Schedule Builder
The schedule builder defines a date or time relative to workflow data. It can calculate one future time, such as a form due date, or a repeating series, such as a scheduled start or reminder.
It is used by:
- Scheduled start triggers
- Delay
- Repeat Flow
- Form due dates
- Form reminders and late notifications
Core concepts
Schedule settings can include:
- Anchor: The date or datetime used as the starting point.
- Reference: Optional second date or datetime, used by schedule contexts that need another comparison point.
- Relation: Whether the result is before or after the anchor.
- Mode: Simple or Advanced.
- Timezone: Workspace timezone, one fixed timezone, or recipient timezone where notifications allow it.
- Business rules: Workspace business-hours presets or business hours configured directly for this schedule.
- Exclusion calendars: Workspace calendars or process-specific calendars configured directly for this schedule.
- Simulation: Preview of upcoming or resolved schedule times.
Anchors and relations
The anchor is the schedule's starting point. Different nodes provide different useful anchors:
- Scheduled starts use the previous run in the trigger sequence as the next anchor.
- Delay nodes usually anchor to the Delay node's start time, but can use an upstream date or datetime variable.
- Form due dates can anchor to process data such as execution start, a prior form date, or the current node start time.
- Reminders can anchor to due dates or other date variables.
Relation controls direction:
- After: Adds time after the anchor.
- Before: Calculates time before the anchor.
Examples:
| Goal | Anchor | Relation | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Due 2 days after a request is made | Request submitted date | After | 2 days |
| Remind 1 day before due date | Form due date | Before | 1 day |
| Wait 4 business hours after review | Review step completed time | After | 4 hours, business time |
Business rules and calendars
Business rules and calendars can come from the workspace or from the specific schedule you are editing.
Workspace configuration:
- Workspace Business Hours are reusable presets managed in workspace settings.
- Workspace Exclusion Calendars are reusable blackout calendars for holidays, shutdowns, and non-working dates.
- Use workspace configuration when the rule should be consistent across many processes or many nodes.
Node-specific configuration:
- Custom Business Hours can be configured directly inside the schedule builder for that node.
- Process Exclusion Calendars can be added directly inside the schedule builder for that schedule.
- Use node-specific configuration when a single step has special hours, local blackout dates, or process-only exceptions that should not affect the rest of the workspace.
Business rules appear when a schedule uses a business-aware time mode, such as Business Hours, Business time, or Wall, then pin. Calendar exclusions are useful whenever calculated dates should avoid holidays, shutdowns, or other blocked days.
Examples:
| Need | Recommended configuration |
|---|---|
| All compliance reviews use company holidays | Workspace Exclusion Calendar |
| One plant has a shutdown for this process | Process Exclusion Calendar on that node |
| Most workflows use 9 AM to 5 PM weekdays | Workspace Business Hours preset |
| One reminder should use a special weekend support schedule | Custom Business Hours on that reminder schedule |
Simple mode
Simple mode creates one offset from the starting point.
Options:
- Time type: Wall Clock or Business Hours.
- Duration: Months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes.
Wall Clock counts elapsed time normally. Business Hours counts only open working time when business rules are configured.
Use simple mode for straightforward waits such as 2 days after submission, 4 business hours after assignment, or 1 month before a due date.
Examples:
| Goal | Settings |
|---|---|
| Wait 2 calendar days | Simple, Wall Clock, 2 days after the anchor |
| Wait 4 working hours | Simple, Business Hours, 4 hours after the anchor |
| Due 1 month after submission | Simple, Wall Clock, 1 month after the submitted date |
| Reminder 30 minutes before due date | Simple, Wall Clock, 30 minutes before the due-date anchor |
Advanced mode
Advanced mode supports multiple steps. Each step starts from the current result, the original anchor, or a reference date.
Step types:
- Offset: Adds time.
- Seek: Jumps to a matching date or time.
Offset modes:
- Wall clock: Adds time while ignoring business hours.
- Business time: Accumulates only open business time.
- Wall, then pin: Adds wall time, then snaps to the next open business window.
Offset units:
- Years
- Quarters
- Months
- Weeks
- Days
- Hours
- Minutes
Seek modes:
- Weekly rule: Jumps to the next matching weekday and time. It can repeat every N weeks.
- First of next month/quarter/year: Jumps to the first day of the next selected unit at the chosen time.
