Automation Delay Tool

Sometimes you don't want the next automation step to run immediately. For example, you may need to wait for another app to finish processing data or delay an action until a specific time.

The Automation Delay tool lets you pause an automation before the next steps run. You can delay it:

• for a set number of minutes;
• until a specific date and time;
• according to a defined schedule. To add the tool:

1. Click the + button.

2. Select Automation delay.

Once the tool is added, choose the delay type that fits your case.

Delay types

The tool supports three modes:

Automation delay (minutes)

Pauses execution for a set number of minutes.

Automation delay (date and time)

Pauses execution until a specified date and time.

Automation delay (by schedule)

Pauses execution according to a defined schedule.

Automation delay (minutes)

Use this mode when you need to pause an automation for a fixed amount of time before the next step runs.

Common use cases include:

• waiting for an external service to finish processing data;
• sending a follow-up notification after a delay;
• retrying a request a few minutes later. Select Automation delay (minutes).

In the Delay (in minutes) field, enter the number of minutes to wait.

Allowed values range from 1 to 10,080 minutes. Once the specified time has passed, the automation resumes automatically.

Example: An automatic call after a lead comes in

Suppose a new lead arrives in your CRM, and a few minutes after the card is created you need to call the client.

Automation

Google Ads → HubSpot → Automation delay → Twilio

After the lead comes in, the record is created in the CRM right away, while the call to the client is placed after the specified number of minutes.

For example, if the tool is set to 5, the call is placed 5 minutes after the lead is created.

Example: Monitoring lead handling

A head of sales wants to make sure that managers reach out to every new lead.

Automation

Lead source → HubSpot → Automation delay → Telegram

A 60-minute delay is set between creating the lead and sending the notification.

An hour after the lead arrives, the manager receives a message in Telegram with a link to the deal card and can check whether the client was called.

Automation delay (date and time)

This mode lets you pause an automation until a specific date and time. When that moment arrives, the automation resumes automatically.

Use this mode when the next step should run only after a certain date and time.

For example:

• send a message on a specific day and time;
• postpone execution until an order's delivery date;
• wait for an event's start date;
• run the next step on a date stored in your CRM or another system. Unlike a delay in minutes, here you don't need to calculate the waiting time. Just specify the date and time after which the automation will continue.

Select Automation delay (date and time).

In the Delay (date and time) field, enter the date and time after which the automation should continue.

You can use:

• a fixed date;
• data from previous steps. Expected format

Y-M-D H:M:S

Example: 2026-07-01 10:00:00

If the message should be sent on July 1, 2026 at 10:00, enter

2026-07-01 10:00:00

If the task should appear on December 31, 2026 at 23:59, enter

2026-12-31 23:59:59

Instead of a fixed date, you can pass a value from your CRM, a form, or another app. For example, if the previous step passes the value 2026-09-15 14:30:00, Albato will wait for that date and time to arrive and then resume the automation.

Automation delay (by schedule)

Use this mode when you want an automation to wait until a specific day or time before continuing.

If data arrives during the delay period, it isn't lost. Albato saves it, pauses the automation, and automatically resumes the remaining steps when the scheduled time comes.

Available schedule options:

• Every day;
• Weekdays;
• Days of the month;
• Specific date.

Use Every day if the delay should apply at the same time every day. For example, you can pause data processing every night from 22:00 to 09:00.

Use Weekdays to set a schedule separately for each day of the week.

For example:

• process requests on business days only;
• pause work on weekends;
• use different intervals for different days.

Use Days of the month to select specific days of each month.

For example:

• the first day of the month;
• reporting close days;
• holidays;
• maintenance dates.

Use Specific date to select individual dates. This option is useful for vacations and one-off restrictions.

Example: Don't process requests on weekends

Suppose the sales team works on business days only. Requests that arrive on weekends should be processed on Monday.

If a request arrives on Saturday or Sunday, the data is saved, the automation is paused, and once the delay period ends, the request continues processing automatically.

This scenario is especially useful for webhook triggers that can't resend data later.

Example: Don't send notifications at night

Suppose clients shouldn't receive messages at night.

If an event happens at 23:30, the message won't be sent right away. It stays pending and is sent once the delay period ends.

Example: Pause processing on holidays

If data arrives on a selected day, it is saved and processed automatically once the delay period ends.

Example: Don't run the automation on reporting close days

Some companies temporarily stop sending data to financial systems on certain days of the month.

If data arrives on a selected day, it waits for the delay period to end and continues processing automatically later.

How a scheduled delay differs from a filter

A filter checks a condition and can stop an automation.

The Automation Delay works differently. Instead of stopping the automation, it saves the data, pauses the execution for the specified time, and then automatically continues with the following steps.

This makes it a great choice when you don't want to lose incoming data but simply need to process it later.

How to send an email a set time after a customer makes a purchase

Imagine a scenario where your customer has completed a purchase in your ecommerce store. You can use the purchase completed or order created trigger to identify this event.

To better understand the customer's purchase experience, you can send an email after a certain amount of time asking for a satisfaction survey, for example.

If that email went out immediately, the message could get mixed up and lost among other informational emails, such as purchase confirmations, delivery updates, or similar notifications.

Here is how to configure this type of delay in your automation using the Automation delay tool.

Start by adding the trigger you need.

Then add the Automation delay step.

Select the delay in minutes.

Now define how many minutes the automation should wait before it runs the next step. In our example we set a 60-minute delay, which is one hour.

Finally, add the email sending step with the information you prefer, mapped the same way you would in any other Albato automation.

You can reuse this same workflow logic to send Telegram messages, Meta-approved WhatsApp templates, or messages through other apps instead of email. Just select the app you need.

Now you can control exactly when the next steps of your automation run. If you have any questions, contact our support team through the chat in your Albato account.

Summary

The Automation delay tool lets you control the timing of an automation and choose one of three ways to delay it:

• for a fixed number of minutes;
• until a specific date and time;
• according to a defined schedule.

Use the option that fits your scenario to run actions exactly when needed, without losing incoming data.