What is checked each time you save or publish a schedule
Updated October 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Every save and every publish checks each assignment in the month. The person must belong to the shift's group, have no overlapping shifts, get the department's minimum rest and have no shift starting on approved time off. Rest is checked across the month boundary and against published shifts at the person's other sites in Capillary.
The checks and their messages
Shift names and dates in this table are samples, with a 12-hour minimum rest.
| Check | What it stops | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Group | A credential that doesn't fit the shift's Required role, such as an MD on a nurse shift | Nurse day 1: clinician does not match the required role. |
| Roster | Someone who is no longer active on the roster | Day shift: choose an active clinician from this ED's roster. |
| Overlap | One nurse on Nurse day 1 and Nurse day 2 at the same time | Nurse day 2: overlaps Nurse day 1 on Nov 10. |
| Minimum rest | A night that starts when the same nurse's day ends | Nurse night 1: less than 12 hours of rest from Nurse day 1 on Nov 10. |
| Another site | A day shift right after the person's published night at another site | Nurse day 1 on Nov 12: less than 12 hours of rest from a shift at another site on Nov 11. |
| Time off | A shift that starts on a day of approved time off | Nurse day 2: clinician is on approved time off on Nov 21. |
| Shift length | A shift over 24 hours. A 24-hour shift on the night clocks fall back lasts 25. | 24-hour shift: shift length must be between 1 minute and 24 hours. |
| Clock change | A start or end time that is repeated or missing on a daylight saving night | 2026-11-01 01:00 is ambiguous or does not exist in America/New_York. Choose an unambiguous shift boundary. |
| Publishing only | A shift with no one assigned, unless the department offers open shifts for cover | Assign every coverage slot before publishing. To publish open shifts and offer them for cover, turn on open-shift offers in Coverage. |
A save stops at the first assignment that breaks a rule. Nothing from that save is kept. Your edits stay on screen. Fix the shift the message names, then save again. Each save checks the whole month.
Rest is checked before and after each shift, including shifts in the month before and the month after, draft or published.
Another site means another department that schedules in Capillary, where the same person has joined with the same account. Only its published shifts count. Its drafts stay private to its scheduler.
Publishing runs every check again on the saved draft. Time off approved since your last save, or a schedule another site published since then, stops publishing.
Hints while you assign
The list for each shift offers only active people in the shift's group. Each name shows at most one hint. Another site comes first, then time off and day requests, then the weekly grid.
| Hint | What it means | Can be chosen |
|---|---|---|
| time off | Approved time off on the day the shift starts | No |
| works at another site | A published shift at another site overlaps this shift or falls within the minimum rest of it | No |
| time off requested | Time off waiting for your decision | Yes |
| asked off, must be off | The person marked the day off if possible, or must be off | Yes |
| wants to work | The person marked the day want to work, with day, evening or night if they chose one | Yes |
| unavailable this weekday, prefers not, likes this shift | The person's own weekly grid, where they rate each shift name by weekday | Yes |
Only the first two block a choice. The rest are the person's requests and preferences, for you to weigh.
Worked example: one nurse's November
Say your department runs on Eastern time with a 12-hour minimum rest. Grace, a sample nurse, works October's last night, from 19:00 on Saturday 31 October to 07:00 on Sunday 1 November. October's schedule is published. Grace also works nights at another site.
| What happens | Rest or conflict | Next save |
|---|---|---|
| You put Grace on Nurse day 1, Sunday 1 November, 07:00 to 19:00 | 0 h after her October night | Stops with "Nurse day 1: less than 12 hours of rest from Nurse night 1 on Oct 31." |
| You move her to Nurse night 1 that evening, 19:00 to 07:00 | 12 h after her October night | Saves |
| You approve her time off for 20 to 22 November while she is on Nurse day 2 on Saturday 21 November | The shift starts on approved time off | Stops with "Nurse day 2: clinician is on approved time off on Nov 21." |
| You give the Saturday to someone else and keep her Thursday 19 November night, 19:00 to 07:00 | The night starts the day before her time off | Saves. Time off is matched to the day a shift starts. |
| Her other site publishes a night, 23:00 on 11 November to 07:00 on 12 November, while she is on Nurse day 1 here on 12 November | 0 h between the two shifts | Stops with "Nurse day 1 on Nov 12: less than 12 hours of rest from a shift at another site on Nov 11." |
The assignment list gives no hint for rest within your own department. You see the first row's problem only when you save.
After the approval, Grace's name shows "time off" for 20 to 22 November and can't be chosen. After her other site publishes, her name shows "works at another site" for the 12 November day shift.
Shifts that cross a clock change
Capillary counts shift length and rest in elapsed hours. Grace's October night, 19:00 to 07:00, lasts 13 hours, because clocks fall back an hour at 02:00 on 1 November.
A start or end time that is repeated or missing that night is refused. A swing shift from 15:00 on 31 October to 01:00 the next morning stops with "2026-11-01 01:00 is ambiguous or does not exist in America/New_York. Choose an unambiguous shift boundary." A shift ending at 02:00 on 14 March 2027 stops the same way, because that hour does not exist.
A 24-hour shift from 07:00 on 31 October to 07:00 on 1 November lasts 25 hours. Saving refuses it as longer than 24 hours. Ending it at 06:00 keeps it at 24.
The checks follow the clock changes of the timezone set for the department. In a timezone without daylight saving time, none of these cases come up.
What it does not do yet
- It does not cap hours per week or per month.
- It does not limit shifts or nights in a row. Each person can set limits in their preferences, such as no more than 3 nights in a row. You see them on your Requests tab, but saving doesn't check them.
- Among requests, only approved time off stops a save. Day requests and pending time off are hints.
- Time off is matched to the day a shift starts. A night that begins the evening before time off still saves.
- Approving time off does not take the person off shifts already assigned on those days. Saving stops on each one until you reassign it.
- It does not see work outside Capillary, such as shifts at a hospital that doesn't schedule in Capillary, or another site's unpublished draft.
- Rest runs from the end of one shift to the start of the next, with no time added for the drive between sites.
- The department has one minimum rest, in whole hours from 0 to 24. A minimum of 0 turns the rest check off, though overlaps are still stopped. The minimum is set when the department is created and can't yet be changed in the app.
Try it
The demo shows a published sample month for a small fictional department. It needs no account. To run the checks on your own roster, sign in or create an account, set your minimum rest as you create the department and assign a month. To check one gap by hand, use the rest between shifts calculator.
Common questions
- Why is a name greyed out in the assignment list?
- The person has approved time off that day, or a published shift at another site overlaps the shift or falls within your minimum rest of it.
- Are trades and call-out coverage checked the same way?
- Yes. They are checked for group, approved time off, overlap and minimum rest, including other sites. Your unpublished draft counts too. A trade can be refused because of a draft change you haven't published yet.
- Does a save check the months next to it?
- Yes, for overlap and rest. Shifts in the month before and the month after count, draft or published.
Build your ED schedule with rest checked on every save.
Capillary checks role, overlapping shifts and rest, including shifts at other sites, before anything is published or traded.