Delay

How to Use the “Delay” Function in Botassium Automations

When building automation flows, sometimes you need to pause briefly between steps—to create a more natural user experience, avoid overwhelming messages, or simulate human-like timing. The “Delay” function in Botassium lets you do exactly that by introducing a timed pause before continuing to the next node.

This guide explains how to configure and use the delay node effectively in your automation.

What is the “Delay” Function?

The Delay node is a utility function that pauses the flow for a specific number of seconds before continuing to the next connected action or condition.

It’s commonly used to:

• Prevent back-to-back messages from being sent too quickly

• Space out content in a conversational experience

• Mimic natural response timing

• Avoid hitting rate limits when looping or broadcasting through automations

How to Set It Up

1. Add the “Delay” Node to Your Flow
   In the Automations builder, drag the Delay node into your flow between any two steps where you want to introduce a pause.

2. Enter the Delay Duration
   Provide a number in seconds to define how long the automation should wait before continuing.
   Example: 3 will pause the flow for 3 seconds.

The value must be a positive integer. There are no upper limits, but practical delays typically range between 1–10 seconds for real-time chats.

Example Use Case

You want to follow up a welcome message with a product offer, but don’t want both messages to appear instantly:

1. First node: Reply to Chat — “Welcome to our service!”

2. Second node: Delay — 3 seconds

3. Third node: Reply to Chat — “Here’s a quick look at our top products.”

This creates a smoother, more conversational feel that mimics a human interaction.

The Delay function is supported in all WhatsApp automation flows, and is especially useful in multi-step conversations, delayed responses, message pacing, and interaction design that requires more control over timing.