Inputs
The duration is always relative to the moment the run reaches the block. To pause until a specific calendar date or timestamp instead, use Delay until.
Outputs
None. The Delay block pauses the run and then continues. It produces no value for later blocks to consume.Behavior
The Delay block suspends the run at this step and schedules it to resume after the configured duration. The run holds its place in the flow. Every variable and output captured before the delay is still available to blocks that run afterward. A paused run keeps the workflow version it started on. Say you edit and publish the workflow while a run is mid-delay. That in-flight run still finishes on the version that was live when it triggered, not your newly published version. Only runs that trigger after you publish use the new version. The unit list stops at weeks. There is no months or years option. This is the main difference from Adjust time, which offers seconds through years. To wait longer than weeks, work out the exact date you want to resume on. Then pause to that date with Delay until instead.Gotchas
- A published edit does not reach runs already waiting. A run paused on the Delay block completes on its original workflow version. Attio pins each in-flight run to the version that was live when it triggered. You cannot patch a currently-delayed run. Let it finish, then rely on the new version for the next trigger.
- Long delays hide operational problems. A multi-day delay can mask a misconfigured upstream block, because the failure surfaces days later and far from its cause. Reach for a delay when the timing itself is the requirement. Do not use it as a patch for a flaky step earlier in the flow.
- There is no months or years unit. The Delay block tops out at weeks, so a “wait three months” requirement has no single matching unit. Compute the target date with Adjust time and pause to it with Delay until.
Examples
Waiting before a follow-up check
A lead enters a nurture sequence, and you want to wait three days before checking whether they replied.
The run pauses for three days, then continues to a Filter block that checks the reply status and a Create task block that queues a follow-up for Priya Sharma.
Spacing two outbound touches by hours
A workflow has just sent the first touch and should hold for four hours before the second.
The run holds for four hours, then resumes at the next block to send the second message. Every variable captured before the pause is preserved.