Start with delay input properties
Summarize
Summary of Start with delay input properties
The "Start with delay" input allows you to specify a waiting period before executing an activity or stage in a playbook, even after the start conditions are met. This feature helps users provide a pause for manual actions or wait until a specific date and time before proceeding in automated workflows.
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Roles and Availability
This input is available for all stages and common activities except the Placeholder activity. Users assigned to the roles admin, playbook.admin, pdauthor, or pdcontentauthor can configure these delay properties.
Input Properties and Configuration
To enable and configure the delay, open the properties panel of an activity or stage, access additional options, and enable the "Start with delay" setting. The main configurable properties include:
- Duration Type: Defines the basis of the delay with three options:
- Explicit Duration: Wait for a fixed time period (e.g., 5 minutes).
- Relative Duration: Wait for a time period relative to a selected date/time or duration data pill (e.g., 5 minutes after playbook start).
- Percentage Duration: Wait for a percentage of the time between the activity/stage start and a specified end time (values from 0 to 100%).
- Wait for Template Value: Allows manual entry of duration or selection of a Duration data pill. For relative durations, specify wait times before or after a certain date/time. Maximum wait is 999 hours. Note that actual delays may vary due to system processing times.
- Wait for Percentage: When using Percentage Duration, specify the percentage of time to wait relative to a defined end date or date/time data pill. Past end dates default the wait duration to zero.
- During the following schedule: Optionally assign a schedule (from Reference.Schedule [cmnschedule]) to calculate the end date within business hours or operational times. If left blank, no schedule is applied.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
- Enables precise control over timing in playbook executions, allowing for deliberate pauses before activities or stages begin.
- Supports diverse timing strategies—fixed delays, relative waits based on dynamic data, or proportional timing based on overall durations.
- Facilitates alignment with business hours and operational schedules to ensure delays respect organizational workflows.
- Empowers users to design automated playbooks that incorporate manual intervention windows or timed waits for compliance and operational efficiency.
Related Configuration and Concepts
This feature integrates with activity definitions, automation assets, and playbook activity state mapping. It supports use cases involving optional activities, decision activities, parallel branches, and questionnaires. For further setup, customers can refer to adding and configuring stages, activities, dynamic inputs, and scheduling within playbooks.
Specify a duration of time to wait before running an activity or a stage whose start rule and conditions have been met. Give users time to act during automated playbooks. Give users time to wait for a specific date and time to complete actions.
Roles and availability
This input is available for all stages and common activities, except for the Placeholder activity. Users with the admin, playbook.admin, pd_author, or pd_content_author can configure the properties of this input.
Input properties
| Input | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Duration Type | Choice | Option to specify how long of duration to wait. Options include
|
| Wait for | Template Value | Option to set a duration value manually or to select a Duration data pill from the data pill picker ( ).
Note: The actual wait duration can vary due to the instance processing time. The playbook always waits for the time that you specify for this field, but other work in the queue may add to the wait time. |
| Wait for Percentage | Integer | Percentage of time to wait from a specified end date before running an activity or
stage. You can manually enter an end date or select a date/time data pill from the data pill
picker (). If you select an end date in the past, the wait duration is set to
0. This field is only available when you set the Duration
Type to Percentage Duration. |
| During the following schedule | Reference.Schedule [cmn_schedule] | Schedule used to calculate an end date that occurs during your hours of operation. For example, the calculated end date for a 10-hour duration that occurs during a 8-5 weekdays schedule will always be one or more business days in the future. If you leave this field blank, the calculated end date does not follow a schedule. For information on creating schedules, see Define a schedule. |