# How far ahead should people be able to book?

> A new project takes bookings from 60 days ahead until 2 hours before the appointment, which suits most businesses. Both are yours to change.

- Bookable from 60 days ahead to 2 hours before, to start with.
- Customers can cancel themselves until 24 hours before.
- Both limits are checked again when the booking is made.

## Two limits, one at each end

**Notice** is how close to the appointment somebody may still book. With too
little, a customer books a time that starts before anybody has read the email,
and arrives to a locked door.

**The horizon** is how far ahead the diary is open. Too far, and you are taking
bookings at prices and hours you have not decided yet, from people who may have
forgotten by then.

## Where a new project starts

| Rule | A new project |
|---|---|
| Notice | 2 hours before the appointment |
| How far ahead | 60 days |
| Customers may cancel themselves | until 24 hours before |

Each is one setting on the booking rules screen, and suits most appointment
businesses as it stands.

## Choosing your own

- **Shorten the notice** when somebody watches the diary all day and a
  same-hour booking is welcome.
- **Lengthen it** when an appointment needs preparing: a room set up, notes
  read, something ordered in.
- **Set the horizon to what you have decided.** As far ahead as your hours,
  your staff and your prices are settled, and no further.
- **Match the cancellation window to the notice** you need to fill a slot again.
  A window of zero means customers always contact you to cancel.

## How the limits are kept

- **Only times between the two limits are offered**, so a booking form never
  shows a time it would refuse.
- **They are checked again when the booking is made.** A time a page offered a
  while ago that has since slipped inside the notice is refused rather than
  booked.
- **The horizon is counted from now.** A new day opens as each one passes, with
  nothing to update.
- **The rules are published to your website**, so a form can say what it will
  not offer, and why, before anybody tries.

```ts title=rules.ts
const rules = await bookings.settings();

rules.min_lead_minutes;              // notice, in minutes
rules.max_horizon_days;              // how far ahead
rules.cancellation_window_minutes;   // how late a customer may cancel
```

The business itself is never held to the cancellation window: you can cancel
any booking from the dashboard at any time. [Bookings](/product/bookings/)
has the rest of the rules, and [How do you leave time between
appointments?](/guides/time-between-appointments/) covers buffers.

## Questions people ask next

### Can a customer book for later today?

**Yes, outside the notice.** With 2 hours of notice, a time later today is offered when it starts at least that long from now.

### Does the furthest bookable day move?

**Every day.** The 60 days are counted from the moment somebody looks, so a new day opens as each one passes, with nothing to update.

### How late can a customer cancel?

**Until 24 hours before, to start with.** Inside that they contact you instead. You can cancel from the dashboard at any time, and setting the window to zero means customers always contact you.

### Can my booking form show only what is allowed?

**Yes.** The free times already sit between the two limits, and the booking rules are published to the website, so a form can say what it will not offer and why.