---
title: 'Delay'
description: 'Pauses the workflow for a fixed number of milliseconds.'
---
# 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.