Frequently asked questions

1. Browse restaurants on the homepage and open the one you want.
2. Create a free account or sign in — you need an account to book.
3. Choose your date, time, and party size from the available slots.
4. Enter your contact details and confirm. You will receive a booking reference by email.

Yes. BookMeTable offers a partner-ready Integration API (V1) so your custom web POS, in-house till software, or a third-party vendor can connect to live bookings — similar to how Stripe or Twilio provide one documented contract for many consumers.

Each restaurant gets its own secure API connection. A POS can read reservations, update floor status (arrived, seated, completed), and optionally receive real-time webhooks when bookings are created, updated, cancelled, or completed.

The live API contract updates automatically when BookMeTable ships new integration features. Partners can discover the current version and changelog at https://bookmetable.uk/api.

API access is enabled by the BookMeTable team per restaurant. Contact us on WhatsApp to request credentials.

The API base URL is https://bookmetable.uk/api/v1 (revision 1). All requests use HTTPS and JSON. Each connection is scoped to one restaurant — a key cannot access other venues. Check https://bookmetable.uk/api for all available versions (v1, v2, …).

Authentication

Send your secret API key on every request:

Authorization: Bearer bmt_live_…

Keys are issued when an admin creates a restaurant connection. Store them securely on your server — never in a browser or mobile app binary.

REST endpoints

• GET /restaurant — opening hours, timezone, contact details, and capacity settings for the connected venue.
• GET /bookings — list reservations. Filter with date, from, to, or status (e.g. confirmed).
• GET /bookings/{reference} — fetch one booking by reference (e.g. BK-SYF8GG).
• PATCH /bookings/{reference} — update floor status or cancel from the POS.

GET https://bookmetable.uk/api/v1/bookings?date=2026-06-28&status=confirmed

PATCH https://bookmetable.uk/api/v1/bookings/BK-SYF8GG
Content-Type: application/json

{ "floor_status": "seated" }

Floor status (on-site workflow)

Use floor_status to track guests on the restaurant floor. Typical flow:

pending → arrived → seated → completed (or no_show if they do not turn up).

Booking status (confirmed / cancelled) is separate from floor status. POS systems can cancel with { "status": "cancelled" }.

Webhooks (push notifications)

Instead of polling, register a webhook URL on your connection. BookMeTable sends a signed POST when subscribed events occur:

booking.created · booking.updated · booking.cancelled · booking.completed

Verify each delivery with HMAC-SHA256 using your webhook secret:

• Header X-BookMeTable-Signature: sha256=…
• Header X-BookMeTable-Timestamp
• Header X-BookMeTable-Event
• Signed payload: {timestamp}.{raw_body}

The JSON body includes booking reference, guest name, party size, date/time, status, and floor_status — the same shape returned by the REST API.

Recommended POS integration pattern

1. On startup (or every few minutes), call GET /bookings for today's date to sync the reservation list.
2. When a guest checks in at the till, PATCH their booking to arrived, then seated when they sit down.
3. Optionally subscribe to webhooks so new online bookings appear instantly without polling.
4. Mark completed when the visit ends (or let BookMeTable auto-complete after the booking window).

Errors

• 401 — invalid or missing API key
• 404 — booking reference not found for this restaurant
• 503 — Integration API is disabled platform-wide