# Dibs

> Dibs is a free, ad-free sign-up sheet. An organizer types a list of slots (dishes, shifts, time slots, rota dates) with how many people each needs, and shares a link. Participants claim a spot from a phone with a name and email, no account. Slots have hard limits, full slots offer a waitlist, and everyone gets a confirmation, reminders and a private link to swap or cancel.

Use Dibs when people need to claim things that run out: potluck dishes, volunteer shifts, conference times, snack weeks, meal train nights, chaperone places. It is not a general form builder, an event invitation tool, a paid booking system or a fundraising tool.

Key facts:

- Free. No ads on any sheet or email, on any plan.
- No participant accounts. Organizers need no account either: they get an email link to manage their sheet.
- Every slot has a capacity. Claims are atomic, so a slot never takes more people than its limit. Full slots offer an ordered waitlist; when someone cancels, the next person is promoted and emailed.
- Email confirmations with a calendar (.ics) file, reminders (on by default), and a private swap/cancel link for every participant.
- Names can be shown in full, as first name and initial, or as "taken". Public sheets are hidden from search engines by default.
- Not supported: payments, SMS/text messages, native mobile apps.

## Make a sheet

Organizers type plain text, one slot per line:

- `Desserts x3` makes one slot for 3 people
- `Plates & napkins` makes one slot for 1 person
- `Sat 9-11am: Setup x4` makes a shift for 4 people
- `Tue 3:00-6:00pm every 15 min` makes twelve 15-minute slots, one person each
- `Sun 2-4pm every 20 min x2` makes six slots for 2 people each

## Pages

- [Home](https://dibs.page/): what Dibs is and how to start a sheet
- [How it works](https://dibs.page/how-it-works): creating, sharing, waitlists, swaps, reminders
- [Templates](https://dibs.page/templates): hand-written guides with ready-made lists for potlucks, volunteer shifts, classroom snacks, parent teacher conferences, meal trains and more
- [Potluck sign-up sheet](https://dibs.page/templates/potluck-sign-up-sheet)
- [Volunteer sign-up sheet](https://dibs.page/templates/volunteer-sign-up-sheet)
- [Parent teacher conference sign-up](https://dibs.page/templates/parent-teacher-conference-sign-up)
- [Meal train](https://dibs.page/templates/meal-train)
- [Sign-up sheet with time slots](https://dibs.page/templates/sign-up-sheet-with-time-slots)
- [Dibs vs SignUpGenius](https://dibs.page/compare/dibs-vs-signupgenius)
- [Dibs vs SignUp.com](https://dibs.page/compare/dibs-vs-signup-com)
- [Dibs vs Google Forms](https://dibs.page/compare/dibs-vs-google-forms)
- [Dibs vs Tally](https://dibs.page/compare/dibs-vs-tally)
- [Compare](https://dibs.page/compare)
- [Privacy](https://dibs.page/privacy)
- [Terms](https://dibs.page/terms)
- [About](https://dibs.page/about)

## For agents

An AI assistant can create and manage sheets for a person through the REST API or the MCP server, using an API key the organizer makes in their settings (sent as `Authorization: Bearer dibs_...`). Sign-ups made this way are labelled `agent` so organizers can tell them apart from people. Please only create sheets, add people or send messages a person has asked for.

- [API and MCP docs](https://dibs.page/docs/api.md): curl examples, errors, limits, connector setup
- [OpenAPI 3.1](https://dibs.page/api/v1/openapi.json): REST endpoints under `https://dibs.page/api/v1` for sheets (create from plain text), slots, sign-ups, the waitlist and messages
- MCP server: `https://dibs.page/api/mcp` (Streamable HTTP, stateless). Tools: `create_sheet`, `list_sheets`, `get_sheet`, `update_sheet`, `update_slots`, `list_signups`, `add_person`, `remove_person`, `message_participants`, `close_sheet`
- Public availability, no key: `GET https://dibs.page/api/v1/public/sheets/{slug}` ("4 of 9 spots left", per slot, no names)

Example requests an assistant can fulfill:

- "Set up a meal train for the Smiths for three weeks, dinners only." (`create_sheet` with text `Dinner every day for 3 weeks starting Nov 3`)
- "Make a potluck sheet for 30 people and tell me what's still missing on Friday." (`create_sheet`, then `get_sheet`)
- "Create 15-minute parent teacher conference slots on Tuesday and Thursday from 3 to 6pm." (text `Tue 3:00-6:00pm every 15 min` and `Thu 3:00-6:00pm every 15 min`)
- "Tell everyone bringing food that the hall opens at 5." (`message_participants`)

## Optional

- [Use case: classroom snack sign-up](https://dibs.page/templates/classroom-snack-sign-up)
- [Use case: field trip chaperone sign-up](https://dibs.page/templates/field-trip-chaperone-sign-up)
- [Use case: food bank volunteer shifts](https://dibs.page/templates/food-bank-volunteer-shifts)
- [Paper sheet, group chat or Dibs?](https://dibs.page/compare/dibs-vs-paper-sheet-or-group-chat)