Delay
Waits the configured number of milliseconds before continuing.
When to use
- Rate limiting: insert a delay between API calls when a downstream service has strict rate limits.
- Staggering outbound work to avoid spikes.
- Giving an eventually-consistent read a moment to catch up to a preceding write.
If you need to delay until a specific future time, consider the Schedule trigger on a separate workflow instead.
Configuration
| Field | Required | What it does |
|---|---|---|
delayMs | Yes | How long to wait in milliseconds. Min 0, max 86,400,000 (24h). |
What it outputs
{
delayedMs: <actual delay>,
continuedAt: "2026-04-18T09:00:00.000Z"
}Gotchas
- Max 24h. Longer waits should be designed with a Schedule trigger that wakes up periodically and checks whether the condition to proceed is met.
- Does count toward workflow timeout. Workflow executions have a max runtime; a long Delay eats into it.
- Not a guarantee of wall-clock accuracy. The engine's scheduler may add a few ms of jitter. Don't use Delay for anything requiring sub- second precision — that's not what it's for.