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Can an AI Receptionist Book Appointments Straight Into Cliniko?

September 2026· 7 min read
AI Receptionist
Cliniko
Booked in the Chat

Key Takeaways

  • Yes. Cliniko's public API lets an AI receptionist check real availability, create a new patient and book an appointment, so a patient can go from question to booked slot in one conversation.
  • The AI sees what your Cliniko online bookings show, and nothing more. A practitioner, appointment type or business not enabled for online bookings is invisible to it, and your minimum-notice and booking-window settings still apply.
  • Cliniko's API has no phone-number search for patients, so returning patients are matched on name and date of birth. Expect the assistant to ask for both.
  • A careful setup asks the patient to confirm before any appointment is booked, and treats cancelling and rescheduling as something the clinic switches on deliberately.
  • Most AI tools listed in Cliniko's AI directory answer the phone or write notes. A website assistant covers a different gap: people reading your site at night.

Yes, an AI receptionist can book straight into Cliniko. Cliniko publishes an API that exposes available times, patients and appointments. A connected assistant can read the same openings your online booking page shows, register a new patient, and create the appointment once the patient confirms. The details below explain what it can see, what it can't, and how to set it up so it behaves the way your front desk would.

Contents

  1. How does an AI receptionist connect to Cliniko?
  2. What availability will the AI see?
  3. How does it recognise a returning patient?
  4. What happens with a brand-new patient?
  5. Can it cancel or reschedule?
  6. Voice agent or website assistant: which does Cliniko need?
  7. How to set it up
  8. Frequently Asked Questions
  9. References

How does an AI receptionist connect to Cliniko?

Through an API key. In Cliniko, a user turns on "Allow yourself to create and use API keys", creates a key, and pastes it into the assistant's settings [1]. There is no approval process and no connected-apps listing required.

Two details matter for security. First, the key carries the permissions of the user who created it, with no narrower scopes [2], so create it under a user that has appointment and patient access but nothing it doesn't need. Second, Cliniko asks every app to identify itself with a name and contact email on each request, and says requests without one "may be automatically blocked" [2]. A reputable integration does this for you.

Cliniko limits each user to 200 API requests a minute [2]. That is plenty for a clinic, but it's why a good assistant caches your practitioner and appointment-type list rather than re-reading it on every question.

What availability will the AI see?

Exactly what your Cliniko online bookings would show. Cliniko's API documentation says it "will not return available times for businesses not enabled for online bookings", and the same applies to appointment types and practitioners [3]. Your minimum advance notice and how-far-ahead settings are applied too.

This is a feature, not a limitation. The assistant can't offer a slot you wouldn't offer online, so you control it from the settings you already know. It also explains the most common setup question: "why doesn't Dr Smith appear?" Usually, that practitioner isn't ticked for online bookings.

Cliniko asks for availability one combination at a time: a location, a practitioner and an appointment type, over at most seven days [4]. A clinic with two locations, six practitioners and a dozen appointment types has a lot of combinations. QuackChat asks Cliniko which combinations actually exist, then spreads its requests evenly across practitioners, so every clinician's openings are checked rather than only the first few on the list.

How does it recognise a returning patient?

By name and date of birth. Cliniko's patient search filters on name, email, date of birth and a few record fields, but not phone number [5]. So an assistant can't simply look a patient up by mobile.

In practice, QuackChat asks a returning patient for their first name, last name, phone and date of birth in a short form, matches the record on name and date of birth, and uses the phone number to confirm. If there's no match, it doesn't guess. It asks the patient to check their details or contact the clinic.

This matters because a wrong match is worse than no match: it books someone into another person's record. Asking for date of birth feels like one more step, but it's the step that keeps records clean.

What happens with a brand-new patient?

The assistant registers them first, then books. With QuackChat, a patient with no record gets a short intake form (name, contact details and date of birth), the patient is created in Cliniko, and the booking follows in the same conversation.

Two safeguards matter here:

  • The patient confirms the appointment before it is booked. The assistant shows the practitioner, time and appointment type, and waits for an explicit yes. The patient record itself is created from the details the patient submits in the intake form.
  • Each intake is submitted once. A retry or a double tap shouldn't create two records for one person, so QuackChat accepts a single submission per intake form.

After booking, QuackChat can email the patient a confirmation. That's on by default for new connections, because a confirmation from Cliniko itself doesn't always reach patients booked through an app.

Can it cancel or reschedule?

Cliniko's API supports it [3], but you should decide deliberately whether to allow it.

In QuackChat, cancelling and rescheduling are off until the clinic switches on patient notifications for them. That way every change emails the patient (when they have an email on file), which leaves a paper trail. Until then, the assistant can book but will tell a patient who wants to cancel to contact the clinic, rather than pretending it has done it.

