Order automation

Order automation removes the two most mechanical steps of the order lifecycle: pressing Accept on an order you were always going to accept, and pressing Complete on one the customer collected twenty minutes ago. Everything here is off by default.

Where to find it

Dashboard → Settings → Configuration → Feature (/settings/settings/feature-settings) — Admin, Co-Admin

Open the Order Automation section.

Auto-accept

With auto-accept on, an incoming order moves straight to ACCEPTED with the outlet’s prep time as its promise, and goes to the kitchen without anyone touching it.

Setting	What it does
Channels	Which order sources this applies to — customer app, kiosk, register. Enable them independently
Default prep time	The promise attached to an automatically accepted order, where the outlet has none of its own (minimum 5 minutes)
Delay	A short pause before accepting, so staff still get a chance to intervene
Respect outlet status	Skip auto-accept when the outlet is paused or closed
Scheduled orders	Either accept them when preparation should start, or leave them for a human

Auto-accept is a promise, not a convenience

An automatically accepted order has already told the customer when it will be ready. Only turn it on for channels where you genuinely accept everything — and keep Respect outlet status on, or a paused kitchen will keep taking work.

The clearest case for it is a kiosk or register order: the customer is standing in front of you and has already paid. Making a staff member accept it on a second screen adds nothing.

Auto-complete

Auto-complete closes orders that reached READY and then stopped moving, because someone walked out with the food and nobody pressed the last button.

Timeouts are set separately for pickup, dine-in and delivery, since the right delay is very different — a pickup order is gone within minutes, a dine-in table may sit for an hour.

Delivery is the one to think hardest about. A delivery order that reaches READY still has a journey ahead of it, so a short timeout will close orders that are still in a bag on a bike. If you use drivers, leave delivery long or off.

Auto-cancel

Two rules clear orders that were never going anywhere. They live with the cancellation settings rather than here:

• Unaccepted orders — cancelled after a set time with nobody accepting them, so a customer is not left waiting on a closed kitchen.
• Unpaid orders — cancelled when payment was never completed, so unpaid orders do not accumulate in the live list.

Both refund or release payment according to your cancellation rules.

Choosing what to turn on

Situation	Suggested
Counter and kiosk orders, already paid	Auto-accept for those channels; leave the customer app manual
A kitchen that occasionally has to refuse an order	Leave auto-accept off, or use the delay so staff can step in
Pickup orders that stay “ready” all day	Auto-complete on pickup, with a short timeout
Deliveries with your own drivers	Auto-complete off for delivery — the driver closes it
Customers abandoning checkout	Auto-cancel unpaid, with a short window

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause
Orders accept themselves while the kitchen is paused	Respect outlet status is off
Deliveries close before they arrive	The delivery auto-complete timeout is too short
Scheduled orders accept far too early	The scheduled-order option is set to accept on placement rather than when prep should start
Nothing is being accepted automatically	Check the channel is enabled — auto-accept is per channel, not global
Automatically accepted orders promise the wrong time	Set a prep time on the outlet; the default only applies where there is none

Related: Order lifecycle · Prep time · Cancellations · Kitchen display