---
title: "Verify appointment buffers block adjacent bookings"
description: "Check a sandbox booking resource with setup and cleanup buffers, confirming adjacent unavailable slots and exact availability beyond the buffer boundary."
canonical_url: "https://vostride.com/agent-library/scheduling/buffer-time-blocks-adjacent-slot.md"
md_url: "https://vostride.com/agent-library/scheduling/buffer-time-blocks-adjacent-slot.md"
content_kind: "recipe"
topic: "scheduling"
---

# Verify appointment buffers block adjacent bookings

Check a sandbox booking resource with setup and cleanup buffers, confirming adjacent unavailable slots and exact availability beyond the buffer boundary.

## Risk

Availability can check appointment duration while forgetting preparation or cleanup time. Test both a conflicting candidate and the first valid boundary slot so an overly broad block is detected alongside underblocking.

## Fixtures

- An owned sandbox resource with one existing appointment and explicit before-and-after buffer durations.
- An independent availability manifest listing one candidate inside the cleanup buffer and one candidate beginning exactly after it.
- A disposable booking user and a read-only reservation oracle; sandbox notifications and any payment processing are disabled.

## Steps

1. Open the resource schedule and verify the existing appointment time and configured buffer policy match the fixture.
2. Inspect the candidate inside the cleanup buffer and verify it cannot be selected or produces the documented availability conflict.
3. Choose the candidate beginning exactly after the buffer, verify its full interval, and submit a sandbox booking.
4. Reopen the schedule and inspect the independent reservation oracle; verify the valid boundary booking exists once while no booking occupies either buffer interval.

## Expected results

- The existing appointment plus its buffers forms the intended unavailable interval.
- The exact first permitted boundary slot remains bookable rather than being unnecessarily blocked.
- Only the valid candidate is committed for the disposable user.

## False-pass traps

- Testing only an overlapping appointment misses the separate buffer calculation.
- An interface disabling the entire day can pass a conflict check while hiding overblocking.

## Cleanup

- Cancel the new sandbox booking and restore the resource availability fixture.

## Use with agent-qa

Adapt this test design to your application's acceptance criteria and configured target using the [recipe execution guide](/agent-library/software-factory/turn-a-recipe-into-an-agent-qa-test.md). External fixture setup and non-UI checks require your own supported hooks or test tooling. Validate the authored test, execute it, and inspect the completed evidence; this recipe is not a recorded test result.

## References

- [agent-qa first test](/docs/agent-qa/guides/first-test.md)
- [agent-qa hooks](/docs/agent-qa/guides/hooks.md)
- [agent-qa test](/docs/agent-qa/configuration/test.md)

- [Scheduling and calendar QA recipes](/agent-library/scheduling.md)
- [Software factory QA library](/agent-library.md)