Calendar sync setup
Wire Riley directly into your Google Calendar so the AI reads your real availability mid-call and books appointments without anyone hitting a link. The full "yes, Tuesday at 2 works" experience.
| Caller experience | Books on the call — "Tuesday at 2 it is, see you then." No follow-up texting. |
| Riley reads availability | Yes — real free/busy from your Google Calendar. |
| Riley writes events | Yes — creates the event with caller's name, phone, and notes. |
| Setup effort | ~6 minutes — one OAuth consent, pick a calendar, set rules. |
| Reverses easily? | Yes — disconnect from Sidekick anytime, no data left behind. |
Open the Google Calendar settings page
In Sidekick, go to Settings › Appointment Booking — Google Calendar. Click Connect Google Calendar.
A Google OAuth window opens. Sign in with the account that owns the calendar Riley should book into — not your personal Gmail if your business uses a Workspace account.
Approve the permissions
Google shows a consent screen with three scopes. They're tightly scoped — we don't ask for anything we don't strictly need.
| See your calendars | Lists which calendars exist so you can pick which one to use. |
| See events on your calendar | Checks free/busy at the moment a caller asks for a time. |
| Create and edit events | Writes the new appointment with caller details. |
Click Allow. You'll bounce back to Sidekick with a green "Google Calendar connected" banner.
SMB Sidekick in the Google Admin Console › Security › API controls.
Pick the calendar to book into
Set the Calendar ID field. Most owners leave this as primary — that's your main Google Calendar.
Want to book into a different calendar?
In Google Calendar, open the calendar › Settings › Integrate calendar, and copy the long string under "Calendar ID". Paste it into Sidekick.
en.usa#holiday@group.v.calendar.google.com
// or a shared business calendar
c_abc123def456@group.calendar.google.com
Set your booking rules
Riley books inside your Operating Schedule by default. Tighten further with a few sentences in Booking & policy instructions.
Default slot length: 90 minutes per appointment.
Buffer: 30 minutes between visits for drive time.
First slot of day: never before 9:30 AM.
Last slot of day: book latest at 3:30 PM (1.5hr finish).
Saturdays: emergency only — do not offer routine.
Riley reads these as soft rules — they're not enforced by your calendar, they shape what Riley offers the caller. Hard-blocking still happens via real busy events on the calendar.
Run the availability test
On the Google Calendar settings page, click Run test. Sidekick queries your calendar exactly the way Riley does mid-call and shows what's available for the next 7 days.
- "Found X available slots" — you're set, skip to the live test.
- "No slots found" — calendar is fully booked or your hours are wrong. Check Operating Schedule.
- "Calendar not found" — the Calendar ID is wrong or you lost access. Reconnect.
Place a live test call
From any other phone, call your business number. Try: "Can I book a visit for Tuesday morning?"
Riley should offer two or three real time slots based on your actual availability, confirm the one you pick, get a name and address, and end with a confirmation. Within seconds you'll see a new event on your Google Calendar with the caller's details in the description.
[Sidekick] <caller name> — <service>. Caller's phone, full transcript, and an audio recording link appear in the event description.
Frequently asked
Will Riley book over my personal events?
No. Free/busy is read from every calendar you have visible in Google Calendar, including personal ones. If a slot conflicts with anything on any of those calendars, Riley won't offer it.
Can I block buffer time?
Yes. Either: (a) describe it in policy instructions ("30 min buffer between appointments") or (b) create recurring "buffer" events on your calendar.
How do I disconnect?
Click Disconnect Google Calendar in Sidekick's settings, and revoke Sidekick's access at myaccount.google.com/permissions. Riley falls back to Calendly mode if you have a link set, otherwise to "take a message".
What about Outlook / Apple Calendar?
If you can sync Outlook or iCloud into Google Calendar (as most people do), it works. Native Outlook/iCloud OAuth is on the roadmap — ETA Q3 2026.