Description:
The Wait workflow step pauses the workflow instance for a configured duration. The duration can be specified in units such as minutes, hours, days, months, or years. The step also supports optional start date and time zone settings, as well as weekend handling, for day-based waits.
The step supports:
- Duration-based workflow delays
- Configurable wait units
- Optional start date
- Time zone selection
- Optional inclusion of weekends when waiting for days
- True and False return paths
This step can be used for:
- Introducing delays between workflow activities
- Waiting for a defined period before sending reminders
- Creating response or follow-up windows
- Delaying subsequent processing
- Scheduling periodic business actions
- Allowing external processes time to complete
- Implementing grace periods and escalation intervals
- Controlling the timing of automated notifications
Inputs
- timeZone – Optional time zone used when evaluating the configured date and time.
- startDate - Optional starting date and time for the wait period.
- waitNum – Required value specifying how long the workflow should wait.
- waitType – Required unit for the wait duration. The available wait type data source supports years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds.
- includeWeekends – Optional setting that determines whether weekends are included when the wait type is days.
Returns
- True – True return path from the Wait step.
- False – False return path from the Wait step.
Usage:
The Wait step is typically placed between workflow activities when a process needs to pause before performing its next action.
The wait duration can be configured directly in the step or supplied using workflow values where the corresponding property accepts a mapped value.
For example, a workflow can:
- Wait a specified number of hours before sending a reminder.
- Wait several days before checking whether an action has been completed.
- Wait for a defined number of minutes before retrying a downstream operation.
- Wait for a number of days while optionally including or excluding weekends.
- Pause between two stages of a business process.
When the configured waiting period has elapsed, the workflow continues through the configured return path.
When the workflow reaches the Wait step, the configured wait period is applied before the workflow proceeds.
Typical Workflow Suggestions
Reminder and Follow-up Workflows
Use the Wait step to introduce a delay before sending a reminder.
Example:
Send Request → Wait 2 Days → Send Reminder
This is useful when a recipient needs a reasonable amount of time to respond before an automated reminder is generated.
Approval Escalation
Use the Wait step to provide an approver with a defined response period.
Example:
Request Approval → Wait 3 Days → Escalate Approval
The wait duration can represent the escalation threshold defined by the business process.
Retry or Delayed Processing
Use the Wait step between processing attempts when an external system may need additional time.
Example:
Call External System → Wait 10 Minutes → Check Status
This can help prevent immediate repeated processing when a downstream operation is expected to complete asynchronously.
Grace Periods
Use the step to create a defined grace period before a workflow performs a subsequent action.
Example:
Notify Customer → Wait 7 Days → Continue Processing
Scheduled Business Actions
Use a day-, month-, or year-based wait when a process needs to defer an action for a business-defined period.
Example:
Complete Contract → Wait 1 Month → Start Renewal Process
Time-Based Process Coordination
Use the Wait step to create controlled spacing between workflow activities.
Example:
Activity A → Wait 30 Minutes → Activity B
This can be useful when consecutive actions should not execute immediately after one another.
Example:
Let’s build and execute the “waitDef” example.
- Create a new process definition called “waitDef” and open it in Designer mode.
- Drag a “wait” step to the canvas.
- Connect the dots between the “Start” and “wait” steps, as shown above.
- Select the line between the steps to configure the “Connection Properties”. The default property values are “None, Error, Evaluate, and Timeout”. Depending on the step’s purpose, additional values are available for configuration.
- Click the "wait" step to configure its "Required" properties. Provide a name for the step. Enter the duration and time value to wait. Select the wait interval type from the drop-down list (minutes, hours, days, months, years, seconds). Click the Save button. Note: Click the "AI Predict" button to have Copilot add new process steps that match your process description.
- Click the "wait" step to configure its "Required" properties. Select the time zone from the drop-down list. Specify the start date and time. Set to “ON” if the wait interval should include the weekend in the count. Click the Save button.
- The “Logging” configuration is necessary for documentation and also measures workflow progress and percent complete. This is achieved by configuring the step state and percent fields individually, as shown in the images below. Configure the “Logging” using the following properties.
- Save the process definition, create a new instance, and execute it. Render the process instance. The process step remains in “sleep” mode for the duration of the wait interval. Click the Items—Engine Alerts menu option to view the step status.
Tips:
- Use Wait when the requirement is based on a duration rather than a specific calendar date and time.
- Select the Type of wait carefully, because the same numeric value can mean different things depending on whether the unit is minutes, hours, days, months, or years.
- Use Start date when the waiting period needs to begin from a specific date and time rather than simply from the point at which the step is reached.
- Configure the time zone when the workflow's timing must be evaluated.
- When waiting for days, explicitly consider whether weekends should be included.
- Keep very long waits aligned with the business requirement and avoid unnecessary delays in time-sensitive workflows.
- Use meaningful step names such as “Wait for Customer Response”, “Wait for Approval Escalation”, or “Wait Before Retry” to make workflow execution easier to understand.
Notes:
The Wait step is defined in the Engine category with the internal name wait and display name Wait.
The workflow step is implemented by the FlowWright.Workflow.WaitStep namespace in FlowWright.Workflow.dll and is defined as a Process step. It supports 2 incoming connections and 2 outgoing connections.
The duration property is a string input, while the wait type is provided through the ClsMinutesDaysHoursMonthsYears property type. That property type supports years, months, days, minutes, hours, and seconds.
The time zone and start date properties use FlowWright's TimeZoneList and ClsDateTime data types respectively.
Feature comparison:
| Feature | Wait | WaitForDateTime | WaitForComputedDateTime | WaitForMessage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Pause for a specified duration | Pause until a specific date/time | Pause until a computed date/time | Pause until a message is received |
| Display name | Wait | Wait to Date | Wait Computed | Wait For Msg |
| How wait period is determined | Duration + unit | Explicit date/time | Computed date/time value | Incoming message |
| Start date supported | Yes, optional | Not separately; the target is Wait till
|
Encapsulated in computed date/time | No |
| Time zone supported | Yes | Yes | Not exposed as a separate property | No |
| Duration units | Yes | No | No | No |
| Minutes / hours / days / months / years | Yes | No | No | No |
| Weekend handling | Yes, for day-based waits | No | Not exposed | No |
| Dynamic/computed target time | Indirectly through inputs, but duration-based | Date/time property | Yes — specifically designed for this | Not applicable |
| Message/event driven | No | No | No | Yes |
| Required input | Wait duration and wait type | Wait-till date/time | Computed date/time | Message to wait for |
| Outputs | True / False | True / False | True / False | True / False |
| Typical use | "Wait 3 days" | "Wait until Jan 15 at 10 AM" | "Wait until the date/time calculated by the workflow" | "Wait until a specified message arrives" |
Definition Sample:
You may download a sample definition when provided and import it into your FlowWright Process Definition.
Note: Verify and complete any missing configuration after importing a sample, including:
- Wait duration
- Wait type
- Time zone
- Start date
- Weekend handling
- Outgoing workflow connections
- Environment-specific settings
After verifying the configuration, save the Process Definition before execution.
Click here to download the sample file.