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Vacation rental / hospitality

21 cabins on Airbnb and VRBO, run by an AI agent that costs about $4 a day

Direct booking, a shared inbox, rule-based guest messages, door codes per stay, and an agent that clicks through the channel dashboards.

Client
A 15,000-acre New Mexico land and hospitality operator
System
Stays
My role
Design, build, and run
When
Oct 2026
Direct booking site, sample data
Sample dataGuests book cabins direct, with dates and guests up front.

01 / Problem

What wasn't working.

21 cabins were listed on two channels with mismatched names, 23 on one side and 21 on the other. Guest messages were typed by hand. The channels have no API for a small host, so everything happened in a browser tab.

02 / Approach

What I built.

  1. 01

    Reads the host mailbox and the calendar feeds into one reservations table.

  2. 02

    A computer-use agent runs a virtual machine and works the Airbnb and VRBO dashboards like a person: reads reservations, sends messages, renames listings. Each job has a $3 budget and the day has a $10 cap.

  3. 03

    Guest messages come from rules, set up in a 5-step wizard, in English and Spanish.

  4. 04

    Door codes: one PIN per stay from the access system. The guest sees it only after every door confirms the code.

Direct booking on a phone, sample data
Sample dataThe booking site on a phone.
Cabin page, sample data
Sample dataA cabin page with photos, capacity and direct-rate pricing.
Host workspace, sample data
Sample dataEvery listing across Airbnb, VRBO and direct booking with pricing and calendar shortcuts.
Unified guest inbox, sample data
Sample dataAirbnb, VRBO and direct conversations in one inbox.
Channel reservations, sample data
Sample dataAirbnb and VRBO stays with door code status per reservation.
Door codes per stay, sample data
Sample dataEach stay gets its own lock code, loaded before arrival and removed after checkout.
Message rules wizard, sample data
Sample dataA step-by-step wizard for automatic guest messages.
Listing calendar, sample data
Sample dataPer-cabin availability with direct, Airbnb, VRBO and manual blocks.

03 / Architecture

How the pieces connect.

Next.jsConvexClerkClaude computer useKVMIMAP / iCaln8nCapacitor
staycodeHost mailboxIMAPCalendar feedsiCalAI agent in VMAirbnb, VRBOReservationsConvexMessage rulesEN / ESAccess systemPIN per stayGuestemail, channelHost mailboxIMAPCalendar feedsiCalAI agent in VMAirbnb, VRBOReservationsConvexMessage rulesEN / ESAccess systemPIN per stayGuestemail, channel
Outside systemAIDataServicePeople / UI

04 / Result

$4/day

for an AI agent that works the Airbnb and VRBO dashboards. Daily sweeps run about $4. Reading 22 stays cost about $0.50. Renaming 42 listings across both channels cost $7.59. 20 of 21 listings have bilingual message wording.

One inbox

Email and calendar feeds land in one place, tied to the reservation.

Agent in a VM

Clicks and types in the channel dashboards. Budgeted per job and per day.

Message rules

9 starter rules. Arrival, checkout, and change notices go out on schedule.

Door codes per stay

Revealed only after the locks confirm. Change notices go out automatically.

Clean lock state

Cleanup removed 67 of 96 stale permanent codes.

Admin app

Android admin app delivered through the device fleet.

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