Pause Node

The Pause node pauses your workflow for a set amount of time. It’s like pressing pause on a video - everything stops, then continues after the time is up.

Pause node configuration form — Pause configuration — set the duration in seconds, minutes, hours, or days.

When to Use

Avoiding overload - Wait between requests so you don’t get blocked
Trying again later - Wait a bit before retrying something that failed
Scheduling - Pause until a specific time
Checking status - Wait between checks to see if something is done
Spacing out messages - Don’t send everything at once

Example: Rate-Limited API Calls

Respect API rate limits when making multiple calls:

├── Loop (over items)
│   ├── HTTP Request (call API)
│   ├── Condition ({{loop_1.isLast}})
│   │   └── Unmet: Pause (1 second)

This adds a 1-second delay between API calls, avoiding rate limits.

Example: Retry with Backoff

Retry a failed operation after waiting:

Make the initial request

Use an HTTP Request node to call the API.

Check for errors

Add a Condition to check if it failed.

Retry with delay

On failure:

├── Condition (success?)
│   ├── Met: Continue
│   └── Unmet:
│       ├── Update Variable (retryCount += 1)
│       ├── Condition (retryCount < 3)
│       │   ├── Met:
│       │   │   └── Pause ({{retryCount * 5}} seconds)
│       │   │       → [Loop back to HTTP Request]
│       │   └── Unmet: Alert (max retries exceeded)

Example: Scheduled Follow-Up

Send a follow-up email after a delay:

├── External API (send initial email)
├── Pause (2 days)
├── Condition (customer replied?)
│   ├── Met: (don't send follow-up)
│   └── Unmet: External API (send follow-up email)

Example: Polling for Completion

Wait for an async operation to complete:

├── HTTP Request (start long-running job, get jobId)
├── Update Variable (status = "pending")
├── Loop (while status != "completed")
│   ├── Pause (30 seconds)
│   ├── HTTP Request (check job status)
│   ├── Update Variable (status = response.status)
│   ├── Condition (status == "completed" OR status == "failed")
│   │   └── Met: [exit loop]

Duration Examples

Configuration	Total Wait
30 seconds	30 seconds
5 minutes	5 minutes
2 hours	2 hours
1 day	24 hours

Using resumeAt

Instead of a duration, specify an exact time:

{
  "resumeAt": "2024-03-15T09:00:00Z"
}

The workflow resumes at exactly that time. Dynamic resume time:

resumeAt: {{execute_code_1.result.scheduledTime}}

Where Execute Code calculates when to resume:

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

# Resume tomorrow at 9 AM
tomorrow = datetime.now() + timedelta(days=1)
resume_time = tomorrow.replace(hour=9, minute=0, second=0)

return {"scheduledTime": resume_time.isoformat()}

Pause vs. Scheduled Trigger

Feature	Pause	Scheduled Trigger
When to use	Delay within a workflow	Schedule workflow start
Duration	Single delay	Repeating schedule
Context	Has access to previous node data	Starts fresh
Use case	”Wait 5 min, then continue"	"Run every morning at 9”

Use Pause for delays mid-workflow. Use Scheduled Trigger to schedule when workflows start.

Maximum Pause Duration

Very long sleep durations (days/weeks) keep the workflow execution in memory. For long delays, consider:

Ending the workflow and using a Scheduled Trigger
Storing state in a variable and using On Variable Update
Using an external scheduler to trigger a webhook

Practical limits:

Up to 1 hour - Works well
Up to 24 hours - Generally reliable
Longer - Consider alternative approaches

Tips

For rate limiting in loops, check isLast before sleeping to avoid an unnecessary delay after the final item.

Use exponential backoff for retries: Pause for 2^retryCount seconds (2, 4, 8, 16…) to give failing services more recovery time.

When polling, start with shorter intervals and increase them over time to balance responsiveness with API efficiency.

Settings

name

string

default:"Pause"

What to call this node (shown on the canvas).

key

string

default:"sleep_1"

A short code to reference this node’s info.

duration

number

required

How long to wait.

unit

string

default:"seconds"

The time unit: seconds, minutes, hours, or days.

resumeAt

string

Instead of a duration, you can specify an exact time to wake up.

Outputs

sleptFor

number

How long it actually waited (in milliseconds).

resumedAt

string

When it woke up and continued.

Scheduled Trigger

For scheduling when workflows start.

Loop

Combine with Pause for rate-limited iterations.

Overview

Triggers

Actions

Logic

Communication

When to Use

Example: Rate-Limited API Calls

Example: Retry with Backoff

Example: Scheduled Follow-Up

Example: Polling for Completion

Duration Examples

Using resumeAt

Pause vs. Scheduled Trigger

Maximum Pause Duration

Tips

Settings

Outputs

Scheduled Trigger

Loop

​When to Use

​Example: Rate-Limited API Calls

​Example: Retry with Backoff

​Example: Scheduled Follow-Up

​Example: Polling for Completion

​Duration Examples

​Using resumeAt

​Pause vs. Scheduled Trigger

​Maximum Pause Duration

​Tips

​Settings

​Outputs

​Related Nodes

Scheduled Trigger

Loop

When to Use

Example: Rate-Limited API Calls

Example: Retry with Backoff

Example: Scheduled Follow-Up

Example: Polling for Completion

Duration Examples

Using resumeAt

Pause vs. Scheduled Trigger

Maximum Pause Duration

Tips

Settings

Outputs

Related Nodes