# Wait and Relative Wait

The Wait and Relative Wait steps' fields, how allowed days and hours move a wait, and what happens when a relative time has already passed.

Updated Oct 28, 2026. Source: https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/steps/wait

## What this does

**Wait** pauses a run for a set time. **Relative Wait** pauses it until a set time before or after a date in the run, such as an appointment's start. While a run waits, its status in **Executions** is **Waiting**, and the step's `wait_until` output holds when the wait ends. In Small Business Chatbot, both steps only pause the run.

- **Where:** **Workflows** › a step's **Node settings** › **Node type**: Wait or Relative Wait
- **Needs:** nothing

## Wait

| Field | What it does | Default or options |
|---|---|---|
| **Wait time** | How long to pause, as a number and a unit. | 5 minutes. Units: Minutes, Hours, Days |
| **Allowed days and hours** | Under **Advanced settings**. With **Restrict to allowed days/hours** checked, a wait that would end outside the window ends at the next allowed time instead. | Off |
| **Allowed days** | The days a wait may end on. Shown when the restriction is on. | Monday to Friday |
| **Start time** | The start of the allowed hours, in the workflow's time zone. | 09:00 |
| **End time** | The end of the allowed hours. It must be later than **Start time** for the window to apply. | 17:00 |

![A Wait step restricted to Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00, in the workflow timezone](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/static/images/docs/user-guides/outbound-switches-and-limits-wait-window-2026-10-28.webp)
*Workflows › Editor, October 2026*

### How allowed days and hours move a wait

The step works out the end of the wait first, then checks it against the window in the workflow's time zone (**Workflow timezone** in the workflow's left column).

| The wait would end | It ends at |
|---|---|
| On an allowed day, before **Start time** | **Start time** that day |
| On an allowed day, between **Start time** and **End time** | The time it would end anyway |
| After **End time**, or on a day outside **Allowed days** | **Start time** on the next allowed day |

For example, a 2-hour wait that starts at 4:30 PM on a Friday, with the defaults, ends at 9:00 AM on Monday.

## Relative Wait

The fields sit under **Relative timing**, then under **If the timing of this wait step is already in the past, how should the step proceed?**

| Field | What it does | Default or options |
|---|---|---|
| **Reference source** | The date the wait counts from. | Appointment start time. Options: Appointment start time, Appointment end time, Custom field |
| **Custom datetime field** | With **Custom field**: the path to a date in the run's data, such as `trigger.event.reference_at_iso`. | Empty |
| **Offset** | How far from the date. | 1 |
| **Unit** | The offset's unit. | Hours. Options: Minutes, Hours, Days |
| **Direction** | Before or after the date. | Before. Options: Before, After |
| **Past-due behavior** | What the step does when the time it works out has already passed. | Move to the next step. Options: Move to the next step, Move to a specific step, Skip all outbound communications until the next wait or selected reference date |
| **Specific step** | With **Move to a specific step**: the step the run jumps to. | Empty |

![A Relative Wait step set to 24 hours before the appointment start time, moving to the next step when that time has passed](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/static/images/docs/workflows/wait-ref-relative-fields-2026-10-28.webp)
*Workflows › Relative Wait, October 2026*

Allowed days and hours apply to **Wait** only.

### The date it reads

The date can be an ISO date such as `2026-08-26T18:00:00Z`, another written date, or a Unix time in seconds or milliseconds. A date with no time zone is read as UTC. If the field is empty or holds something other than a date, the run moves to the next step at once.

### When the time has already passed

| Past-due behavior | What happens |
|---|---|
| **Move to the next step** | The run carries on with the next step at once. |
| **Move to a specific step** | The run jumps to **Specific step** and skips the steps in between. |
| **Skip all outbound communications until the next wait or selected reference date** | The run carries on, but Send Text, Send Email, AI voice call and HTTP Request steps are marked skipped instead of running. Sending starts again at the next Wait or Relative Wait step, or once the reference date passes. |

For example, a reminder 24 hours before an appointment booked only 3 hours ahead is already past due when the run reaches it.

### Rescheduled and cancelled appointments

When an appointment is rescheduled, the runs that **Appointment booked** started for it get the new times, and a Relative Wait counting from the appointment is worked out again. When an appointment is cancelled, those runs stop with the status **Removed**.

## What it saves

| Output | What it holds |
|---|---|
| `wait_until` | When the wait ends, in UTC |
| `requested_wait_until` | Wait only, when the window moved it: the time it would have ended |
| `clamped_to_window` | Wait only: `true` when the window moved it |
| `status` | Relative Wait only, when past due: `past_due` |
| `past_due_behavior` | Relative Wait only, when past due: the choice that was applied |

## While a run waits

- A reply from the contact stops a waiting run when **Stop workflows when contact replies** is on for the workflow.
- Moving a workflow back to **Draft** pauses its waiting runs. Their countdown stops and carries on when you publish it again.
- To end a wait early while you test, use **Fast-forward current wait** in [Executions](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/workflows/run-history).

## Guides that use it

- [Your first workflow](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/user-guides/workflows/your-first-workflow)
- [Calendar booking](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/user-guides/chat-widget/calendar-booking): the reminder workflow the calendar settings create waits until 24 hours before, 1 hour before and 1 day after each appointment.
- [Outbound switches and limits](https://smallbusinesschatbot.com/docs/user-guides/workflows/outbound-switches-and-limits)