# Pause with Wait

import { Steps } from "@astrojs/starlight/components"

**Wait** is a **Flow** step that pauses the run for a fixed number of **Seconds**, then continues. Use it when a later
step should start only after a known delay—for example an external job that needs time to finish and cannot notify you.
Screenshots on this page use a six-minute pause so you can see **Seconds** filled in.

## When to use

- An external system needs a fixed cool-down or processing window before your next call.
- Prefer [Wait and resume a flow](../wait-and-resume-playbook/) when a person or system should decide when to continue
  (approval link, button, or HTTP resume)—not a blind timer.
- Prefer polling with [Create a loop](../create-a-loop/) (**While** / **Do while**) when you can check status until
  ready instead of guessing a delay.

Before you begin, open the flow in the designer with permission to edit it.

## Guide

### Add Wait

**Wait** has no **Input** tab—only **Settings** → **Seconds**.

<ol>
<li>

**Add Wait.** Open **Add a step**, choose **Flow**, then **Wait**. Place it where the run should pause. Rename the
step if the delay is part of a larger job.
<div class="docs-screenshot-compact">

![Wait step on the canvas](./assets/wait-step-canvas.png)

</div>

</li>
<li>

**Open Settings.** Select the Wait step and open the **Settings** tab.

</li>
<li>

**Set Seconds.** Enter how long to pause (minimum **0**). The value is a fixed number—you cannot bind it to a formula
or earlier-step output. New Wait steps default to **10** seconds.
<div class="docs-screenshot-compact">

![Wait Settings with Seconds set to 360 for a six-minute pause](./assets/wait-settings-seconds-set-360-six.png)

</div>

</li>
</ol>
## Example

A flow named **Poll after batch job** calls an API that starts a batch, then waits six minutes before listing results.

1. **Add Wait** after the start-batch step.
2. **Set Seconds** to `360` (6 × 60).
3. **Add** the list-results step after Wait.
4. **Run** once and confirm the run log shows the Wait duration before the list step starts.

## Keep in mind

- **Seconds** cannot be set dynamically from a variable or formula.
- Wait is not the same as wait-and-resume: it always continues after the timer; it does not listen for an HTTP resume.

Related: [Wait and resume a flow](../wait-and-resume-playbook/),
[Create a loop](../create-a-loop/),
[Scripts, errors, and run control](../).