OpenTable Availability Monitor

A production-ready web application to monitor OpenTable restaurant availability. Features a user-friendly interface, automated checking, and Docker deployment support.

Features

• Restaurant Search: Search OpenTable directly from the interface
• Flexible Configuration: Party size, date range, days of week, check frequency
• Two Modes: Single check or continuous monitoring
• Fast Parallel Checking: Multiple browser tabs for speed
• Production Ready: Security headers, rate limiting, validation, logging, Docker support
• Clickable Time Slots: Click any available time to book directly on OpenTable

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ or Docker

Option 1: Local Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Copy environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Start development server
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3001

Option 2: Docker (Recommended for Production)

# Build and run with Docker Compose
docker-compose up -d

# Or build manually
docker build -t opentable-monitor .
docker run -p 3001:3001 opentable-monitor

Usage

1. Open http://localhost:3001
2. Search for a restaurant or paste an OpenTable URL
3. Configure party size, date range, and days of week
4. Click "Check Once" or "Start Continuous Monitoring"
5. Click any available time slot to book on OpenTable

CLI Mode

# Single check with default settings
npm run cli

# Continuous monitoring
npm run monitor

# Custom options
npm run cli -- --party=4 --days=14

API Reference

Health Check

GET /health

Search Restaurants

GET /api/search?query=restaurant+name+city

Check Availability

POST /api/check
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "restaurantUrl": "https://www.opentable.com/r/restaurant-name",
  "restaurantName": "Restaurant Name",
  "partySize": 2,
  "daysToCheck": 30,
  "concurrency": 6,
  "openDays": [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
}

Start Monitoring

POST /api/monitor/start

Stop Monitoring

POST /api/monitor/stop/:sessionId

Get Results

GET /api/results/:sessionId

List Sessions

GET /api/sessions

Configuration

Environment variables (see .env.example):

Variable	Default	Description
PORT	3001	Server port
NODE_ENV	development	Environment mode
LOG_LEVEL	info	Logging level
MAX_CONCURRENCY	6	Max parallel browser tabs
MAX_DAYS_TO_CHECK	90	Max days allowed
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS	900000	Rate limit window (15 min)
RATE_LIMIT_MAX	100	Max requests per window
CORS_ORIGINS	-	Allowed origins (production)
SLACK_WEBHOOK	-	Slack notification URL
NOTIFY_EMAIL	-	Email for notifications

Continuous Monitoring & Notifications

How It Works

When you click "Start Continuous Monitoring":

1. The server starts checking the restaurant at your specified interval (e.g., every 30 minutes)
2. Results are saved and displayed on the web interface
3. If availability is found, notifications are sent via Slack and/or Email
4. Monitoring continues until you click "Stop" or the server restarts

Setting Up Notifications

Slack (Recommended - Easiest!)

1. Go to api.slack.com/apps
2. Click Create New App → From scratch
3. Name it "OpenTable Monitor" and select your workspace
4. Go to Incoming Webhooks → Enable it
5. Click Add New Webhook to Workspace
6. Select the channel for notifications
7. Copy the webhook URL and set it as SLACK_WEBHOOK environment variable

Email (Gmail example)

1. Enable 2FA on your Google account
2. Go to Google App Passwords
3. Create an app password for "Mail"
4. Set these environment variables:

   NOTIFY_EMAIL=your@email.com
   SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
   SMTP_PORT=587
   SMTP_USER=your@gmail.com
   SMTP_PASS=your-app-password
   

Production Deployment

Railway (Recommended for Easy Cloud Deployment)

1. Create Railway Account: railway.app

2. Deploy from GitHub:

   # Push to GitHub first
   git init
   git add .
   git commit -m "Initial commit"
   git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/opentable-monitor.git
   git push -u origin main

3. In Railway Dashboard:

   • Click New Project → Deploy from GitHub repo
   • Select your repository
   • Railway auto-detects Node.js and deploys

4. Set Environment Variables (Railway Dashboard → Variables):

   SLACK_WEBHOOK=https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK/URL
   

5. Get Your URL: Railway provides a free *.railway.app domain

That's it! Railway handles everything else automatically.

Docker Compose

# Create production .env
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with production values

# Start
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Stop
docker-compose down

Manual Deployment

# Install production dependencies
npm ci --only=production

# Set environment
export NODE_ENV=production

# Start
npm start

Reverse Proxy (nginx)

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3001;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Security Features

• Helmet.js: Security headers (CSP, XSS protection, etc.)
• Rate Limiting: Prevents abuse (100 requests per 15 minutes)
• Input Validation: All inputs validated and sanitized
• CORS: Configurable for production
• Non-root Docker: Container runs as unprivileged user
• Graceful Shutdown: Clean resource cleanup

Project Structure

opentable-monitor/
├── server.js           # Production Express server
├── monitor.js          # CLI monitoring tool
├── public/
│   └── index.html      # Web interface
├── data/               # Saved results
├── Dockerfile          # Production Docker image
├── docker-compose.yml  # Docker Compose config
├── package.json
├── .env.example
└── README.md

Troubleshooting

Browser Won't Launch

# Install Chrome dependencies (Linux)
apt-get install -y chromium fonts-liberation libxss1

Rate Limited

• Reduce check frequency
• Increase RATE_LIMIT_MAX for trusted deployments

Memory Issues

• Reduce MAX_CONCURRENCY
• Increase Docker memory limit

License

MIT

Disclaimer

For personal use only. Use reasonable check intervals. Respect OpenTable's terms of service.