Restaurant Reservation

Book restaurant reservations on OpenTable or Resy using browser automation. All browser operations are executed through the assistant browser CLI, invoked via host_bash.

Anti-Loop Guardrails

Each step has a retry budget of 3 attempts. An attempt is one try at the step's primary action (e.g., clicking a button, filling a form, navigating a page). If a step fails after 3 attempts:

1. Stop trying. Do not continue retrying the same approach.
2. Fall back to manual. Tell the user what you were trying to do and ask them to complete that step manually in the browser. Give them the direct URL and clear instructions.
3. Resume automation at the next step once the user confirms the manual step is done.

If two or more steps require manual fallback, inform the user the automated flow is unreliable and offer to provide the remaining steps as text instructions with links.

Booking Flow - Follow These Steps IN ORDER

Step 1: Collect Reservation Details

Before doing anything, gather the following from the user:

• Party size (required)
• Date (required)
• Time or time window (required)
• Location / neighborhood / city (required)
• Restaurant name (optional - if not provided, will search)
• Any preferences (outdoor seating, dietary needs, etc.)

Do not proceed until all required details have been provided.

Step 2: Choose Provider

• If the user hasn't specified a provider, ask them to choose between OpenTable and Resy.
• Do NOT attempt to browse provider sites to check restaurant availability before signing in - authentication is required first. If the user names a specific restaurant but isn't sure which provider has it, pick the more common one (OpenTable) and fall back to the other if it's not found after searching in Step 4.

Step 3: Navigate and Sign In FIRST

This is the most important step. Reservation sites require authentication before booking.

1. Navigate directly to the sign-in page.

   • For OpenTable, navigate to: https://www.opentable.com/sign-in
   • For Resy, navigate to: https://resy.com/login

   assistant browser --session reservation navigate --url "https://www.opentable.com/sign-in"

2. Take a snapshot. If you see a sign-in form (email input), continue to sub-step 5 below (fill the email).

   assistant browser --session reservation --json snapshot

3. If the direct URL fails (404, redirect, or any error): fall back to the homepage approach - navigate to the service's homepage and click the "Sign In" / "Log In" button.

4. If already signed in (you see an account menu, the user's name, or other logged-in indicators), skip to the next step.

5. Fill the email using assistant browser fill-credential (e.g. service: "opentable" or "resy", field: "email"). Target the element by its element_id - NEVER type into the browser URL bar.

   assistant browser --session reservation fill-credential --service opentable --field email --element-id <id>

6. Click "Continue" / "Sign In" or equivalent submit button.

7. The site will send a verification code via SMS/email. Use ui_show with surface_type: "form" and await_action: true to ask the user for the code. Wait for the user to submit the form before proceeding - do NOT use any previously collected code. Verification codes expire quickly; only the code from the most recent form submission is valid. Type the freshly submitted code into the verification input on the page.

8. If the code is rejected, prompt the user again with a fresh ui_show form - never retry an old code.

9. For password-based login: If the site presents a password field instead of a verification code, fill the password using assistant browser fill-credential (e.g. service: "opentable" or "resy", field: "password").

   assistant browser --session reservation fill-credential --service opentable --field password --element-id <id>

EVERY snapshot: Dismiss modals FIRST

Before every other action, scan the snapshot for non-functional modal overlays and dismiss them. Modals block all interactions - clicking behind a modal silently fails.

• DO NOT dismiss sign-in/login modals - if you see an email input or sign-in form inside a modal, that IS the sign-in flow. Fill it in, don't close it.
• Dismiss only blocker modals: cookie banners, regulatory notices, promotional popups.
• Look for: "Got It", "Accept", "Close", "OK", "Dismiss" buttons on non-login modals.
• Take a fresh snapshot after dismissing to confirm the modal is gone.

Step 4: Search for Availability

1. For OpenTable, navigate directly to: https://www.opentable.com/s?covers=<party_size>&dateTime=<YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM>&term=<restaurant_or_location> Construct the URL from the details collected in Step 1. URL-encode the term parameter.

2. For Resy, navigate to https://resy.com/cities/<city> and use the search/filter UI to find available reservations matching the collected details.

3. If a specific restaurant was named, navigate directly to its page if possible (e.g. https://www.opentable.com/r/<restaurant-slug> or https://resy.com/cities/<city>/venues/<restaurant-slug>). After landing on the restaurant page, reapply the user's date, time, and party size filters - direct restaurant URLs often show default availability that may not match the user's request. Use the on-page date picker, time selector, and party size controls to set the correct values before reviewing slots.

4. Take a snapshot and review the results:

   assistant browser --session reservation --json snapshot

5. If the named restaurant is not found on this provider, tell the user and offer to try the other provider (OpenTable <-> Resy). If they agree, go back to Step 3 to sign in to the other provider.

Step 5: Present Available Slots

1. Extract available time slots from the page.

2. Present them to the user in a clear, organized format.

3. If NO slots match the requested time:

   • Offer nearby times on the same date.
   • Offer the same time on adjacent dates.
   • Suggest trying the other provider (OpenTable <-> Resy).

4. Let the user choose a slot.

5. Click the chosen slot on the page to select it. Take a fresh snapshot to confirm the slot is selected and the booking/confirmation form is now visible. Do not proceed to confirmation steps until the slot is actively selected in the site UI.

   assistant browser --session reservation click --element-id <slot-id>
   assistant browser --session reservation --json snapshot