# Chat Delay Action

This action will delay chat flow by a given amount of seconds. A typing indicator can be enabled to give the end user the feeling of someone typing on the chatbot end.

![](/files/-LevsnnrX-BypUm4lZfE)

### Settings

The action uses the following settings:

| Setting               | Description                                                        | [Parsed](/actions-and-operations/dynamic-parsing.md) |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Chat Delay            | The amount of seconds that MyLINK Connect will wait on this action | :white\_check\_mark:                                 |
| Show Typing Indicator | Show or hide a typing indicator on your chatbot channel            | :no\_entry:                                          |

### Remarks

You do not need to use this action to simulate typing of standard text: MyLINK Connect already implements a chatbot wide typing [simulation mechanism](/basic-concepts/chatbot-details/chatbot-settings/general.md#enable-type-speed). Use this delay to simulate additional, processing related delay.

{% hint style="warning" %}
The chat delay applied should not be used to simulate a long process happening. On multiple platforms, a chat delay of more than 10 seconds will automatically hide the typing indicator and look like the chatbot has gone silent.\
To simulate an asynchronous operation please refer to [broadcasts ](/broadcasts/scheduling.md)or [behaviors scheduling](/actions-and-operations/flow/xenioo.bots.actions.base.schedulebehaviouraction.md).
{% endhint %}

### Trigger

This action has no triggers.

### Variables

This action does not produce any variable.

### Availability

Channel specific availability follows the table below:

| Channel          | Availability                                                                                      |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Facebook         | Fully Available. Messenger typing indicator will timeout and hide automatically after 20 seconds. |
| WhatsApp         | Delay Only. No typing indicator.                                                                  |
| Telegram         | Fully Available                                                                                   |
| Web              | Fully Available                                                                                   |
| Alexa            | Not Supported.                                                                                    |
| Google Assistant | Delay Only. No typing indicator.                                                                  |
| Slack            | Delay Only. No typing indicator.                                                                  |
| API              | Not Supported.                                                                                    |

This action can be used only inside interactions and not as child of other actions. 


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.mylinkconnect.com/actions-and-operations/content/xenioo.bots.actions.base.delayaction.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.