Step Sleep (`:sleep`)

Quick Answer

Use :sleep to pause a flow without blocking workers.

Provide exactly one duration field: :seconds, :millis, or :duration.

Use :sleep for fixed in-run delays such as deployment-lag buffers, polling
gaps, or rate-limit spacing. Do not use :wait as a timer; waits are for
external signals, webhooks, CLI actions, or human actions.

Canonical Shape

Field	Type	Required	Notes
`:type`	keyword	Yes	Must be `:sleep`
`:seconds`	int	One-of	Integer seconds
`:millis`	int	One-of	Integer milliseconds
`:duration`	string	One-of	Duration string (for example `"5m"`, `"2h"`, `"1d"`)
`:timeout`	int	No	Common step timeout option
`:retry`	map	No	Common step retry option

Limits And Behavior

Exactly one of :seconds, :millis, or :duration can be set.
If none is set, sleep defaults to 1 second.
Maximum duration is constrained by the workflow max-duration limit.
In Temporal-backed runs, :sleep uses a workflow timer and is still captured
as a normal step for run inspection.

Result Shape

{:slept-seconds 30}

Canonical Example

{:functions [{:id :retry-delay
              :language :clojure
              :code "(fn [input]\n                       {:seconds (min 300 (max 1 (* 5 (or (:attempt input) 1))))})"}]
 :flow
 '(let [delay (flow/step :function :compute-delay
                 {:ref :retry-delay
                  :input (flow/input)})]
    (flow/step :sleep :backoff
      {:seconds (:seconds delay)}))}