Pick the right way to pause
Section titled “Pick the right way to pause”- Wait Pause for a set time. Example Wait 30 seconds between two requests to a busy service.
- Wait For Approval Pause until a person approves or rejects. Example Check a drafted reply before it's sent.
- Poll Until Pause until another service says the job is done. Example Check an export every 5 minutes, give up after 1 hour.
How long waits survive
Section titled “How long waits survive”Wait holds the run for Amount × Unit (seconds unless you change it):
- Under 1 minute: a simple timer. Closing the tab cancels it.
- 1 minute or more, in the browser extension: the run is saved and resumes at the deadline, even after you close the tab or restart the browser. It shows as waiting in the Executions pane and can last up to 30 days.
- In the web app: every wait is a simple timer, so a long wait doesn’t survive a closed tab.
Wait For Approval has no time limit. The question appears on the paused run in the Executions pane, and you’re told a run is waiting by a count in the top bar, a sound and, in the extension, a desktop notification.
Wait for a page, not a clock
Section titled “Wait for a page, not a clock”To wait until something appears on a web page, don’t guess a delay. Use Wait For Element, so the run continues as soon as the page is ready. See Browser context.
You’ll notice this when…
Section titled “You’ll notice this when…”Ten items left a Wait together instead of one by one
Wait pauses once for everything it receives. To space items out, put Wait inside a Loop or after Split in Batches.
A long wait was lost when you closed the tab
The run was in the web app, or the wait was shorter than a minute. Long waits survive a closed tab only in the browser extension.
One approval routed every item
Wait For Approval pauses once and one answer routes all the items it received. For one decision per item, place it inside a Loop or after Split in Batches with a batch size of 1.