Before any change, the assistant verifies who it's talking to and asks for confirmation, just as it does for a booking. Your cancellation policy and fees stay yours to communicate: put them on your website and the assistant will quote them from there.

Voice agent or website assistant: which does Cliniko need?

Cliniko's own directory of AI apps lists around 35 tools, and most answer the phone or write clinical notes [6]. Those solve real problems: missed calls during clinic hours, and time spent on notes.

A website assistant solves a different one. Australian online booking data puts between 43% and 51% of bookings outside business hours [7][8], and those people are on your website, not on the phone. Cliniko's own online booking page has taken over 20 million bookings [9], which shows how many patients are happy to book without talking to anyone. A website assistant adds the part a booking page can't: answering "do you treat this?" and "which practitioner should I see?" before the patient picks a slot.

If you're weighing the two, our comparison of website chat and AI phone receptionists goes through it in detail. The short version: they reach different patients, and many clinics end up using both.

How to set it up

With QuackChat, setup is five steps, and none of them needs a developer:

  1. Check online bookings in Cliniko. Make sure each practitioner and appointment type you want offered is enabled for online bookings.
  2. Create an API key under a user with appointment and patient access. Copy it straight away, because Cliniko shows it once.
  3. Connect Cliniko in QuackChat. Choose Cliniko, paste the key and test the connection. Your region is detected from the key.
  4. Choose what's bookable, and whether to allow cancelling and rescheduling (by switching on patient notifications for them).
  5. Ask your assistant for a slot to check the end-to-end flow before you go live.

The full walkthrough is in the Cliniko setup guide. Direct booking is on the Pro plan and above, and every paid plan starts with 30 days free on the plan you choose, with a card required. See pricing. For the bigger picture across practice software, read how live booking works inside the chat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Cliniko have a built-in AI receptionist?

Not that we could find. Cliniko offers online bookings and lists third-party AI apps in its connected-apps directory, with a note that most are built by other companies and you should do your own due diligence.

Will the AI show the same times as my Cliniko online booking page?

Yes. Cliniko's API only returns available times for businesses, practitioners and appointment types enabled for online bookings, and it applies your notice and booking-window settings. If a slot isn't bookable online, the assistant can't offer it.

Why doesn't one of my practitioners appear?

Almost always because that practitioner, or the appointment type the patient asked for, isn't enabled for online bookings in Cliniko. Tick it in Cliniko and the assistant will see it on its next check.

How does the AI avoid booking the wrong patient?

Cliniko can't search patients by phone, so QuackChat matches on name and date of birth and confirms with the phone number. If there's no match, it asks the patient to check their details or contact the clinic, instead of guessing.

Is it safe to give an app my Cliniko API key?

The key has the same access as the user who made it, so create it under a user with only the access the app needs, and archive the key if you stop using the app. QuackChat stores connection credentials encrypted.

Does the patient have to confirm the booking?

With QuackChat, yes. The assistant shows the practitioner, date, time and appointment type and waits for the patient to confirm before it books, moves or cancels anything in Cliniko.

Can the AI give clinical advice?

It shouldn't, and QuackChat is set up not to. It answers from your website (services, fees, locations, what to expect) and books appointments. Personal questions about symptoms or treatment are for your practitioners.

References
  1. Cliniko Help, "Generate a Cliniko API key". https://help.cliniko.com/en/articles/1023957-generate-a-cliniko-api-key (retrieved 30 September 2026)
  2. Cliniko API documentation, authentication, user agent and rate limits. https://docs.api.cliniko.com/ (retrieved 30 September 2026)
  3. Cliniko API documentation, OpenAPI reference (available times and appointments). https://docs.api.cliniko.com/openapi.md (retrieved 30 September 2026)
  4. Cliniko API documentation, list available times. https://docs.api.cliniko.com/openapi/available-time/getallavailabletimes-get.md (retrieved 30 September 2026)
  5. Cliniko API documentation, list patients. https://docs.api.cliniko.com/openapi/patient/listpatients-get.md (retrieved 30 September 2026)
  6. Cliniko, connected apps: artificial intelligence. https://www.cliniko.com/connected-apps/artificial-intelligence/ (retrieved 30 September 2026)
  7. HotDoc, "What 1 Million Bookings a Month Has Taught Us" (23 August 2019). https://practices.hotdoc.com.au/blog/1-million-bookings/ (retrieved 30 September 2026)
  8. Healthengine, online booking system for practices (undated). https://practices.healthengine.com.au/online-appointment-booking-system-practices/ (retrieved 30 September 2026)
  9. Cliniko, online bookings feature page (live counter). https://www.cliniko.com/features/appointments/online-bookings/ (retrieved 30 September 2026)

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