Calendar

Your calendar is a powerful tool designed to help you manage your schedule efficiently. Whether you're a therapist or an assistant, the calendar brings all your appointments, classes, reminders, and more into one convenient place. With options to view your schedule by Month, Week, or Day, you can quickly scan your upcoming events and easily update them as needed. The calendar also allows you to color-code items with categories, link patients to sessions, and add locations or online meeting links, ensuring that everyone knows where to be and when.

What you can do

The calendar is designed to be flexible and user-friendly, allowing you to manage your schedule in a way that works best for you. Below is an overview of the key features and functionalities:

• View your schedule by Month, Week, or Day
• Add, edit, or delete events
• Mark events as all-day or set exact start/end times
• Create multi-day events that span several dates
• Color-code events with categories (with some limits for recurring events)
• Link patients to events (for therapists and assistants where allowed)
• Add a physical location or an online meeting link
• Repeat events daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly
• Search for events by title, description, or location
• Synchronize events from external calendar providers (Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar)

Accessing the Calendar

Access the Calendar from the main navigation menu under Apps. The interface includes:

• Calendar view with navigation controls
• Action buttons for adding events
• Search functionality

View and navigate the calendar

To view and navigate your calendar, use the view controls to choose the level of detail you want to see. The Month view is ideal for planning ahead and getting a broad overview of your schedule. The Week view provides a balanced overview, allowing you to see your schedule at a glance. For a more detailed look at your day, switch to the Day view, which is perfect for managing a full schedule.

• Switch view: Use the view mode dropdown at the top.
• Move in time: Use the left/right arrows to move to the previous or next month, week, or day.
• Go to today: Click the period label (showing the current month, week, or day name) in the navigation bar to quickly jump back to today's date. This is especially useful when you've navigated far into the past or future and want to return to the current date.
• See more: If a day has many items, a +X more indicator appears. Select it to open a list of all events for that day, then select any event to view its details.

When you select an event, a details panel opens showing the key information at a glance—title, description, time, location or meeting link, category, and any linked patients. From this panel, you can edit or delete the event.

Create an event

Creating an event is quick and easy. Begin by entering the basic information such as the title, date, and time. You can then add more details like the location, category, or associated patients to make the event more informative and organized.

1. Open the calendar and select Add event (or click directly on the date/time in the calendar, if supported).
2. If you are an assistant, choose who you are creating the event for in the Create for field. This sets the calendar owner.
3. Enter a Title. This is required.
4. Set Date and Time:
   • For an all-day item, turn on the All-day option and you won’t need specific start/end times.
   • For multi-day events, set a start date and an end date. The event appears across all days in between.
5. Choose where it happens:
   • Location: Type a place (for example, “Room 3” or an address), or
   • Remote: Switch the place to Remote to show the meeting link field and paste an online meeting URL.
6. Optional details:
   • Category: Pick a color label to organize events. Categories help you scan your schedule quickly by color. Note that recurring events cannot have categories.
   • Patients: Assign one or more patients. Therapists can assign their own patients; assistants can assign patients for the therapist they are creating the event for.
   • Description: Add notes that will show in the event details.
7. To repeat the event, turn on the Recurring option and choose a pattern such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly. Remember that recurring events do not support categories.
8. Select Save or Add event.

The event appears on the calendar immediately after you save it.

Edit or delete an event

Editing or deleting an event is straightforward. Simply open the event to make changes to its time, add any missing details, or remove it entirely from your schedule. This flexibility ensures that your calendar always reflects your current plans.

• View details: Select the event to open the details panel. Here you can see:
  • Title
  • Time (all-day or specific start/end times)
  • Location or meeting link
  • Category (if any)
  • Linked patients (shown as patient “chips”)
  • Description
• Edit: In the details panel, choose Edit, make your changes (for example, update title, date/time, location, meeting link, patients, or recurrence settings), then Save or Update. The calendar refreshes automatically with your changes.
• Delete: In the details panel, choose Delete. The deletion process differs depending on whether the event is a one-time event or part of a recurring series:
  • For regular (non-recurring) events: A confirmation dialog appears asking if you're sure you want to delete the event. Confirm to remove it permanently.
  • For recurring events: A dialog appears with two options:
    • Delete this occurrence only: Removes only the specific instance you selected, while keeping all other occurrences in the series. This is the default option.
    • Delete entire series: Removes all occurrences of the recurring event, both past and future. This action cannot be undone.
  • After selecting your option and confirming, the event (or events) is removed from your calendar immediately.

