> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.nerovasystems.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.nerovasystems.com/guides/verticals/beauty-and-nails/booking.md).

# Book and confirm

The salon booking round trip: create with intake responses, echo them back, refuse undeclared keys, and where loyalty and gift cards fit.

## The booking request

A salon booking carries the client, the slot, and the intake answers the concierge collected in conversation. No `subject` field: the manifest declares no subject capability, so Nerova never sends one.

```json
{
  "externalServiceId": "svc_gel_full",
  "externalStaffId": "staff_014",
  "startTime": "2026-09-03T10:00:00+00:00",
  "client": {
    "name": "Naledi Dlamini",
    "phone": "+27820000000",
    "email": null,
    "externalClientId": null
  },
  "externalLocationId": null,
  "notes": null,
  "intakeResponses": {
    "nail_shape": "almond",
    "color_preference": "chrome french tips",
    "gel_removal_needed": true
  },
  "reason": "full set before a wedding on Saturday"
}
```

Requires the `Idempotency-Key` header; replaying the same key returns the same appointment. Full semantics are on the [create appointment reference](https://docs.nerovasystems.com/documentation/provider-api/operations/create-appointment).

## Your side of the contract

* **Validate as the authority.** Nerova shape-validates only. Your platform enforces required answers and option membership: a `nail_shape` of `"stiletto"` is not in the declared options, so reject it with HTTP `400` and an `invalid_request` envelope.
* **Refuse undeclared keys.** An `intakeResponses` key the service does not declare must be rejected, not silently dropped. Accepting and dropping is data loss and fails `intake.undeclared_key_refusal`.
* **Echo verbatim.** Store `intakeResponses` and `reason` and return both unchanged on every read. Conformance proves it with `intake.appointment_round_trip`.

## Loyalty and gift cards in the conversation

The salon vertical capabilities put retail flows in reach of the concierge: it can read a [loyalty balance](https://docs.nerovasystems.com/documentation/provider-api/operations/loyalty-balance), [redeem points](https://docs.nerovasystems.com/documentation/provider-api/operations/loyalty-deduct), check a [gift card](https://docs.nerovasystems.com/documentation/provider-api/operations/get-gift-card), or [issue one](https://docs.nerovasystems.com/documentation/provider-api/operations/issue-gift-card) mid-conversation. Each is optional and independently declared; each has its own conformance checks on the [certification matrix](https://docs.nerovasystems.com/documentation/provider-api/certification).

## Prove it on a test tenant

Run the booking against a test tenant on your Live key exactly as in [zero-to-live step 10](/guides/zero-to-live/step-11-go-live.md#101-prove-a-booking-end-to-end), then run conformance. A salon build that declares the catalog on the previous pages certifies with the intake checks green and the subject checks recorded `Excluded`.


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