modbender Appointment Booking System
A complete appointment booking and management system for service businesses. Handles booking intake, confirmation emails, automated reminders, no-show detection, and daily schedule reports.
Problem
Service businesses (salons, clinics, consultants, studios) lose revenue from missed appointments, no-shows, and scheduling chaos. Booking platforms charge $30-100+/month and often lack customization. Manual reminders are unreliable.
This system provides self-hosted booking management with zero monthly fees.
What It Does
- Booking Intake — Webhook API receives bookings, validates fields, generates booking ID, stores in Sheets
- Confirmation — Sends confirmation email to client and notification to staff immediately
- Smart Reminders — Sends 24-hour and 2-hour reminders automatically
- No-Show Followup — Detects missed appointments and sends rescheduling email
- Daily Schedule — Morning email with today's and tomorrow's appointments plus weekly stats
Included Workflows
| # | File | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 01-booking-intake.json |
Webhook → validate → store → confirm client → notify staff |
| 02 | 02-booking-confirmation.json |
Update booking status (confirm/cancel) via webhook |
| 03 | 03-reminder-engine.json |
Hourly check → send 24h and 2h reminders |
| 04 | 04-noshow-followup.json |
Check past appointments → detect no-shows → followup email |
| 05 | 05-daily-schedule.json |
Morning report with today's schedule and weekly stats |
Architecture
Client books online (form/API)
|
v
Workflow 01: Booking Intake
+-> Validate required fields
+-> Generate booking ID
+-> Save to Google Sheets
+-> Email confirmation to client
+-> Email notification to staff
+-> Return booking ID
Status update (confirm/cancel):
|
v
Workflow 02: Booking Confirmation
+-> Update status in Sheets
Hourly:
|
v
Workflow 03: Reminder Engine
+-> Read confirmed appointments
+-> Check: is appointment in 24h? -> send reminder
+-> Check: is appointment in 2h? -> send reminder
+-> Mark reminders as sent in Sheets
Every 2 hours:
|
v
Workflow 04: No-Show Followup
+-> Check past appointments (1-48h ago)
+-> IF no showed_up status -> mark as no-show
+-> Send rescheduling email
Daily at 7 AM:
|
v
Workflow 05: Daily Schedule
+-> Build today's and tomorrow's schedule tables
+-> Calculate weekly stats (completed, no-shows, cancelled)
+-> Email to staff
Required n8n Credentials
| Credential Type | Used For | Placeholder in JSON |
|---|---|---|
| Google Sheets OAuth2 | Appointment storage | YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEETS_CREDENTIAL_ID |
| SMTP | Confirmations, reminders, reports | YOUR_SMTP_CREDENTIAL_ID |
Environment Variables
# Business Details (used in client-facing emails)
BUSINESS_NAME=Your Business Name
BUSINESS_PHONE=+1234567890
STAFF_EMAIL=staff@yourbusiness.com
Note: The Google Sheet ID is configured as a
YOUR_BOOKING_SHEET_IDplaceholder in the workflow JSON files (not an environment variable). Replace it directly in n8n after import.
Configuration Placeholders
| Placeholder | Description |
|---|---|
YOUR_BOOKING_SHEET_ID |
Google Sheet ID for appointments |
YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEETS_CREDENTIAL_ID |
n8n Google Sheets credential ID |
YOUR_SMTP_CREDENTIAL_ID |
n8n SMTP credential ID |
YOUR_NOTIFICATION_EMAIL |
Staff email for schedule reports |
Google Sheets Schema (Appointments)
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| booking_id | text | Unique booking ID (auto-generated) |
| name | text | Client full name |
| text | Client email | |
| phone | text | Client phone |
| service | text | Service type (e.g., haircut, consultation) |
| date | date | Appointment date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| time | text | Appointment time (HH:MM) |
| notes | text | Client notes |
| status | text | confirmed / cancelled / no-show / completed |
| showed_up | boolean | Whether client attended |
| reminder_24h | boolean | 24h reminder sent |
| reminder_2h | boolean | 2h reminder sent |
| created_at | datetime | Booking creation timestamp |
Quick Start
1. Prerequisites
- n8n v2.4+ (self-hosted)
- Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials
- SMTP email credentials
2. Create Appointments Sheet
Create a Google Sheet with the columns above. Name the tab "Appointments".
3. Import & Configure
Import all 5 JSON files into n8n. Replace all YOUR_* placeholders and set environment variables.
4. Test Booking
curl -X POST https://your-n8n.com/webhook/booking/new \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "Jane Smith",
"email": "jane@example.com",
"phone": "+1234567890",
"service": "Consultation",
"date": "2026-03-10",
"time": "14:00",
"notes": "First visit"
}'
Use Cases
- Hair salons — Booking, reminders, and no-show tracking for stylists
- Medical/dental clinics — Patient appointment management
- Consultants — Strategy call scheduling with automated reminders
- Fitness studios — Class and personal training bookings
- Auto repair shops — Service appointment scheduling
Requirements
- n8n v2.4+ (self-hosted or cloud)
- Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials
- SMTP email credentials