Create Course Service from Prompt

When to Use

• User wants to create a multi-session course: "create a training program", "set up a 6-week workshop", "add a bootcamp course", "create a teacher training course"
• The service type is COURSE — a fixed series with pre-defined start and end dates
• Customers must book the entire course (all sessions), unlike CLASS where they can pick individual sessions
• For general service creation where the type is ambiguous, see Create Booking Service from Prompt

Prerequisites

• For full API field definitions, validation rules, and troubleshooting, see Create and Update Booking Services

Step 1: Gather Business Context

Run these queries to collect site data for informed defaults.

1a. Query Service Categories

1b. Query Existing Services (Duplicate Check)

Warn the user if a service with a similar name already exists.

Step 2: Apply Course Defaults

For any fields the user did not explicitly specify:

Pricing (if not specified)

• If user specifies a price → rateType: "FIXED" (for the entire course)
• If user says "free" → rateType: "NO_FEE", options.inPerson: true, options.online: false
• If no price mentioned → infer from context (workshops ~$100-300, training programs ~$200-500, bootcamps ~$150-400) or default to free
• Course pricing is for the full course, not per session — remind the user of this in the summary

Capacity (if not specified)

• Default: 10 participants
• If user mentions group size → use their number
• Typical ranges: intensive 5-10, standard 10-20, lecture-style 20-50

Category

• If categories exist → assign the most relevant one (e.g., "Training", "Workshops")
• If no categories exist → create one:

Service Name & Description

• Use the user's wording for the service name
• Generate a brief, professional description (1-2 sentences) mentioning it's a multi-session course
• If the user specified the number of sessions or duration, include that in the description

Step 3: Create the Course Service

CRITICAL: COURSE services do NOT use staffMemberIds or sessionDurations. These fields are ignored. Use defaultCapacity instead.

Paid course:

Free course:

COURSE-Specific Reminders

• Do NOT include staffMemberIds — it is ignored for COURSE services
• Do NOT include schedule.availabilityConstraints.sessionDurations — not used for COURSE
• defaultCapacity is required — sets max participants for the entire course
• Customers must book the entire course (all sessions), not individual sessions
• After creation, course sessions must be scheduled separately via bulkCreateEvents using the returned service.schedule.id (see Create and Update Booking Services)

Save the serviceId from the response: results[0].item.service.id

Step 4: Summary Message

Provide a summary including:

1. What was created — service name, total course price, capacity
2. Assumptions made — list defaults used (e.g., "I set the capacity to 10 participants since you didn't specify")
3. Pricing clarification — note that the price is for the entire course, not per session
4. Schedule note — remind the user that course sessions (dates and times) still need to be set up
5. Next steps — "Click Save to finalize, then set up the course schedule"
6. Offer to adjust — "Want me to change the price, capacity, or description?"

Example:

Error Handling

Payment Validation Quick Reference

What This Skill Does NOT Cover

• Course schedule setup — individual session events (dates/times) must be configured separately via Calendar Events API. See Create and Update Booking Services Step 3.
• Pricing plans — memberships or installment payments are separate. See Create and Update Pricing Plans
• Instructor assignment — staffMemberIds is ignored for COURSE. Staff association is managed through calendar events.
• Service images — requires Media Manager API (see create-and-update-booking-services.md)

API Documentation Reference

• Bulk Create Services
• Query Services
• Query Categories
• Create Category
• Bulk Create Events
• About Service Types
• About Service Payments