Delay running the next action in Azure Logic Apps

  • Article

Applies to: Azure Logic Apps (Consumption)

To have your logic app wait an amount of time before running the next action, you can add the built-in Delay action before an action in your logic app's workflow. Or, you can add the built-in Delay until action to wait until a specific date and time before running the next action. For more information about the built-in Schedule actions and triggers, see Schedule and run recurring automated, tasks, and workflows with Azure Logic Apps.

  • Delay: Wait for the specified number of time units, such as seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months, before the next action runs.

  • Delay until: Wait until the specified date and time before the next action runs.

Here are some example ways to use these actions:

  • Wait until a weekday to send a status update over email.

  • Delay your workflow until an HTTP call finishes before resuming and retrieving data.

Prerequisites

  • An Azure account and subscription. If you don't have a subscription, you can sign up for a trial Azure subscription.

  • Basic knowledge about logic apps. Before you can use an action, your logic app must first start with a trigger. You can use any trigger you want and add other actions before you add a delay action. This topic uses an Office 365 Outlook trigger.

Add the Delay action

  1. In the Logic App Designer, under the step where you want to add the delay action, choose New step.

    To add the delay action between steps, move the pointer over the arrow that connects the steps. Choose the plus sign (+) that appears, and then select Add an action.

  2. In the search box, enter "delay" as your filter. From the actions list, select this action: Delay

    Add "Delay" action

  3. Specify the amount of time to wait before the next action runs.

    Set amount of time for the delay

    Property JSON name Required Type Description
    Count count Yes Integer The number of time units to delay
    Unit unit Yes String The unit of time, for example: Second, Minute, Hour, Day, Week, or Month

  4. Add any other actions that you want to run in your workflow.

  5. When you're done, save your logic app.

Add the Delay-until action

  1. In the Logic App Designer, under the step where you want to add the delay action, choose New step.

    To add the delay action between steps, move the pointer over the arrow that connects the steps. Choose the plus sign (+) that appears, and then select Add an action.

  2. In the search box, enter "delay" as your filter. From the actions list, select this action: Delay until

    Add "Delay until" action

  3. Provide the end date and time for when you want to resume the workflow.

    Specify timestamp for when to end the delay

    Property JSON name Required Type Description
    Timestamp timestamp Yes String The end date and time for resuming the workflow using this format:

    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ

    So for example, if you want September 18, 2017 at 2:00 PM, specify "2017-09-18T14:00:00Z".

    Note: This time format must follow the ISO 8601 date time specification in UTC date time format, but without a UTC offset. Without a time zone, you must add the letter "Z" at the end without any spaces. This "Z" refers to the equivalent nautical time.

  4. Add any other actions that you want to run in your workflow.

  5. When you're done, save your logic app.

Next steps