Syncing your external calendar with Alvéya keeps your availability accurate and prevents double-bookings — clients can only book times you are genuinely free.
Understanding the Three Calendar Types
Alvéya uses three distinct calendar concepts when connecting to external accounts. It helps to know what each one does before you start.
Connected Calendars — These grant Alvéya permission to read (and optionally write) events from your external calendar account. Think of this as the authorisation step — you are telling the external calendar that Alvéya is allowed in.
Linked Calendars — These pull your existing events into Alvéya so your real availability is visible. When a client tries to book a time you are already using, Alvéya knows to show that slot as unavailable.
Conflict Calendars — These take it one step further. Any event on a conflict calendar will automatically block the corresponding slot in Alvéya, preventing double-bookings entirely.
💡 You will typically set up all three for the same calendar account — connect it, link it, then add it as a conflict calendar. The steps below walk you through each one.
Step 1 — Connect Your External Calendar
Go to Settings > Calendars > Connections.
Choose Google or Outlook and click Connect.
Sign in with the calendar account you want to use and authorise Alvéya's access.
Step 2 — Link Your Calendar to Alvéya
Once your calendar is connected, you need to link it so that Alvéya can read your events and reflect your true availability.
In the same Connections tab, scroll down to the Calendar Configuration section.
Under Linked Calendar, click Add.
Choose the connected calendar you just authorised.
Click Save.
💡 When you add a linked calendar, Alvéya will automatically add it as a conflict calendar too. This means events from that calendar will immediately start blocking your availability — which is exactly what you want.
Choosing Your Sync Preferences
Once your calendar is linked, you can control how events flow between Alvéya and your external calendar. You will find these options in the Advanced Settings section of your Calendar Configuration.
Default Sync (One-Way)
This is the standard setting. Events from your external calendar are pulled into Alvéya as blocked time slots, preventing anyone from booking during those windows. Alvéya bookings are also written back to your external calendar.
No new contacts are created and no workflows are triggered for externally-sourced events — they simply block the time.
Two-Way Sync
Two-way sync goes a step further. External calendar events are imported into Alvéya as full appointments rather than just blocked slots. This means guest contacts can be created, and any relevant workflows or automations will fire just as they would for a booking made directly in Alvéya.
💡 Example: If you have a personal appointment at 2pm in Google Calendar with a guest added, Default Sync will simply block that time in Alvéya. Two-Way Sync will create an appointment in Alvéya, create a contact for the guest, and trigger any relevant automations. Use Two-Way Sync only if you genuinely need that level of integration.
Feature | Default (One-Way) Sync | Two-Way Sync |
Alvéya bookings sync to external calendar | Yes | Yes |
External calendar events sync to Alvéya | Yes | Yes |
External events appear as | Blocked slots | Appointments |
Guest contacts created in Alvéya | No | Yes |
Workflows/automations triggered | No | Yes |
Setting Up Conflict Calendars
Conflict calendars are what prevent double-bookings. Alvéya reads all events from any calendar you add here, and automatically blocks your availability for those time windows — but only for events marked as Busy in your external calendar.
Events marked as Busy will block the corresponding slots in Alvéya.
Events marked as Free will appear in Alvéya but will not affect your bookable availability.
You can add multiple calendars as conflict calendars — for example, a work calendar and a personal calendar — so that all your commitments are taken into account.
⚠️ Conflict calendars do not create appointments in Alvéya. They only block time. If you need events to be treated as full appointments, use a Linked Calendar with Two-Way Sync instead.
How It All Works Together
When a client tries to book with you, Alvéya checks both your Linked and Conflict calendars before showing available slots. Any overlap with existing events is automatically hidden.
If you have enabled Write Back Appointments, new Alvéya bookings are pushed to your external calendar automatically. Cancellations and reschedules in Alvéya will also update your external calendar.
In your Alvéya calendar view, external events show as shaded blocks, Alvéya bookings appear as coloured events, and blocked slots are marked as Unavailable.
Tips and Best Practices
Enable write-back on your primary work calendar only. If you have write-back turned on for multiple calendars, you can end up with duplicate entries.
Add your personal calendar as a Conflict Calendar. Family commitments, medical appointments, and personal events will then automatically block your Alvéya availability — no manual intervention needed.
Make sure your time zones match. If your external calendar is set to a different time zone than your Alvéya profile, events may appear at the wrong times. Check this in your account settings if things look off.
Reauthorise after password changes. If you update your Google or Outlook password, Alvéya's connection will break. Head back to the Connections tab and click Reconnect when this happens.
Common Issues and Fixes
Issue | Likely cause | What to do |
Integration shows as broken (red banner) | OAuth token expired or revoked | Go to Settings > Calendars > Connections, click Reconnect and re-authorise Alvéya. |
Events not appearing in Alvéya | No Linked Calendar selected, or sync is disabled | In Calendar Configuration > Linked Calendar, click Edit and make sure Sync Events is switched on. |
Slots are still bookable during external events | Conflict Calendar is not enabled | Under Conflict Calendars, click Edit, toggle Use as Conflict Calendar, then save. |
Alvéya bookings are not appearing in your external calendar | Write-Back is switched off | Edit your Linked Calendar settings to enable Write Back Appointments, then save. |
Duplicate events appearing in external calendar | Multiple calendars have write-back enabled | Disable write-back on any secondary calendars you do not need to sync bookings to. |
Frequently Asked Questions
I've added a team member — will bookings on their calendar link automatically appear in their external calendar?
Not straight away. Bookings will only sync to their external calendar once they have connected it themself from within their Alvéya account. Until that connection is set up, Alvéya and the external calendar have no way of talking to each other.
Once they have connected and linked their calendar with write-back enabled, bookings made through their Alvéya link will push to their external calendar automatically — usually within a minute or two of the booking being confirmed.
When I add a team member, can I see their external calendar — or can they see mine?
No. Adding someone as a team member in Alvéya does not give anyone visibility into another person's external calendar. There is no automatic connection made at all. Until each individual user chooses to connect and link their own external calendar, it remains completely separate from Alvéya.
Even once a team member has connected their calendar, only the availability information is used — Alvéya reads their busy and free times to manage bookings correctly. The contents of their calendar events are not visible to admins or other team members.
💡 Every team member is in full control of their own calendar connection. Nothing is shared or visible to others unless they set it up themselves.
Can a team member log in and connect their own external calendar?
Yes — and this is exactly how it is meant to work. Once they have logged into their Alvéya account, they can go to Settings > My Profile > Calendar Settings and connect their Google or Outlook calendar from there.
There is one important thing to note: this step must be completed by the person who owns the external calendar account. You cannot connect it on their behalf, even as an admin. They will need to sign in with their own Google or Outlook credentials to authorise the connection.
⚠️ If you try to connect a team member's calendar using the admin 'login as' feature, it will not work. The connection must be authenticated by the calendar owner directly.
Once they are connected, they can set their linked calendar and conflict calendars exactly as described in this guide — giving them full control over how their availability is managed in Alvéya.
Your calendar is now working for you — keeping your availability accurate and your bookings conflict-free
If you get stuck at any point, submit a support request and we will guide you through.