Airbnb Integration for Guesty: Rebuilt for Speed, Stability, and Simpler Development
Our team at Forbytes worked closely with Guesty to rebuild and improve their Airbnb integration. We focused on fixing bugs, making the code easier to manage, speeding up the performance, and streamlining the development workflow. These efforts resulted in faster, more reliable Airbnb integration with fewer issues, a better experience for users, and a more efficient development process for the Guesty team.
Key results:
4x fewer support tickets due to bug fixes and improvements
2x decreased time in delivering onboarding flow updates
100k+ listings integrated between the two platforms
Context and Challenge
Guesty helps users manage short-term rentals across multiple platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com. A key part of their platform is the integration with these external channels, including Airbnb — one of the most widely used. Before our team joined the project, Guesty already had an existing integration with Airbnb. This integration allowed property managers to sync their listings, reservations, calendars, and other data between the two platforms. However, over time, the integration became less effective. The main challenges of Guesty’s integration with Airbnb included the following:- Poor performance and slow synchronization. The integration was built a long time ago using a monorepo. Syncing listings, reservations, or calendars took too long. The slow performance caused delays for property managers who needed real-time updates.
- Frequent errors and bugs. The old code had a lot of issues. Features sometimes didn’t work correctly or broke after updates. This led to serious reliability problems.
- Lack of observability to monitor issues. There were no tools to monitor errors. The team couldn’t see what went wrong or when it happened. Without alerts or logs, bugs were hard to find and fix.
- High number of support tickets. Users submitted 20–30 support tickets every week. Most of them were critical problems caused by the broken integration. This resulted in a growing workload for the support team.
- Limited scalability. The system was not built to grow easily. Adding new features or making improvements took a lot of time and risked breaking existing features.
Client’s Objectives
Guesty asked Forbytes to help them solve the mentioned problems. We deeply analyzed Guesty’s technical ecosystem for the Airbnb integration and came up with the following goals:- Fix the bugs and reduce the number of support tickets
- Refactor and modernize the codebase
- Introduce observability and alerting to detect bugs early
- Improve the speed of data synchronization between Guesty and Airbnb
- Develop clear internal documentation
- Establish automated testing processes
- Improve project execution and delivery
- Speed up feature development and release
How We Approached the Project
To ensure we met Guesty’s goals, we took a structured and methodical approach, addressing each objective step by step. Here’s how we handled the project:1.Decreasing the number of support tickets
We started by collaborating closely with the Guesty team to analyze the support ticket history. Together, we identified and categorized issues based on their impact. Critical issues were prioritized, and we immediately addressed these to reduce the most urgent pain points. Gradually, we moved on to resolving less critical issues. By taking this systematic approach, we reduced the number of weekly support tickets from nearly 30 to just 10, with the majority of remaining tickets being minor and less time-consuming.2. Updating the codebase
The existing code was migrated from a monorepo to a more modular and dedicated environment. This restructuring made the system more independent and easier to manage. Along with this transition, we rewrote the code in TypeScript, enhancing both the scalability and maintainability of the system. This shift helped streamline future updates and reduced technical debt of the Guesty’s integration with Airbnb.3. Introducing observability and alerting
To improve monitoring and issue detection, we implemented a comprehensive observability solution. We integrated InfluxDB for metric collection and connected it to Grafana for advanced visualization. This setup allowed us to configure real-time alerts, sending notifications directly to Slack whenever an issue arose. The ability to monitor system health and receive immediate alerts enabled us to respond quickly and efficiently to problems if any.4. Speeding up the integration flow
We conducted a deep dive into the integration flow to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Through extensive code optimization, we were able to accelerate the entire process. As a result, integration flows now run 4 times faster, significantly improving the overall system performance and reducing delays.5. Creating documentation
To ensure that all future development was well-documented, we implemented a system for automatically generating documentation with each new feature release. This practice improved the transparency of the development process and made it easier for the team to onboard new developers or refer to past work.6. Automating code testing
We integrated automated testing scripts into the development workflow, ensuring that each change was rigorously tested before being deployed. This proactive testing approach reduced the likelihood of errors and bugs, leading to higher-quality releases.7. Enhancing project execution with scrum methodology
To improve team coordination and project transparency, we shifted the project management approach to Scrum. This methodology introduced clear sprints, regular reviews, and retrospectives, giving the team greater visibility into progress and allowing for better adjustments along the way. Scrum also provided a more structured framework for handling complex tasks, leading to more efficient project execution.8. Speeding up feature development
By fine-tuning the code, implementing a more effective project management methodology, and introducing robust observability, we were able to accelerate feature development at the same time. Each of these initiatives played a critical role in achieving the project’s goals, ensuring both immediate improvements and long-term value for Guesty.Ready to Discuss Your Project?
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Integration Overview
Guesty and Airbnb exchange data in real-time and cover the following:- Account setup data
- Listing setup data
- Listing details
- Calendar and availability
- Reservation policies
- Financial and revenue management data
- Communication data
1. Importing Airbnb listing to Guesty
To import Airbnb listings to Guesty, users first connect their Airbnb account to Guesty. The existing Airbnb listings will appear in Guesty’s dashboard as “Not connected.” Users can then select which listings to connect, along with the data on reservations and guest messages. Once imported, listings will be marked as “Connected” and set to sync.Image source: guesty.com
2. Publishing a listing to Airbnb
To publish a listing from Guesty to Airbnb, users access the Airbnb integration page in Guesty, select the listing to publish, configure booking settings, and set a cancellation policy. Once published, the listing will show a “Pending” status until fully activated on Airbnb.
Image source: guesty.com
3. Linking (mapping) a listing to Airbnb
To link existing Airbnb listings with existing Guesty listings, users sync their Airbnb account in Guesty, then find the “Not connected” listings on the Airbnb integration page. From there, they can link each Airbnb listing to its corresponding Guesty listing to enable synchronization of data and bookings. As a result, the integration between Airbnb and Guesty allows users to easily manage their Airbnb properties through a centralized Guesty platform, consolidate data on both platforms, and improve overall business management.Detailed Execution Timeline
For the Airbnb integration part, Forbytes follows the software development life cycle (SDLC) approach with 2-week sprints. The key stages include:- Planning
- Analysis
- Design
- Development
- Testing
- Integration
- Support and maintenance
Results and Impact
The new integration had a significant effect on Guesty’s operations:- Reduced support tickets and increased system stability: We successfully reduced the number of weekly support tickets from 20-30 to just 10, with most of the remaining tickets being minor.
- Modernized codebase and improved scalability: The outdated codebase was refactored and migrated from a monorepo to a modular structure, with a transition to TypeScript for better maintainability.
- Optimized data synchronization and speed: Code optimization significantly improved the speed of data synchronization between Guesty and Airbnb, making the process 4 times faster.
- Enhanced monitoring, alerting, and documentation: Observability and automatic documentation for every new feature allowed our team to react quickly to issues and maintain high-quality standards across the system.
- Improved development processes with Scrum: Switching to Scrum methodology gave the team better visibility into progress, more effective planning, and more consistent feature delivery.
Technology Stack
Cloud storage: S3, Database: MongoDB Cloud: AWS Other tools: Redis, RabbitMQ, KafkaWant to Achieve Similar Results for Your Business?
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