# 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.

![](https://2532694803-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LdPD9c4fJbXSAZcPHt9%2F-Levrl5M1TZZaeI-L3U_%2F-LevsnnrX-BypUm4lZfE%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=c34340c1-f565-4982-98c8-eaf0b7f21d98)

### Settings

The action uses the following settings:

| Setting               | Description                                                | [Parsed](https://docs.xenioo.com/actions-and-operations/dynamic-parsing) |
| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Chat Delay            | The amount of seconds that Xenioo 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: Xenioo already implements a chatbot wide typing [simulation mechanism](https://docs.xenioo.com/basic-concepts/chatbot-details/chatbot-settings/general#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 ](https://docs.xenioo.com/broadcast/scheduling)or [behaviors scheduling](https://docs.xenioo.com/actions-and-operations/flow/xenioo.bots.actions.base.schedulebehaviouraction).
{% 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.