Lost and Found
Log what housekeeping finds in a room, store it, claim and return it to the guest, or dispose of it once the retention window has passed.
Everything an attendant finds in a room goes into one register. Lost & found (/housekeeping/lost-and-found) is that register: a searchable list of every item logged at the property, each with a reference, a room, a status and a disposal deadline. An attendant logs a find from inside the room they are cleaning; the desk logs one from here when a guest hands something in or phones about a missing charger.
The tab has no date stepper — the register is a live list, not a day's work — and items stay on it for good, including the ones already returned or disposed of.
Where it lives
Open Housekeeping in the sidebar, then the Lost & found tab. Log item sits at the top right. Attendants reach the same form from My rooms: open the room you are working, choose Lost & found from the task's actions and fill in the same three fields.
Permissions
lostAndFound: read lists the register. lostAndFound: write unlocks Log item and the status buttons — without it the button is disabled with Requires lost & found write permission and the detail sheet reads You do not have permission to change this item. The server asks for more on the last two steps: returning an item needs lostAndFound: release and disposing of one needs lostAndFound: dispose. An attendant logging a find from a task needs only housekeeping: work — the record is created as a side effect of the clean.
Log an item
Open the form
Click Log item. The dialog is Log a found item — Record something found for the lost & found register. Opened from a task, the title names the room: Record something found in room 204…
Describe it
What was found is the only required field — e.g. Black umbrella. Category (e.g. Electronics) and Storage location (e.g. Housekeeping office — bin 2) are optional but make the register searchable later.
Log it
Click Log item. The record is created with status Found, a reference like LF-2026-0007, you as the finder, the timestamp, and a disposal deadline 90 days from now.
Logged from a task, the item is automatically attached to that task's room and to the reservation on the task, so a guest who calls a week later can be matched to their own stay. You cannot point it at a different room — the room comes from the task, not from the form.
Fields on an item
| Field | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Reference | Generated, LF-<year>-<number>, unique per property. |
| Description | What you typed in What was found. |
| Category | Optional free text. |
| Room | The task's room, or blank when logged from the desk. |
| Storage location | Optional free text — where the item physically is. |
| Found at / Found by | Stamped when the item is logged. |
| Dispose after | Found at plus the retention window, 90 days by default. |
| Claimed by / Contact | Recorded when you claim it for a guest. |
| Released by / Returned | Stamped when you mark it returned. |
| Disposed by / Disposed at | Stamped when you dispose of it. |
| Notes | Free text. An early disposal appends Disposed early: … here. |
Statuses
| Status | Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
FOUND | Found | Logged, not yet put away. |
STORED | Stored | Physically in the store or office, waiting to be claimed. |
CLAIMED | Claimed | A guest has claimed it; the claimant's name and contact are on the record. |
RETURNED | Returned | Handed back. Terminal. |
DISPOSED | Disposed | Written off after (or, with a reason, before) the retention deadline. Terminal. |
The moves the server allows are fixed: Found → Stored, Claimed or Disposed; Stored → Claimed, Disposed or back to Found; Claimed → Returned or back to Stored. Returned and Disposed go nowhere. Anything else is refused with Cannot move a lost-and-found item from X to Y.
Alongside the status badge the register shows a retention badge — Within retention, or a red Disposal due once Dispose after has passed. It is hidden on claimed, returned and disposed items, where the deadline no longer matters.
The register
The table lists Reference, Description, Room, Status, Found and Dispose after, newest find first. Above it, a search box filters on reference, description and room number as you type (Search reference, description, or room…), and a status dropdown offers All statuses plus each of the five. Click any row to open the detail sheet.
Move an item along
The detail sheet shows one button per legal next step, and only the ones that apply:
| On an item that is… | You see | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Found | Mark stored | Moves it to Stored. Use it once the item is physically in the store. |
| Stored | Claim for guest | Opens the claim dialog. |
| Claimed | Mark returned | Records the release — who handed it over and when. |
| Found or Stored | Dispose | Opens the disposal confirmation. |
Claim it for a guest
Claim for guest opens a dialog asking you to Record who claimed LF-2026-0007 and their contact details. Both Claimed by (guest name) and Contact (email or phone) are required; Claim item saves them. Claiming does not hand the item over — it records that someone has established a claim, so posting it or holding it at the desk is still ahead of you.
Return it
Mark returned moves the item to Returned and stamps you as the person who released it. The claimant's name is re-sent with the request, so an item claimed before that detail was captured shows This item has no claimant on record. Claim it for the guest first, then mark it returned. — claim it again with the real name and the return will go through.
Dispose of it
Dispose opens Dispose LF-2026-0007? — This will permanently mark "Black umbrella" as disposed. Retention ended 12 March 2026. This action cannot be undone. Confirm with Dispose item.
Disposal before the deadline is refused
The server only accepts a disposal once Dispose after has passed, unless a reason is supplied — and the confirmation dialog does not ask for one. Disposing early therefore fails with This item is still within its retention window; provide disposalReason to dispose early. Wait for the Disposal due badge, or change the item's deadline (see below).
From the room's side
The housekeeping task that found the item keeps the link. Open the room on the Board, scroll the detail sheet to Lost and found, and the items raised from that clean are listed there with their current status — useful when a guest describes where they left something rather than what it was.
Coming soon
Several things the API supports have no control on this screen yet:
- Editing a logged item — description, category, storage location, notes and the Dispose after deadline can all be changed on the server, but the detail sheet is read-only.
- A custom retention window at logging time; every item currently gets 90 days.
- Attaching a photo. An item that has one shows a placeholder reading Photo thumbnail (available when API is connected) rather than the image.
- Picking a reservation by hand when logging from the desk. Only items raised from a task carry the guest link.
Common mistakes
- Logging from the desk when the attendant found it. An item logged here has no room and no reservation on it. Ask the attendant to log it from My rooms and both are attached automatically.
- Skipping the storage location. Housekeeping office — bin 2 is the difference between a two-minute claim and a search. It is also the only place the physical location is recorded.
- Claiming instead of returning.
Claimedmeans somebody has established a claim. Until you press Mark returned the item is still yours, and the register still counts it as outstanding. - Expecting Dispose to clear a fresh find. Disposal is gated on the retention deadline, and both the deadline and the disposal are permanent.
Related
Inspections
Work the queue of cleaned rooms, score the checklist item by item, approve to release the room for sale or fail it and raise rework.
Reports
Five housekeeping reports — productivity, quality, readiness, occupancy discrepancy and supply cost — with their filters, columns, CSV exports and printing.