Pause Workflow Execution

Pause Workflow Execution

The Delay step pauses the execution of your workflow for a specified duration, which can be a fixed amount of time or a dynamically calculated value.

When to Use

• Rate limiting: Prevent API throttling by spacing out requests to external services.
• Polling: Wait a specific interval before retrying a check or polling an endpoint again.
• Multi-step operations: Introduce a pause between dependent actions to ensure previous steps have completed.
• Cooldown periods: Create a "cooldown" phase between consecutive actions.

Configuration

• DelayMs: Specify the delay duration in milliseconds. This can be a static number or a dynamic Handlebars expression.
  • Example (fixed delay): 7000 (for 7 seconds)
  • Example (dynamic delay): {{Variables.delayMs}}

Where to Find

You can find the Delay Step in the Flow Control section of the step library.

Input

The Delay step does not require a specific input shape. While it receives any upstream input, it typically does not modify it.

Example Input:

[
  { 
    "$type": "sdkStep", 
    "Output": { 
      "StatusCode": 200 
    } 
  }
]

Output Schema

The step outputs details about the delay, including its duration and timestamps.

{
  "$type": "sdkStep",
  "Output": {
    "DelayMs": 7000,
    "StartedAt": "2025-12-15T13:17:12.093Z",
    "CompletedAt": "2025-12-15T13:17:19.091Z"
  },
  "Success": true
}

• Output.DelayMs: The configured delay duration in milliseconds.
• Output.StartedAt: The timestamp when the delay period began.
• Output.CompletedAt: The timestamp when the delay period ended.
• Success: A boolean indicating if the delay step completed successfully.