Categories (color labels)

Categories, represented by color labels, add instant meaning to your calendar. With a quick glance, you can distinguish between different types of events such as sessions, meetings, and admin time. To make the most of this feature, pick a simple set of colors and use them consistently across your calendar.

• Add or manage categories from the Categories option in the calendar.
• Each category has a name and a color (for example: “Sessions”, “Meetings”, “Admin”).
• Assign a category when you create or edit an event, as long as the event is not set to repeat.
• For recurring events, categories are not available. If you need a category, keep the event non-recurring or create separate events instead.

Managing categories

• Add: Choose Add category, enter a name, optionally add a description, pick a color, and save.
• Edit: Open an existing category, adjust its name, description, or color, and save.
• Delete: Remove a category you no longer use by deleting it and confirming.

Role-specific behavior

• Categories are specific to each calendar owner.
• Assistants creating events for a therapist can’t manage that therapist’s categories, and category options for the therapist’s calendar are disabled.

Tip: If everything looks the same, add categories to help your eyes sort the day faster—especially for your non-recurring events.

Patients on events

Linking patients to events helps maintain tidy records and clarifies who each session is for. When you associate a patient with an event, their name appears on the event, allowing you to see this information at a glance without needing to open the full details.

• Therapists can assign one or more patients to an event on their own calendar.
• Assistants creating an event for a therapist can assign that therapist’s patients.
• Patient “chips” appear in event details and, depending on your permissions and role, may open the patient’s profile when selected.
• In the details panel, patient chips give a quick way to see who is associated with the event.

Note: If you are an assistant viewing your own calendar and you do not also have a therapist role, the patient assignment field may be hidden and patient chips may not be clickable.

Online meeting links

For online sessions, having the meeting link readily available makes the process smoother. Astral can automatically pull in saved links from your patients, or you can manually paste any meeting URL from platforms like Zoom, Meet, or Teams. This ensures that you have quick access to the necessary links for your online sessions.

Link types

• Patient meeting links: If assigned patients have a saved meeting link, it appears in a dropdown for you to choose.
• Custom links: Paste any valid URL for other meetings or platforms.

Creating or editing an event

• Set the place to Remote to show the Meeting link field.
• If you assign patients who have saved links, a dropdown appears listing options such as “Patient Name — Link URL”.
• Choose a link from the list, or type/paste your own meeting URL.
• The system checks that the link looks like a valid web address (URL) before saving.
• Your meeting links are stored securely (encrypted at rest).

Viewing an event

• The link appears under Meeting link in the event details.
• It is shown as a clickable link styled in the primary color.
• The full URL is visible so you can copy it when needed.

Why it helps

• Time savings: No need to look up patient links; they’re ready in the dropdown.
• Error prevention: Choosing from the list reduces typos in meeting URLs.
• Patient identification: The dropdown shows which patient a link belongs to.
• Multi-patient support: Works even when several patients share the same link.
• Flexibility: You can always paste a custom link for non-patient or external meetings.
• Quick access: One click opens the link from event details.
• Organization: Links stay associated with specific patients for easy tracking.

How links are managed

• Links load automatically when you assign patients to the event.
• If you change the patient selection, the list of available links updates right away.
• The meeting link field only shows when Remote is selected.
• If no patient links are available, you can still paste a custom link.

Tip: Selecting a saved patient link helps avoid typos and speeds up scheduling.

Event reminders and notifications

To help you stay on top of your schedule, the calendar can send you notifications before your events. You can configure when you want to be reminded about upcoming events.

Setting up reminders

1. Go to Account settings (click the settings icon in the calendar header) and select Calendar.
2. In the Event reminders section, choose your preferred Reminder lead time from the dropdown.
3. Available options include:
4. Minutes before: 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes
5. Hours before: 1 or 2 hours
6. Days before: 1 day
7. Click Save Changes to apply your preference.

How it works

• Once configured, you'll receive notifications at the selected time before each calendar event starts.
• The reminder setting applies to all events on your calendar.
• You can change your reminder preference at any time from the calendar settings.

Tip: Setting a reminder helps ensure you never miss an important appointment or session.

Calendar integrations

Astral can synchronize events from external calendar providers, bringing your appointments from other platforms directly into your Astral calendar. This gives you a unified view of your schedule without having to switch between applications.

Supported providers

Connecting a provider

1. Go to Account settings and select Calendar.
2. In the Integrations section, find the provider you want to connect.
3. Click Connect. You will be redirected to the provider's login page to authorize Astral.
4. After granting access, you are returned to Astral and the integration shows as Connected.

Once connected, the provider card displays a green checkmark and the connection status.

