Reserve a time slot

POST /v2/fulfillment/users/{user_id}/service_options/{service_option_id}/reserve

Reserves the selected time slot (service_hold_id) for the specified user ID. Time slots are reserved for 10 minutes. If the reservation expires before you can create the order, you can attempt to reserve the same time slot. If the time slot still has capacity, the request is successful. For more information about time slots, see Service options (time slots).

A user ID can have one reserved time slot at a time. If you send another reservation request for this user, even if it specifies the same time slot, the currently reserved time slot is cancelled before the new reservation request is processed.

After a time slot is reserved, save the service_option_hold_id. You specify this ID when creating an order.

Best practice

To reduce the chance that the reservation expires before you can create an order, send the reservation request near the end of the checkout process.

Security

Name	In	Description
Authorization	header	The Authorization header with the bearer token acquired during authentication.

Parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Description
user_id	path	string		The ID of the user.
service_option_id	path	integer		The ID of the service option.

Request

None.

Request examples

cURL

curl --request POST \
  --url 'https://connect.instacart.com/v2/fulfillment/users/{user_id}/service_options/{service_option_id}/reserve' \
  --header 'Accept: application/json' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json'

Java

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://connect.instacart.com/v2/fulfillment/users/{user_id}/service_options/{service_option_id}/reserve")
  .header("Accept", "application/json")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .asString();

Python

import http.client

conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection("connect.instacart.com")

headers = {
    'Accept': "application/json",
    'Content-Type': "application/json",
    'Authorization': "Bearer <token>"
}

conn.request("POST", "/v2/fulfillment/users/{user_id}/service_options/{service_option_id}/reserve", headers=headers)

res = conn.getresponse()
data = res.read()

print(data.decode("utf-8"))

Go

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://connect.instacart.com/v2/fulfillment/users/{user_id}/service_options/{service_option_id}/reserve"

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, nil)

	req.Header.Add("Accept", "application/json")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(res)
	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

Response

Field	Type	Required	Description
service_option_hold	ServiceOptionHold		The created service option hold.

ServiceOptionHold Object

Field	Type	Required	Description
id	integer		The ID of the service option hold.
expires_at	string		The expiration time of the service option hold in ISO 8601 format.
service_option	ServiceOption		The held service option.

ServiceOption Object

Field	Type	Required	Description
id	integer		The service option ID.
service_option_reference	string		A unique service option reference that acts as a token you pass in downstream requests to place a hold.
date	string		The date and time the service is scheduled to take place in ISO 8601 format.
handoff_time	string		Indicates in ISO 8601 format when the handoff between the store associate and the Instacart shopper is expected to occur. Only applicable to last mile delivery orders and not supported in Fulfillment API v3.
window	Window		The fulfillment window.
availability	OptionAvailability		Indicates whether the service option is available and, if it's not, provides details about why.

OptionAvailability Object

Field	Type	Required	Description
available	boolean		Indicates whether the service option is available. If false, then it cannot be selected. In this case, reasons and item_codes indicate why the service option isn’t available and which items caused the unavailability.
reasons	Array(string)		If available is false, this field lists the reasons why. Currently, these reasons, which are subject to change without notice, all relate to restrictions on the sale of alcohol. For more information, see Unavailability Reasons.
item_codes	Array(string)		The codes of the items which caused the service option to be unavailable.

Window Object

One of the following:

Field	Type	Required	Description
start_at	string		The delivery window's starting date and time in ISO 8601 format.
end_at	string		The delivery window's ending date and time in ISO 8601 format.
type	string		The type of service option. One of scheduled, eta, or priority_eta. To enable eta or priority_eta, contact your Instacart Connect representative.
asap	boolean		Indicates whether delivery is scheduled to occur as soon as possible.

or

Field	Type	Required	Description
immediate_hour	integer		The number of hours from the time of order creation by which fulfillment is expected to be complete. For example, if immediate_hour is 2 and the order is created at 9:00am, fulfillment should complete by 11:00am.
type	string		Indicates that the service option is immediate. Defaults to immediate.

Reasons for unavailability of a service option

Reason	Description
State law restricts amount of {beer/wine/spirits} to {#} fl oz, cart quantity is: {#} fl oz.	The quantity of this alcohol type exceeds the state law limit.
Error validating alcohol quantities. Please try again.	The quantity of alcohol can’t be validated.
Unmatched city and county	The city and county of the store and customer must match.
Cannot deliver alcohol to this postal code	Instacart can’t deliver alcohol to this postal code.
State law doesn't allow delivery of alcohol in this window	Instacart can’t deliver alcohol in this delivery window because of state law.
Unfortunately alcohol pickup is not available at this location. Please remove alcohol from your basket or try delivery.	Alcohol pickup is not available at this location.

Response examples

200 Success

200 Service option hold returned

{
  "service_option_hold": {
    "id": 188,
    "expires_at": "2018-02-22T00:10:00Z",
    "service_option": {
      "id": 287,
      "date": "2018-02-22",
      "window": {
        "start_at": "2018-02-22T00:00:00Z",
        "end_at": "2018-02-22T02:00:00Z",
        "type": "scheduled",
        "asap": false
      },
      "availability": {
        "available": true,
        "reasons": [],
        "item_codes": []
      }
    }
  }
}

4XX Errors

Error responses return either a single error or multiple errors.

HTTP Code	Cause	Error Message	Error Code	Error Meta
400	Retry later	"Please try again in a little while"	2003	Not applicable
400	User Not Found	"User Not Found"	1001	{"key":"user_id"}
400	Blank service option id	"can't be blank"	1001	{"key":"service_option_id"}
400	Service Option Expired	"The requested ETA option has expired."	1001	{"key":"service_option_id"}
403	Inactive user	"User Not Active"	null	Not applicable
404	Resource not found	"Resource not found"	4000	Not applicable