Warm air has three possible homes: refrigerant, electrical, or airflow. The whole job of this visit is finding out which one you're in before anybody spends money, because the work on those three paths has almost nothing in common.
We start with the measurement everything else hangs on: vent temperature against ambient. What counts as good in Central Florida in August isn't what counts as good in January, and a system running well below outside air is telling a different story than one barely beating it. Gauge readings then show how the refrigerant is behaving, whether the charge is short, and whether the pressure pattern points at a restriction instead of a loss.
Next is the electrical side. Does the compressor actually engage, and if it doesn't, is that a failure or a switch correctly refusing to let it run? On a lot of cars that single distinction is the entire diagnosis. A leak detection pass follows when the pressures call for one.
Airflow is the part people forget. Plenty of "the AC is broken" calls turn out to be a blend door stuck on the heat side, a blower that's lost speeds, or a cabin filter that hasn't moved much air in years. Cold refrigerant does nothing for you if it can't reach the vents.
You leave knowing which side of the system is at fault and which specific part, with inspection photos sent to your phone so you can see what we saw. And we get it, in this heat you want it fixed today. That's a good argument for measuring first, not for skipping it.