Delay

How it works
Configuration

A delay step pauses the Automation for a specified duration before continuing to the next step. Common use cases:

Email sequences — Space out emails in an onboarding series.
Cooldowns — Prevent sending too many emails in a short period.
Follow-ups — Give users time to take action before sending a reminder.

How it works

Using the dashboard
Using the API

You can configure a “Time Delay” duration using natural language.

The delay step accepts a single duration field with a human-readable time value.

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

const { data, error } = await resend.automations.create({
  name: 'Welcome Series',
  steps: [
    {
      key: 'start',
      type: 'trigger',
      config: { eventName: 'user.created' },
    },
    {
      key: 'wait_1_day',
      type: 'delay',
      config: { duration: '1 day' },
    },
  ],
  connections: [{ from: 'start', to: 'wait_1_day', type: 'default' }],
});

Example durations: "30 minutes", "1 hour", "12 hours", "1 day", "3 days", "1 week".

The maximum delay is 30 days.

Configuration

config.duration

string

required

The delay duration in natural language (e.g. "1 hour", "3 days"). Maximum: 30 days.

Example

{
  "key": "wait_1_hour",
  "type": "delay",
  "config": {
    "duration": "1 hour"
  }
}

Condition

Wait for Event

⌘I

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How it works

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How it works

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