Configure the Wait Node

The Wait Node pauses a workflow and automatically continues to the connected Next Step when the configured time arrives. It is useful whenever two parts of a customer journey should not happen immediately after one another, such as sending a follow-up later, waiting until the next business day, continuing at a scheduled time, or timing a message around information already collected from the customer.

This is different from the short Delay block available inside a Message Node. That Delay is designed for brief conversational pauses between messages. The standalone Wait Node is a proper workflow scheduling step and can hold a workflow for anything from seconds to longer periods, up to a maximum of 60 days.

The simplest configuration is Duration. Choose how long the workflow should pause, enter the amount, and select the time unit. BotSkyrik supports Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, and Weeks, as long as the resulting wait does not exceed 60 days.

For example, you could wait 15 minutes before sending another message, wait two hours before a follow-up, or pause the workflow for several days before continuing a longer customer journey. Once the duration has passed, BotSkyrik resumes from the Wait Node's existing Next Step connection.

The duration starts when the contact actually reaches the Wait Node. A five-hour wait therefore means five hours from that point in the workflow rather than five hours from when the workflow was originally triggered.

Duration and date-based waits can both be combined with Send within specific hours. Turn this option on when the workflow should only resume during appropriate local hours rather than sending the next message whenever the timer happens to finish.

You can choose a From and Until time and select the days of the week when the workflow is allowed to continue. For example, you could allow messages from 8:00 AM until 10:00 PM every day, or restrict them to normal business hours from Monday through Friday.

If the original wait finishes outside the allowed window, BotSkyrik does not discard the workflow. It moves the continuation forward to the next valid time within the days and hours you selected.

This is especially useful for follow-ups. A workflow might be configured to wait six hours, but if that six-hour period ends late at night, the next message can remain scheduled until the following allowed period instead of being sent at an inappropriate time.

BotSkyrik handles these schedules using the relevant local timezone, including timezone changes such as daylight-saving transitions.

Select the Date tab when the workflow should continue at a particular date and time rather than after a fixed amount of time.

There are two ways to define that date. Specific date and time lets you choose the exact date and time directly in the Wait Node. BotSkyrik uses the contact's known timezone where one is available; otherwise it falls back to the workspace timezone.

The second option is Date stored in a contact field. This is useful when the scheduled time is different for every customer.

For example, an earlier Data Collection step or Action could save an appointment date, consultation date, renewal date, event date, or another relevant value into a System or Custom Field. The Wait Node can then use that field instead of requiring one fixed date for everyone.

You can also apply an Offset in hours to a field-based date. Positive values move the continuation after the stored date, while negative values move it before the date. This makes configurations such as “continue 24 hours before the appointment” or “follow up 2 hours after the event” possible without manually calculating another date.

If the selected field contains only a date and no time, BotSkyrik treats it as 9:00 AM in the applicable contact or workspace timezone.

BotSkyrik checks date-based waits before scheduling them. A workflow will not deliberately resume from a missing or invalid date, from a date that has already passed, or from a date more than 60 days into the future.

In those situations, the scheduled run ends safely rather than sending an unexpectedly late message. This becomes particularly important when the Wait Node depends on customer information because the value may have been removed, changed, or entered incorrectly after the workflow was originally designed.

The same 60-day maximum also applies after BotSkyrik accounts for your selected business-hour window. If adjusting the schedule to the next allowed day or time would push it beyond the permitted range, the workflow will not create an unlimited future wait.

When a workflow runs through WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger, scheduling a Wait does not reset or extend the customer's messaging eligibility.

BotSkyrik applies an additional safety rule to scheduled Meta-channel messages: a scheduled workflow response is not sent when 23 hours or more have passed since the customer's last eligible message. If the messaging window has already closed by the time the Wait finishes, BotSkyrik safely stops that scheduled continuation instead of attempting a late automated reply.

This rule matters when configuring longer delays. A Wait Node may technically support a duration of several days, but the messaging platform still controls whether an outbound message is allowed at that point. The Wait Node schedules the workflow; it does not create a new messaging window.

Telegram does not use this Meta-specific restriction, so the warning appears only where it is relevant to the selected workflow channel.