The Reservations APIs provide all the functionality required to create and manage restaurant table reservations.
This article contains a comprehensive list of the various terms and concepts used in Reservations and its APIs.
Manual approval is a setting that determines whether reservations made online are automatically accepted, or require manual approval from a human.
A party is a group of guests that come to dine together at a restaurant.
Party pacing is the maximum number of party reservations that can start within a 15-minute period.
A reservation is a set of tables and seats reserved for a party at a restaurant for a specific period of time.
A reservation location is a representation of a physical restaurant location at which reservations can be made.
A reservation location conflict is an attempt to make a reservation that doesn’t comply with the restaurant’s party pacing or seat pacing rules.
A reservee is the person a reservation is made for. Not to be confused with the person making the reservation, although they may be the same.
A seat is a chair or place for one person in a restaurant.
Seat pacing is the maximum number of seats that can be filled by new reservations within a 15-minute period.
The source of a reservation is how the reservation was made. For example, if it was booked online, in person, through an app, and so on.
The status of a reservation represents its position in the reservation lifecycle. For example, RESERVED, CANCELED, or FINISHED.
A table combination conflict is an attempt to make a reservation that doesn’t comply with the restaurant’s table management or online reservation rules.
A time slot is a period of time in a restaurant’s calendar.
Scheduled time slots are time slots within a restaurant's opening hours as defined in the reservation location's businessSchedule. For more information, see Get Scheduled Time Slots.
Turnover time is how much time a party needs for an entire reservation - from being seated to leaving the restaurant.
Experiences are unique dining offerings that override standard reservation location settings with their own custom rules for pricing, scheduling, approval, and booking forms.
Date last updated: 27 October 2025