Advanced mode also exposes:
- Exclusion Strategy:
Next Valid,Previous Valid, orSkipwhen a calculated date lands on an excluded date. - Weekends: Which weekdays count as weekend days for advanced calculations.
- Workspace Exclusion Calendars: Saved workspace blackout calendars.
- Process Exclusion Calendars: Blackout dates defined only for this schedule.
Use advanced mode for schedules like next Monday at 9:00 AM, first day of next quarter, 5 business days then next open window, or rules that need holidays and shutdown dates.
Examples:
| Goal | Advanced setup |
|---|---|
| Next Monday at 9:00 AM | Seek, Weekly rule, Monday, 9:00 AM |
| Every other Friday at 3:00 PM | Seek, Weekly rule, Friday, 3:00 PM, every 2 weeks |
| First day of next month at 8:00 AM | Seek, First of next, Month, 8:00 AM |
| First day of next quarter at 8:00 AM | Seek, First of next, Quarter, quarter start month, 8:00 AM |
| Add 3 business days and avoid holidays | Offset, Business time, 3 days, workspace or process calendars |
| Add 1 week, then move to next open window | Offset, Wall, then pin, 1 week, business rules configured |
Trigger builder
Scheduled starts, Repeat Flow, and repeating reminders use a trigger builder around the schedule builder.
Trigger settings:
- Trigger Name: Shown for scheduled start trigger segments.
- Interval: The schedule used to calculate the next run. Each run becomes the anchor for the next run in that trigger sequence.
- Repeat Until: Stop condition for the trigger segment.
Stop conditions:
- Indefinitely: Keep running without an end. This is available for scheduled start triggers.
- End Date: Stop after a static date/time. In reminder repeat contexts, the end date can also come from a workflow variable.
- Relative Time: Stop once the next run would go past a relative schedule calculated from the original anchor.
- Max Runs: Stop after a maximum number of runs. In reminder repeat contexts, max runs can also come from a workflow variable.
Repeat Flow is intentionally bounded. It uses End Date, Relative Time, or Max Runs and does not expose Indefinitely.
Examples:
| Goal | Trigger setup |
|---|---|
| Start a process every Monday morning | Interval seeks Monday at 9:00 AM; Repeat Until is Indefinitely |
| Run monthly compliance review 12 times | Monthly interval; Repeat Until Max Runs 12 |
| Send reminder every business day until due date | Business-day interval; Repeat Until End Date or dynamic due-date variable |
| Repeat a check for two weeks | Interval for the check cadence; Repeat Until Relative Time 2 weeks |
Form due dates and reminders
Form nodes use the schedule builder in two places:
- Due At: A static date/time or a dynamic schedule based on process variables.
- Reminders and Late notifications: One or more notification events sent to selected recipients.
Reminder settings:
- Recipients: Users, teams, external emails, or compatible variables.
- Reminder Type: Reminder or Late.
- Send At: Schedule for the first notification. Recipient timezone is available here.
- Repeat notification: Optional repeat trigger for additional sends.
Reminder simulation is disabled when a repeat trigger uses a variable-driven end date or variable-driven max runs because those values resolve from the live execution.
Examples:
| Goal | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Form due 2 business days after assignment | Due At dynamic schedule, Simple, Business Hours, 2 days after node start |
| Form due at a fixed year-end date | Due At static date/time |
| Reminder 1 day before the form is due | Reminder Send At schedule, 1 day before due-date anchor |
| Late notice when due date passes | Late notification using a schedule anchored to the due date |
| Repeat reminder every 4 business hours | Reminder with repeat notification, interval 4 business hours |
Delay examples
Use Delay when the workflow itself should wait before continuing.
Examples:
| Goal | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Pause for 24 calendar hours | Simple, Wall Clock, 24 hours after Delay node start |
| Wait until the next business morning | Advanced seek to the next matching weekday/time with business rules |
| Wait 2 business days after an upstream date | Anchor to the upstream date, Simple, Business Hours, 2 days after |
| Avoid company holidays before continuing | Add workspace or process exclusion calendars to the schedule |
Choosing the right mode
Use Simple mode when the rule is one offset from one date.
Use Advanced mode when the rule needs:
- a named weekday and time
- first day of next month, quarter, or year
- multiple steps
- special weekend handling
- exclusion strategy when dates land on blocked days
- wall time followed by pinning to business hours
Use a workspace business-hours preset or workspace calendar when the policy is shared. Use custom business hours or process calendars when only one node needs the exception.