How do I prevent double bookings?

In the database. An interface check alone fails when two people tap book at the same moment. In Postgres, an exclusion constraint on resource and time range rejects the second overlapping booking outright, and the app shows a clear already-taken message instead of two people arriving at one desk.

Do I need a floor plan image?

Not for version one. A list grouped by zone — window row, quiet room, phone booths — is faster to build and easier to use on a phone than a zoomable map. Add an uploaded floor plan with pinned desks once a customer asks for it.

How to Build a Coworking Desk Booking App with AI

What a coworking desk booking app needs

Floor view of desks and rooms with availability for a chosen day
Book a desk for a day or a room for a time slot, with no double bookings
Member plans with monthly credits consumed by bookings
Check-in by QR code at the desk; unclaimed bookings released after a cutoff
Admin view of occupancy by day

The screens

Screen	What it does
Book	Pick a day, see free desks and rooms, book in two taps
My Bookings	Upcoming bookings with check-in and cancel
Check In	Scan the desk QR code to confirm arrival
Members	Admin: members, plans, remaining credits
Occupancy	Admin: bookings and no-shows by day and by desk

The data model

Space: name, timezone, checkInCutoffMinutes
Resource: spaceId, kind, name, capacity, zone, qrCode, active
Plan: name, monthlyCredits, deskCreditCost, roomCreditCostPerHour
Member: userId, spaceId, planId, role, creditsRemaining, renewsOn
Booking: resourceId, memberId, startsAt, endsAt, status, checkedInAt, creditsCharged

The build prompt (copy this)

Paste this into ShipNative and it becomes a working React Native app with these screens, navigable in a live preview, in about two minutes:

“A desk and meeting room booking app for a single coworking space or a hybrid office. Book is the main screen: choose a day, then see desks and rooms grouped by zone with free ones clearly marked; desks are booked for the whole day, rooms by the hour. Two people must never be able to book the same resource for overlapping times — enforce this in the database with a constraint, not only in the interface. Members belong to a plan with monthly credits; a desk day and a room hour each cost credits, shown before confirming, refunded if cancelled before the day starts. Each resource has a QR code; Check In scans it to confirm arrival, and a booking not checked in by the space cutoff time is released so someone else can take it, with the member notified. My Bookings lists upcoming bookings with cancel and check-in. Admins get Members, to add people, assign plans, and adjust credits, and Occupancy, a per-day count of booked, checked-in, and no-show desks so the owner can see which days are actually full. Use sign-in with roles for member and admin. Screens: Book, My Bookings, Check In, Members, Occupancy.”

Then iterate with small, screen-specific prompts (“make the primary button bigger”, “add an empty state”), preview on your own phone, and export the full Expo project whenever you want. The full method: how to build an app with AI.

How it makes money

Sell to the space, not the members: a flat monthly fee per location, or per active member, around $50–150/month for a small space. Payments for day passes can come later through Stripe — most small spaces already bill members monthly and mainly want to stop the double-booked mornings.

Implementation and the revenue math for every model: how to make money from an app. When you’re ready to ship: App Store and Google Play publishing guides.

Build it now

The prompt above is free to run at shipnative.dev — working coworking desk booking app on your phone today, full code export, no credit card.