Booking Slot Start Times

[ostahl8]

Is your proposal related to a problem?

Current behavior: When external calendar events create gaps in my availability, Cal.com offers booking slots that start at non-standard times based on when those gaps begin—rather than respecting my preferred scheduling intervals.

Example scenario:

• I have a 60-minute event type configured with 60-minute intervals
• My external calendar has appointments from 3:00pm–3:30pm and 4:30pm–5:00pm
• Cal.com displays a 3:30pm–4:30pm slot as available
• I would prefer it to show 5:00pm–6:00pm as the next available slot instead

Why this is frustrating: For professional services (consulting, coaching, legal, medical, etc.), clients expect appointment times to start on the hour or half-hour. Offering slots like 3:47pm or 2:15pm appears unprofessional and creates confusion. Additionally, it makes it harder to maintain a structured daily schedule.

Describe the solution you'd like

Add an option in the event type settings (e.g., a toggle or checkbox) to "Only show slots aligned to interval boundaries" or "Enforce fixed time slots".

When enabled, this would:

1. Only display available slots that start at times matching the configured interval (e.g., on the hour for 60-min events, or on the hour/half-hour for 30-min events)
2. Ignore any gaps that don't align with these boundaries, even if they technically have enough duration for the booking

Suggested UI location: Under "Event type settings" → "Availability" section, near the existing "Time slot intervals" setting.

Describe alternatives you've considered

1. Time slot intervals setting: This works correctly when my calendar is fully aligned with Cal.com's interval grid. However, it doesn't prevent misaligned slots from appearing when external calendar events create off-grid gaps.

2. Buffer times: Adding buffers before/after events doesn't solve the core issue—it just shifts the problem.

3. Manual calendar blocking: I could manually block off-grid time slots, but this is tedious and error-prone, especially with a dynamic calendar.

4. Fixed scheduling (date overrides): Too rigid for my use case; I need dynamic availability based on my calendar, just with enforced start times.

Additional context

• This feature would be particularly valuable for professional services where appointment times carry an expectation of structure
• Similar functionality exists in tools like Calendly ("Start time increments")
• This could potentially be implemented by adding a filter/validation step that checks proposed slots against the interval grid before displaying them to bookers

Requirement/Document

N/A

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CAL-6977

[Shahab-16]

can you plz assign this issue to me