Day-to-day help for managing an assigned stub.

Roles and Access

• Platform admin: can manage inventory, users, billing, imports, setup fields, and offboarding.
• Stub owner: can access assigned stubs and inquiries from the time access was granted.
• Stub operator: is assigned after operator approval, usually through rent or rent-to-own.

Owners and operators can edit only approved stub fields. Platform-only controls are hidden from non-admin accounts.

Owner Access and Inquiries

The owner login email controls who can access an assigned stub. The inquiry notification email controls where new inquiry alerts are sent. If notification email is blank, BusinessStub uses the owner login email.

• Use Inquiries to review conversations from public forms, applications, email replies, and chatbot sessions.
• Reveal contact information only when needed; the reveal is recorded in the thread.
• Send customer replies from the inquiry, or add an internal note for private context.
• Non-admin users see only assigned-stub inquiries created after their access started.

For a step-by-step process with the reasons behind each action, see How to handle inquiries.

Billing

The Billing view shows recorded subscriptions, upcoming renewal date, invoice history, and Stripe portal access when the account has a Stripe customer attached.

If the renewal date says not scheduled, the account may not have a recurring subscription, the agreement may have only a one-time charge, or billing sync may not have recorded the current period yet. See billing troubleshooting.

Website Editor

The Website tab edits approved content fields from the stub site's repository schema. It does not edit layout, code, or build logic.

1. Choose a website-enabled stub.
2. Platform admins can use the Site navigator to review the deployed mobile site and click outlined content to open its matching editor field.
3. Edit approved fields and upload image fields when available.
4. Use Save live after reviewing the change. You must type the exact domain and enter a change summary.
5. If the Site navigator is available, refresh its snapshot after the site deploys to review the saved result.
6. Use history to restore a recent content version when needed.

The Site navigator is limited to platform admins while outbound capture is centrally controlled. It is a read-only snapshot of the deployed site, so unsaved edits do not appear there. Uploaded images must be served by the deployed stub site to appear publicly.

Chatbot

Chatbot settings live on the stub form. Chats are saved as inquiries, and inactive chatbot conversations are finalized later so the operator receives a useful summary.

• Service concierge: practical front-desk style help and lead capture.
• Qualification assistant: asks fit, scope, timing, and budget questions when useful.
• Helpful guide: answers first and asks for follow-up more softly.

Keep private credentials, internal notes, transfer terms, and anything the operator should not disclose out of bot knowledge.

Custom Email Sending

Platform admins can configure a per-stub Resend sender for inquiry email. If the setup is disabled, incomplete, or fails, BusinessStub falls back to the platform sender when possible.

• The Resend API key is encrypted before saving and is never shown again.
• BusinessStub does not currently verify DNS records in admin.
• Verify sending domain, reply domain, MX records, SPF, DKIM, and receiving setup in Resend and DNS tools.

Bookings

The Bookings view appears after a platform admin enables booking for an assigned stub. The operator then controls the services offered, prices and deposits, working hours, date exceptions, customer-facing policies, calendar connections, and fulfillment.

1. Add at least one booking type with its duration, location, price, and optional deposit.
2. Set weekly availability and add exceptions for time off or special hours.
3. Write cancellation and rescheduling policies before accepting bookings.
4. Connect Google or Microsoft Calendar to remove busy time from availability. Calendar access is scoped to scheduling and event creation.
5. Connect the operator's own Stripe account before offering a paid booking type. Customer booking payments are direct charges on that connected account.

BusinessStub supplies scheduling and payment infrastructure; it is not the provider of the booked service. The operator remains responsible for service delivery, customer support, refunds and disputes, taxes, licenses, policy compliance, and keeping availability accurate. A paid booking is confirmed only after Stripe's signed webhook reports successful payment.

Public Stub Sites

Separate stub websites should submit inquiries through their own same-origin route, such as /api/inquiry, and the server-side route should forward the lead to BusinessStub. The intake key must stay server-side.

If chatbot is enabled on a public stub site, the browser should post to the site's own /api/chatbot route for the same reason.

If booking is enabled, the public widget should use the site's same-origin /api/booking/* proxy. The proxy adds the intake key server-side; browser code must never receive it.

Offboarding

Offboarding is platform-admin only. It cancels the Stripe subscription, marks the local subscription canceled, removes the operator's stub access, returns the stub to available, and logs an admin event on the linked inquiry.