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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.

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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.

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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}}

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Where to Find

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

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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 
    } 
  }
]

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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.