> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://app.docs.circuly.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Rental Engine Overview

> How rentals work in the circuly Shopify app — bookings, rentals, inventory, pricing, and the customer flow.

## What the rental engine does

The rental engine lets you rent products for a date range instead of selling them outright. Customers pick the dates they need on the product page, you hold the units while they check out, and once they pay you have a confirmed rental to fulfil and get back at the end of the period.

It's built for any product where the same unit goes out and comes back — equipment, gear, furniture, tools, vehicles, instruments, and more. The app keeps track of how many units are available on every date, so two customers can't book the same unit at the same time.

Everything is managed under the **Rentals** hub in your Shopify admin:

1. Go to **Shopify Admin** → **Circuly Rental & Subscriptions** → **Rentals**.
2. Use the tabs across the top to move between areas: **Overview**, **Inventory**, **Bookings**, **Rentals**, **Pricing**, and **Blackouts**.

***

## Explore the rental docs

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Set up a rentable product" icon="screwdriver-wrench" href="/docs/mintlify/rental-setup">
    Add rental capacity, a pricing template, and the storefront calendar block to a product.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Inventory model" icon="boxes-stacked" href="/docs/mintlify/rental-inventory-model">
    How rental stock is tracked and why availability is calculated per date.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pricing templates" icon="tags" href="/docs/mintlify/rental-pricing-templates">
    Build the price tiers that decide what a customer pays for a date range.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Blackouts & holidays" icon="calendar-xmark" href="/docs/mintlify/rental-blackouts-and-holidays">
    Close off dates when products can't be rented or returned.
  </Card>

  <Card title="The booking flow" icon="cart-shopping" href="/docs/mintlify/rental-booking-flow">
    Follow a rental from the storefront calendar through checkout to a confirmed rental.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cancellations & refunds" icon="rotate-left" href="/docs/mintlify/rental-cancellations-refunds">
    Cancel a booking or rental, release the units, and handle refunds.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="circle-question" href="/docs/mintlify/rental-troubleshooting">
    Fix the most common issues with availability, calendars, and bookings.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## Key concepts

A few terms appear throughout the rental docs. Here's what each one means.

| Term                 | What it means                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Rentable product** | A Shopify product set up to be rented for a date range. It needs rental capacity, a pricing template, and the calendar block on its product page.                                                                                                      |
| **Rental capacity**  | The number of units you have available to rent — for example, 5 of the same bike. This is the pool the calendar books against.                                                                                                                         |
| **Pricing template** | The reusable price configuration that decides what a customer pays for a given date range. Assign one to each rentable product.                                                                                                                        |
| **Booking**          | A pre-payment hold on the units a customer wants. It's created from the storefront cart when a customer picks dates, or by you from the admin. The hold keeps those units off the calendar so no one else can take them while checkout is in progress. |
| **Rental**           | A confirmed, paid rental. When the order for a booking is paid, the booking converts into a rental that you fulfil and that ends, is cancelled, or is returned.                                                                                        |
| **Blackout dates**   | Dates when a product can't be rented or returned — for example, public holidays or maintenance windows.                                                                                                                                                |

<Info>
  A **Booking** is the hold before payment; a **Rental** is the confirmed
  agreement after payment. Every paid rental starts life as a booking.
</Info>

***

## How a rental moves through your store

<Steps>
  <Step title="Customer picks a date range">
    On the product page, the customer chooses their start and end dates in the rental calendar block. The calendar only offers dates that have units available.
  </Step>

  <Step title="A booking holds the units">
    Adding the rental to the cart creates a **Booking** that holds the chosen units for those dates, so no one else can book the same units while the customer is checking out.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Customer checks out and pays">
    The customer completes checkout in Shopify and pays for the rental like any other order.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The booking becomes a confirmed rental">
    Once the order is paid, the booking converts into a confirmed **Rental**, visible under the **Rentals** tab.
  </Step>

  <Step title="You fulfil the rental">
    Hand over or ship the units to the customer for the rental period.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The rental ends">
    At the end of the date range the rental ends and the units return to your capacity — ready to rent again. A rental can also be cancelled or returned early.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Inventory in v1

<Note>
  v1 ships **Separate inventory mode** only. Your rental stock is tracked
  independently from your regular Shopify buy-now stock, so renting a unit never
  touches the quantity available to buy outright. **Shared** mode — where rental
  and buy-now stock draw from the same pool — is **Coming in v1.1**.
</Note>

To learn how availability is calculated and how to set your rental capacity, see the [Inventory model](/docs/mintlify/rental-inventory-model) page.