Inquiring About Delay Functionality in Clay Tables

Isaac Smith · 2025-07-24 16:54:26.806678+00

Question, does Clay have a "delay" function for within a table? I'm trying to push data somewhere but one of the first steps creates the object through an API and needs about 30 sections to complete. Is there a pause/delay function i can call?

Inquiring About Delay Functionality in Clay Tables | Clay

15 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Clay
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Clay has rate limiting controls in HTTP API integrations that can help manage timing. You can set a Request Limit and Duration (in ms) to control how many API requests are sent within a time frame. For external workflows, Google Apps Script offers Utilities.sleep() to add delays between rows when sending data to Clay via webhook. However, Clay doesn't have a built-in "delay" or "pause" function within tables to wait for API object creation to complete before proceeding to the next step.
Sources: HTTP API integration overview | Documentation | Clay University Send Data from Google Sheets to Clay Using a Webhook
Isaac Smith
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No, I want to the rest of the steps in the table to pause before the table finishes running
Isaac Smith
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I need to delay for 30 seconds after the first API call https://app.clay.com/workspaces/149722/workbooks/wb_0sz5ih1JihCfSxCGxcK/tables/t_0szb0ynS22qCzazkyFN/views/gv_j83Yz32i5u9a
Luca Prando (Clay)
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Hi Isaac, thanks for reaching out to support!
Let me take a quick look at your table here to see what is going on
Isaac Smith
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It's not breaking, I just need to add a short delay between steps
Luca Prando (Clay)
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Hi, It sounds like adding a delay between columns could be helpful here. You can set this up using an HTTP API call with Postman’s delay endpoint: Endpoint: [https://postman-echo.com/delay/{delayInSeconds}](https://postman-echo.com/delay/{delayInSeconds}) Method: GET Here’s how it works: ** You can insert a delay column that runs conditionally after your first column completes. ** This introduces a 10-second delay before triggering the next step. ** Once the delay is in place, you can conditionally run your second column. Just a heads-up — each delay column can only introduce up to *10 seconds of delay. So, if you need a longer pause, you’ll need to stack multiple delay columns to achieve the total delay you’re aiming for.
Isaac Smith
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awesome, that would do it
Luca Prando (Clay)
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Hi, I'm glad everything worked out! I'll go ahead and close out this ticket now, but don't hesitate to reach out again if you need any help in the future.
Isaac Smith
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that didn't seem to work
Isaac Smith
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I ran this and it returned immediately this
Luca Prando (Clay)
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As aforementioned, the maximum number of seconds available on this delay action is 10 seconds. I suggest creating three separate API calls to cause this delay to be 30 seconds.
Isaac Smith
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oooh
Isaac Smith
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ok, I can work with that
Isaac Smith
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but I actually need about a minute and a half so maybe that's not the best solution
Luca Prando (Clay)
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Unfortunately this is the best solution that we can offer right now, but we are actively working to improve this aspect, so your feedback is very much appreciated!

Clay
APP
·
·
Clay has rate limiting controls in HTTP API integrations that can help manage timing. You can set a Request Limit and Duration (in ms) to control how many API requests are sent within a time frame. For external workflows, Google Apps Script offers Utilities.sleep() to add delays between rows when sending data to Clay via webhook. However, Clay doesn't have a built-in "delay" or "pause" function within tables to wait for API object creation to complete before proceeding to the next step.
Sources: HTTP API integration overview | Documentation | Clay University Send Data from Google Sheets to Clay Using a Webhook
Isaac Smith
·
·
No, I want to the rest of the steps in the table to pause before the table finishes running
Isaac Smith
·
·
I need to delay for 30 seconds after the first API call https://app.clay.com/workspaces/149722/workbooks/wb_0sz5ih1JihCfSxCGxcK/tables/t_0szb0ynS22qCzazkyFN/views/gv_j83Yz32i5u9a
Luca Prando (Clay)
·
·
Hi Isaac, thanks for reaching out to support!
Let me take a quick look at your table here to see what is going on
Isaac Smith
·
·
It's not breaking, I just need to add a short delay between steps
Luca Prando (Clay)
·
·
Hi, It sounds like adding a delay between columns could be helpful here. You can set this up using an HTTP API call with Postman’s delay endpoint: Endpoint: [https://postman-echo.com/delay/{delayInSeconds}](https://postman-echo.com/delay/{delayInSeconds}) Method: GET Here’s how it works: ** You can insert a delay column that runs conditionally after your first column completes. ** This introduces a 10-second delay before triggering the next step. ** Once the delay is in place, you can conditionally run your second column. Just a heads-up — each delay column can only introduce up to *10 seconds of delay. So, if you need a longer pause, you’ll need to stack multiple delay columns to achieve the total delay you’re aiming for.
Isaac Smith
·
·
awesome, that would do it
Luca Prando (Clay)
·
·
Hi, I'm glad everything worked out! I'll go ahead and close out this ticket now, but don't hesitate to reach out again if you need any help in the future.
Isaac Smith
·
·
that didn't seem to work
Isaac Smith
·
·
I ran this and it returned immediately this
Luca Prando (Clay)
·
·
As aforementioned, the maximum number of seconds available on this delay action is 10 seconds. I suggest creating three separate API calls to cause this delay to be 30 seconds.
Isaac Smith
·
·
oooh
Isaac Smith
·
·
ok, I can work with that
Isaac Smith
·
·
but I actually need about a minute and a half so maybe that's not the best solution
Luca Prando (Clay)
·
·
Unfortunately this is the best solution that we can offer right now, but we are actively working to improve this aspect, so your feedback is very much appreciated!