Use Homebase's AI to Build Your Weekly Shift Schedule

What This Does

Homebase's AI scheduling builds your weekly shift schedule automatically based on your team's availability, roles, and your coverage requirements — cutting schedule-building time from 2–3 hours to under 30 minutes.

Before You Start

• You have a Homebase account (free plan works; Essentials plan $20/location/mo has more features)
• Your team members are added with their availability set
• You know your minimum coverage requirements per shift

Steps

1. Find the Scheduling Feature

In Homebase, click Schedule in the left sidebar. You'll see a weekly calendar grid with your team members listed on the left and days across the top.

2. Set Your Coverage Requirements

Click Settings in the schedule view, then Schedule Requirements. Set your minimum staff count per shift — for example, "Minimum 3 people on weekday opening, 5 on weekend afternoon." This is what the AI uses to generate a valid schedule.

3. Use Auto-Schedule

Click the Auto-Schedule button (top right of the schedule view). Homebase will generate a draft schedule that fills your coverage requirements using your team's available windows. It takes about 30 seconds to generate.

4. Review and Adjust

The auto-generated schedule appears in your calendar. Review it for:

• Anyone scheduled on a day they requested off
• Overtime risks (anyone hitting 40+ hours)
• Gaps where you need specific skills (e.g., only one trained cashier on a Saturday) Drag and drop shifts to adjust. The system flags conflicts in red.

5. Publish

Click Publish when you're satisfied. Your team receives automatic notifications via text or the Homebase app.

Real Example

Scenario: A 28-person team at a specialty home goods store. You need 4 people on weekday opens, 6 on weekend afternoons, and 2 closers every night. 3 people have Tuesday or Thursday off requests.

What you do: Enter coverage requirements, click Auto-Schedule, review the draft for the 3 time-off requests, make 2 manual adjustments, publish.

What you get: A complete weekly schedule for 28 people, posted and communicated in 20 minutes instead of 2+ hours.

Tips

• Set your team's availability in Homebase once (during onboarding) — the AI uses this data every week without you re-entering it.
• Enable the Cost Optimization setting so the schedule keeps your labor budget in check automatically.
• If someone calls out last-minute, click Find Cover on their shift — Homebase surfaces who's available and sends them a shift offer automatically.

Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/Auto options in the Schedule menu area.