Group sessions, runs, and series (cycles)

This guide expands the short notes in Services, availability, and bookings and Guest booking and payments. It covers the group session / class service type, sessions (runs), and series (cycles) from both owner and guest perspectives.

Plan: group features and cycles require Growth or higher (or a trial / internal plan that includes them). Starter and Free cannot create new services of this type.

Why this service type exists

Use Group session / class for:

workshops and training (on-site or online),
cohort-style classes with a shared start time and limited seats,
“ticket-like” events where the guest picks a specific run, not a slot from your weekly grid.

Unlike 1:1 services, weekly Availability rules do not open times for group services. You publish sessions manually (start/end, capacity, location or meeting URL). Guests see upcoming sessions with seats left.

Single sessions (runs)

Creating and editing

Business → Services → open a Group session / class service → Edit.
Open Manage sessions (or the equivalent link from the service card).
Add session: start and end (in the business timezone), capacity, mode (online / in person), optional title (e.g. “Lesson 1 - syntax”), meeting URL or address, instructor (performer).

Past sessions remain for history; guests only book upcoming, non-cancelled runs.

Cancelling a whole session

On the session edit screen you can cancel the session. This cancels active guest bookings on that run and sends the usual notifications. That is an operational action - it does not replace your own refund policy toward clients (see Refunds for courses and events - information for businesses).

Session detail and participants

Each session has a detail / operational view: participant list, export, bulk actions (per product version). Cancel entire session typically lives there as well.

Series (cycles) - multi-session packages

A series is a bundle of sessions sold as one booking / one online payment (when priced online). Example: a three-part course - the guest pays once and receives confirmation covering all dates (often one email with a calendar attachment summarising every run).

Where to manage series

From the group service editor: Manage series → Create / Edit / Show (details).

Edit - title, series price type (free / pay on site / paid online), active flag, guest visibility, attaching upcoming sessions that are not already tied to another series.
Show (details) - overview, sessions in the package, and buyers (people who purchased the whole package). Cancelling a purchase from here cascades to the underlying per-session bookings (notifications per app rules). Stripe refunds are not automated in BUKMI for that action - refunds are a separate business / legal decision (see the legal information article).

Sales mode (single vs series)

On the group service you set a sales mode:

Mode	Guest experience
Single sessions only	Session list only; series are not offered in that flow.
Series only	Guest chooses a series; single-session booking is not in that path.
Both	Guest can switch between single session and series when both are actually published.

This also affects which prices appear on the business hub and in the service page subtitle (see below).

Drop-in - book one run that belongs to a series

You may allow guests to book individual runs that are attached to a series while you still sell the full package. Enable this on the series edit screen (drop-in / single-seat bookings):

Capacity is shared between package buyers and drop-in guests.
Drop-in price can be custom or fall back to the service catalog price.

Use case: flexibility for clients who will not buy the full package.

Pricing: service, series, public pages

The service-level price in the editor is usually the single-entry / catalog price - used for single-session bookings and as the default for drop-in when you do not set a separate amount on the series.
The series price is configured on the series itself.
On the public business hub and in the subtitle of the service page, the app may show:
- single-session pricing only when there are no published series or the mode is single only;
- series pricing only (including a “from” prefix when multiple series differ) when the mode is series only;
- both when the mode is both and you genuinely offer both.

The same helper logic is used in both places so messaging stays consistent.

Guest journey

For group services, the time-selection step depends on mode:
- Single session - a list of cards with date, mode, seats left, optional drop-in price, and a “part of series” label when the run belongs to a drop-in-enabled series.
- Series - available packages; after picking one, guests usually see the included sessions spelled out.
Contact details, consents, terms - same pattern as other services.
Payment - one Stripe checkout for an entire paid online series; one payment for a single paid session.

Self-service reschedule via email link follows business rules for standard bookings; group / series flows may have extra restrictions - see Reschedule and cancel.

Limits and reporting

Monthly booking counters on your plan: purchasing a series typically counts as one booking toward the limit (not every lesson separately) - confirm in your installed version if you rely on this for billing.
Coupons (when the plan includes them) apply to paid flows according to coupon rules.

Services, availability, and bookings - full business context; 1:1 availability vs group sessions.
Guest booking and payments - public URLs, Stripe, consents.
Reschedule and cancel - what guests can change themselves.
Contacts, consents, and client terms - Client terms field and a starter template for group / series offers.
Refunds for courses and events - information for businesses - not legal advice; outlines consumer-law context and practical communication tips.