Calendar sync and iCal export

Sessional can export your confirmed bookings as a live iCal feed, a standard calendar format supported by virtually every calendar application. Once you subscribe to the feed, your locum bookings appear alongside your personal appointments, giving you a single view of your schedule.

The feed is read-only. Events are managed entirely within Sessional, and your calendar application simply displays them. When a booking is confirmed, rescheduled, or cancelled in Sessional, the change is reflected in your calendar the next time it refreshes.

To generate your personal iCal feed URL:

1. Go to Dashboard > Calendar
2. Click Generate feed URL: Sessional creates a unique, private URL for your account
3. Copy the URL to your clipboard using the Copy button

This URL contains a secure token that identifies your account. Anyone with the URL can view your booking schedule, so treat it like a password and do not share it publicly.

To subscribe in Google Calendar:

1. Open Google Calendar in your browser (calendar.google.com)
2. In the left sidebar, click the + icon next to "Other calendars"
3. Select From URL
4. Paste your Sessional feed URL into the URL field
5. Click Add calendar

Google Calendar typically refreshes external feeds every 12 to 24 hours. There is no way to force a faster refresh. This is a Google limitation. If you need to see a very recent booking immediately, check the Sessional dashboard directly.

To subscribe in Outlook (desktop or web):

1. Open Outlook and go to the Calendar view
2. Click Add calendar > Subscribe from web (Outlook web) or File > Account Settings > Internet Calendars > New (Outlook desktop)
3. Paste your Sessional feed URL
4. Give the calendar a name (e.g. "Sessional Bookings") and click OK or Import

Outlook typically refreshes subscribed calendars every 3 to 24 hours depending on the client version.

To subscribe on macOS or iOS:

• macOS: open Calendar, click File > New Calendar Subscription, paste the URL, and click Subscribe. Set the refresh interval to "Every hour" for the most timely updates.
• iOS: go to Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Account > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar, paste the URL, and tap Next. Alternatively, tap the feed URL in Safari and iOS will offer to subscribe automatically.

Apple Calendar lets you choose a refresh interval from every 5 minutes to weekly. We recommend every hour as a sensible balance between timeliness and efficiency.

The iCal feed always reflects the current state of your bookings in Sessional:

• New confirmed booking: a new event appears in the feed with the organisation name, date, and time
• Booking rescheduled: the event moves to the new date and time
• Booking cancelled: the event is removed from the feed
• Booking details updated: changes to the organisation, rate, or notes are reflected in the event description

The feed URL itself never changes (unless you regenerate it). Your calendar application simply fetches the latest version each time it refreshes.

Each calendar event contains:

• Event title: the organisation name
• Date and time: the start and end time of the booking (or all-day for daily-rate bookings)
• Description: the booking status, rate, and any notes you have added
• Location: the organisation address, if one is recorded

Only confirmed, delivered, invoiced, and paid bookings are included. Offered and cancelled bookings do not appear in the feed.

If you believe your feed URL has been compromised or you have shared it by mistake, you can regenerate the token:

1. Go to Dashboard > Calendar
2. Click Regenerate feed URL
3. Confirm the action. Your old URL will stop working immediately
4. Copy the new URL and re-add it to your calendar applications

Any calendar application still using the old URL will no longer receive updates and will eventually show stale data. You must manually update each application with the new URL.