rmyndharis--openwa/docs/examples/n8n-appointment-booking.md

n8n Appointment Booking Workflow

This example shows how to use OpenWA and n8n to collect appointment requests over WhatsApp, check availability in an external system, and send a confirmation or alternative time slots.

The workflow is intentionally generic. The availability source can be Google Calendar, Cal.com, a CRM, a database, or any HTTP API that returns available slots.

Flow

[OpenWA Trigger]
      │
      └── Events: message.received
              │
              ▼
[IF: booking intent?]
      │
      ├── false → [OpenWA: Send Text]
      │             "Thanks for your message. A team member will reply soon."
      │
      └── true
              │
              ▼
[Set: normalize request]
              │
              ▼
[Availability Source]
      │
      ├── available → [Create Booking] → [OpenWA: Send Text confirmation]
      │
      └── unavailable → [OpenWA: Send Text with alternative slots]

Trigger

Use the OpenWA Trigger node.

Field	Value
Event	message.received
Session	Your connected OpenWA session

The incoming message body is available at:

{{$json.data.body}}

The sender chat ID is available at:

{{$json.data.chatId}}

Booking Intent Check

Add an IF node after the trigger. For a simple first version, check whether the incoming message contains booking-related words such as appointment, booking, schedule, reserve, cita, or reserva.

For a production workflow, replace this with a classifier, a structured form flow, or your CRM-specific routing rules.

Normalize the Request

Add a Set node to extract the values your booking system expects.

Suggested fields:

Field	Example value
chatId	{{$json.data.chatId}}
phone	{{$json.data.from}}
message	{{$json.data.body}}
requestedDate	Parsed date from the message or a default fallback
service	Parsed service name or workflow default

If the message does not contain enough information, send a clarification question instead of creating a booking.

Example clarification message:

Thanks. What day and time would you prefer for the appointment?

Availability Check

Use whichever node matches your scheduling source:

Source	n8n node
Google Calendar	Google Calendar or HTTP Request
Cal.com	HTTP Request
Internal API	HTTP Request
Database	PostgreSQL / MySQL / SQLite node
Spreadsheet	Google Sheets

The availability step should return whether the requested slot is available and, if not, a small list of alternatives.

Confirmation Message

When the requested slot is available, create the booking in your scheduling source and send a confirmation with the OpenWA: Send Text node.

Field	Value
Resource	Message
Operation	Send Text
Chat ID	{{$json.chatId}}
Text	Confirmation message

Example confirmation text:

Your appointment is confirmed for {{$json.slot}}.

Reply CANCEL if you need to cancel or change it.

Alternative Slots Message

When the requested slot is not available, send available alternatives instead of failing silently.

Example text:

That time is not available. These slots are open:

1. {{$json.alternatives[0]}}
2. {{$json.alternatives[1]}}

Reply with 1 or 2 to confirm one of these options.

Operational Notes

• Store booking state outside WhatsApp, for example in your scheduling system, CRM, or database.
• Add an idempotency key based on the incoming id (the message ID in the message.received payload) to avoid duplicate bookings if a workflow is retried.
• Confirm the booking only after the external system accepts the slot.
• Add a fallback path for unsupported messages or missing required fields.
• Respect applicable messaging rules and avoid unsolicited or high-volume messages.

Minimal Node Checklist

• OpenWA Trigger: receives message.received events.
• IF: detects booking intent.
• Set: normalizes chatId, message body, requested date/time, and service.
• Availability node: checks the calendar, API, database, or spreadsheet.
• Booking node: creates the appointment only when a slot is available.
• OpenWA Send Text: sends confirmation, alternatives, or clarification.