Tentative bookings

What it is

A tentative booking — also called a pencilled-in booking — is a non-binding hold on the asset. It says “I might want this slot” without taking it out of circulation for anyone else. Multiple tentative bookings can cover the same time on the same asset. A tentative booking does not block a confirmed booking.

Who can use it

Any member who can create a booking can pencil in a tentative one. Admins and owners use it the same way. Viewers cannot create tentative bookings — they cannot create any bookings.

Where to find it

Create booking dialog — toggle labelled “Pencil in (tentative)”. Turning it on changes the dialog’s commit button so it creates a tentative instead of a confirmed booking.
Calendar — tentative bookings render with a diagonal hatching pattern, distinct from the solid fill used for confirmed bookings.
Booking detail — a tentative booking shows a “Tentative” status chip and an action to confirm it.
Bookings tab — tentative bookings appear in the list with a tentative status badge.

Fields / options

A tentative booking carries the same fields as any other booking — asset, author, start, end, optional notes. The distinctive field is its status: tentative.

Action	Who	Effect
Create a tentative booking	any member who can book	Status is `tentative`. No conflict check against confirmed bookings.
Confirm the tentative	the booking author	Status moves to `pending` (if the syndicate requires approval and the author is a regular member) or `confirmed` (otherwise). At this point the exclusion constraint applies.
Cancel the tentative	the booking author	Status moves to `cancelled`.

Behaviour rules

Non-binding by design. A tentative booking does not block other tentatives, and does not block a confirmed booking on the same slot. The only “ownership” it represents is the author’s intention to confirm.
Overlap is allowed. Two members can each hold a tentative booking on the same slot at the same time. Whichever of them confirms first takes the slot.
Confirmation promotes, not duplicates. Confirming a tentative changes its status in place; it does not create a new booking.
No auto-confirmation. Tentatives do not become confirmed by the passage of time. They remain tentative until the author explicitly confirms or cancels them.
Approval still applies on confirmation. If the syndicate requires booking approval and the author is a regular member, confirming a tentative places it in the pending queue for an admin to approve or reject.