Synchronizing events

After connecting a provider, you can pull external events into your Astral calendar:

1. Open the Calendar from the main navigation menu under Apps.
2. If you have at least one connected integration, a Synchronize button appears in the calendar toolbar.
3. Click Synchronize to fetch events from all connected providers for the currently viewed period (month, week, or day).
4. External events are merged into your calendar view alongside your local events.
5. The last synced timestamp updates below the toolbar after each successful sync.

How external events appear

• External events are displayed in an info color to distinguish them from local events.
• When you select an external event, a provider chip (showing the Microsoft or Google icon and name) appears at the top of the details panel.
• External events show the same details as local events: title, description, time, and location.
• If the external event has a web link (for example, a link to open it in Outlook or Google Calendar), it is shown in the details panel.
• External events are read-only: you cannot edit or delete them from within Astral. The Edit and Delete actions are hidden for external events.

Disconnecting a provider

1. Go to Account settings and select Calendar.
2. In the Integrations section, find the connected provider.
3. Click Disconnect.
4. The integration is disabled, tokens are revoked, and external events from that provider will no longer appear after the next sync.

How it works behind the scenes

• Astral connects to external providers securely. Your provider password is never stored in Astral.
• Your connection stays active automatically, so you don't need to sign in again each time.
• Synchronization fetches events for the date range you are currently viewing, keeping the data transfer focused and efficient.
• If your connection stops working (for example, because you removed Astral's access from your provider account), simply disconnect and reconnect the provider.

Find events

The search bar is a convenient tool for quickly finding scheduled events. It searches through event titles, descriptions, and locations, displaying results for the period you’re currently viewing. This makes it easy to locate specific events without having to scroll through your entire schedule.

• Use the search bar to find events by title, description, or location.
• Search works with your current view and filters (Month/Week/Day and search term(s)).
• Results update live as you type.
• If you can’t find something, switch views (Month/Week/Day) and search again to narrow it down.

Who can do what

Depending on your role, you may see different options and have varying levels of access. Below is a breakdown of what each role can do within the calendar feature:

Therapists

Therapists are users with either psychiatrist and/or psychologist roles.

• Full access to create, edit, and delete their own events
• Assign patients to events
• Create, edit, and delete their own categories
• Open patient profiles from event details if they have the required permission
• Connect and manage calendar integrations with external providers
• Synchronize external events into their calendar

Assistants

• Switch between calendars for therapists they support using a calendar owner selector
• Create, edit, and delete events on a selected therapist’s calendar
• Assign that therapist’s patients to events (where allowed)
• Use the Create for field when adding events to choose the calendar owner
• Cannot manage categories on another person’s calendar; category options are disabled when creating for a therapist
• May have patient profile links hidden or disabled unless the assistant also has a therapist role and the required permission

Tips

To make the most of your calendar, consider the following tips:

• Use categories to quickly scan your schedule by color, especially for non-recurring events.
• For tasks that don’t require exact times, use the All-day option.
• For ongoing work such as projects or conferences, create multi-day events that span from the start date to the end date.
• If you’re having trouble finding a specific event, try switching between different views (Month, Week, Day) and use the search function to narrow down your results.
• Whenever possible, use saved patient meeting links to avoid typing long URLs and to reduce the risk of errors.
• For regular appointments or sessions, consider setting up recurring events. Keep in mind, however, that recurring events cannot be categorized.
• Connect your Microsoft Outlook calendar to see all your appointments in one place. Use the Synchronize button to keep external events up to date with your current view.

Reference

Views & navigation (verbatim labels)

Event fields

Recurrence

Actions & confirmations

FAQs

• Why can’t I set a category on a recurring event? Recurring events do not support categories. Create separate events if you need color labels.

• Can assistants manage a therapist’s categories? No. Assistants cannot manage categories on calendars they do not own. Category options are disabled when creating for a therapist.

• Where do patient meeting links come from? From saved links on patient records. They appear when Place is set to Remote and you assign patients with stored links.

• Can I edit external events from a connected provider? No. External events are read-only in Astral. To make changes, edit them in the original provider (for example, Microsoft Outlook). Then synchronize again to see the updates in Astral.

• Why don't I see the Synchronize button? The Synchronize button only appears when you have at least one connected and enabled integration. Go to Account > Calendar to connect a provider.

• What happens if my connection to an external calendar stops working? Astral keeps your connection active automatically. If the connection stops working (for example, because you removed Astral's access from your Microsoft or Google account), simply disconnect the provider in Account > Calendar and connect it again.

Related

• Todo
• Members
• User Roles & Permissions