Case Study: Reservation Management System

Notifications to the business (Discord) and notifications to customers (WhatsApp, SMS, LINE, etc.) go through fundamentally different channels. In this case study, we sort out that distinction during the initial interview stage before moving on to design.

Just Two Tools

Tool	Role	Think of it as
Chat Claude (claude.ai)	Decides "what to build" through conversation. Handles the design/spec side	A planning session with your architect
Claude Code in VS Code	Takes the finalized design and actually creates the files and writes the code	The contractor on site

Basic Workflow

Talk with Chat Claude → get a spec for "what to build"
Chat Claude turns that spec into an instruction sheet (TASK.md)
Hand the TASK.md to Claude Code in VS Code → it actually builds it
Report the result back to Chat Claude → get the next instruction sheet
Repeat steps 1–4 until it's complete

Common Things to Manage by Business Type (a Starting Point for the Interview)

The first time you think through a reservation system, deciding on just a "business type" doesn't tell you what you actually need to manage. Based on what existing reservation systems (for restaurants, for salons) actually track, here's a starting point for the interview.

Restaurants, Izakaya, etc. (Table Management Model)

Seats per table (e.g. tables for 2, tables for 4)
Party size and how it maps to table assignment/combination
Availability by time slot (how many tables of what size are free at a given time)
Customer-side records: visit history, allergies, favorite menu items
No-show records

Salons, Physical Therapy Clinics, Medical Clinics, etc. (Staff/Resource Allocation Model)

Treatment duration, price, and setup/cleanup buffer time per service menu item
Which staff member can perform which services (skill-based assignment), work hours, days off
Availability of seats/treatment rooms as a resource
Customer records (preferences, products used, allergies, treatment history)
Buffer time between bookings (time needed to prepare for the next one)

Common to All Business Types

When to send reminders (the day before, N hours before, etc.)
Cancellation policy and how to handle a waitlist
Whether a deposit is required

This is just a reference starting point. What you actually need varies by business and how your shop operates, so in Phase 0 we'll first ask about your business type, then use this as a base to work out the specific items to manage together.

What Changes If You Build a Database (a Concrete Example)

In Phase 1, you'll decide between "building a new dedicated database + reservation site from scratch" or "continuing to use your current Google Calendar as the reservation ledger." As a reference point, here's a comparison using a hypothetical izakaya (20 seats, 4 tables) — what you can and can't do with each option.

Google Calendar Integration Only

What you can do: put the date/time on the calendar, notify the business via Discord
What you can't do: automatic calculation of table availability, accumulating visit history, recording per-customer allergies/preferences, tallying no-show rates — none of the detailed management listed under "Common Things to Manage by Business Type" is possible (you can write text into a calendar event, but you can't search or aggregate it afterward)

Building a Dedicated Database + Reservation Site

Everything listed above becomes searchable and aggregatable (for example, you could list "customers who canceled a lot last month" or "customers with allergies on file")
On the other hand, it takes more effort to build and maintain than calendar integration

Rule of thumb: If your reservation volume is low and you just want to try out notifications first, it's fine to start with calendar integration. If you want to properly use business-specific management items like visit history and allergy tracking, you'll need a dedicated database.

Overall Schedule (Six Phases)

Phase	Content	Tool Used	Deliverable
Phase 0	Requirements interview (business type, reservation granularity, existing tools, notification channels)	Chat Claude	Requirements sheet
Phase 1	Deciding the system architecture (new reservation site vs. existing calendar integration, choosing the customer notification channel)	Chat Claude	Architecture plan
Phase 2	Building the cassette (SKILL.md/WORKFLOW.md and a dedicated SPEC/soul.md are all required)	Chat Claude	SKILL.md, WORKFLOW.md, SPEC/soul.md
Phase 3	Implementation (iterative)	Claude Code in VS Code	A working cassette
Phase 4	Testing and verification	Both	A verified cassette
Phase 5	Polish and documentation	Chat Claude	Finished product + usage guide

Since the assumptions vary a lot by business type, there's no ready-made TASK.md that skips the interview. Always start with the Phase 0 requirements interview.

Start Now: the Phase 0 Kickoff Prompt

Just paste this prompt as-is into a new conversation with "Chat Claude" (claude.ai) to kick off the Phase 0 requirements interview.

I want to build a reservation management + automated notification tool (a skill cassette) for a business that takes bookings (restaurant, salon, physical therapy clinic, medical clinic, etc.). I'm new to programming, so I'd like you (Chat Claude) to be my design/spec partner, with Claude Code in VS Code handling the implementation.

🔒

The rest is available in the full guide after purchasing T1.
(Full text including the detailed Phase 0 interview items, notification channel selection logic, and instruction-sheet templates for Phase 1 onward)

Buy T1 to See the Guide →

Disclaimer and Important Notes

If you send automated messages to customers (arrival reminders, thank-you messages, etc.), make sure you obtain their consent at booking time — that "an automated message will arrive once the reservation is confirmed." We recommend designing the system to send only to reservations where consent has been confirmed.

Full Build Guide

The detailed Phase 0 interview items, notification channel selection logic, and instruction-sheet templates for Phase 1 onward — the full write-up is all laid out on the BALIA OS guide site.

See the Full Build Guide →

See Other Case Studies

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Case Study:Reservation Management System.