# Delay windows

URL: /agents/autonomy-levels/delay-windows · Id: `page:agents/autonomy-levels/delay-windows`

> A delay window is the time a reviewed one-way Action waits before it runs, so someone can step in; if nobody does, it proceeds.

A delay window is the time a reviewed one-way [Action](/business/nouns/action) waits before it runs. Anyone watching can step in while it waits; if nobody does, the Action proceeds.

## A window is not an approval
| | Delay window | [Approval](/business/nouns/approval) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Opens when | A one-way Action passes review. | An Action exceeds a [Limit](/business/nouns/limit). |
| Needs a yes | No. | Yes. |
| When time runs out | The Action runs. | The Action ends `canceled`. |
| Shows up as | A pending item in the inbox and the stream. | A [Task](/business/nouns/task). |

Approvals and the legal floor are the only gates. A window adds a chance to intervene and never waits for anyone.

## Lengths and the clock
| Tier | Window |
| --- | --- |
| Low | None: the Action runs after review. |
| Medium | 1 business hour |
| High | 1 business day |

The [decision class](/agents/autonomy-levels/decision-classes) of the Action's [Verb](/business/nouns/verb) sets its tier. Windows count business hours on the namespace's calendar, holidays included. A high-tier price change queued at 16:00 before a weekend runs at 16:00 on the next business day.

While it waits, the Action is `pending` with the reason `awaitingTime`. The window's [Setting](/business/nouns/setting) says when it closes, and any watcher may pause, redirect or cancel it until then.

```json
{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/freightrates.dev/actions/action_7",
  "operation": "Offer.update",
  "status": "pending",
  "reason": "awaitingTime",
  "mode": "send",
  "by": "https://api.sb/freightrates.dev/agents/pricing"
}
```

## Settings that only tighten
Windows are [Settings](/business/nouns/setting) held at the [Studio](/business/nouns/studio), a [Portfolio](/business/nouns/portfolio) or a [Startup](/business/nouns/startup), and they inherit down the tree. A child may lengthen a window or raise a Verb's class. It never shortens one or lowers a class.

A [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate) carries its own window for sends made in a person's name. An agent sending as its founder follows that window, or the Mandate's approval rule when it has one.

## What never waits
[Review](/business/nouns/review) runs before the window opens, never in place of it. Two-way, low-tier Actions run the moment review passes.

Stopping is always immediate. A guardrail stop, a brake, a pause and a revoked Mandate take effect at once, with no window of their own.

## In practice
A [Dataset API](/products/templates/dataset-api) sells freight rates to buying agents. At 15:00 one afternoon, its [Product Lead](/agents/product/product-lead) raises the per-call [Price](/business/nouns/price) by 20 percent, a high-tier change. The founder's personal agent reads it that evening, finds nothing wrong, and the change runs at 15:00 the next business day.

The same afternoon, a $40 refund waits one business hour and goes out. Nobody approved either Action.