that are already confirmed?
No. Capacity rules apply only to new submissions made after the rule is saved. Confirmed bookings are not touched.
If a guest cancels, does the slot open back up?
Yes. Cancellations restore capacity right away, so the slot becomes available again immediately.