---
title: Configurable Delay in Scheduled Pipelines
description: Delay scheduled pipeline execution in OpenObserve to ensure data completeness by waiting minutes after the trigger time before processing data.
---

This guide explains how to use the configurable delay feature for [scheduled pipelines](create-and-use-scheduled-pipeline.md).
This feature allows you to delay the execution of a scheduled pipeline by a set number of minutes after its scheduled start time. This is useful to ensure data completeness and accommodate late-arriving events before the pipeline runs.

## How to configure delay

When editing the **Associate Query** page:

1. In the **Set Variables** section, add **Delay**. Delay defines how many minutes the system waits after the scheduled trigger time. The pipeline runs only after this waiting period completes.
![configurable-delay](../../../images/scheduled-pipeline-config-delay.png)

2. Select **Validate and Close**.

:::note[Note]
Since Delay is a required field when setting up a scheduled pipeline, enter 0 minutes if you want the pipeline to run exactly at the scheduled time without any delay.
:::

:::note[Example]

If the pipeline is configured with the following settings:

- Frequency: 5 minutes  
- Period: 5 minutes  
- Delay: 2 minutes

**Behavior:** The pipeline is scheduled every 5 minutes and runs 2 minutes after each scheduled time, processing data from the previous 5-minute window.  
At 10:00 AM (scheduled time), the pipeline executes at 10:02 AM, processing data from 9:55 AM to 10:00 AM.

**Note**

- **Works with Cron**: Delay also applies when using cron-based schedules.  
- **Data Window Unchanged**: Delay only affects when execution starts. It does not change the data range.
:::

## Related links
- [Pipelines in OpenObserve](index.md)
- [Create and Use Real-time Pipeline](create-and-use-real-time-pipeline.md)
- [Create and Use Scheduled Pipeline](create-and-use-scheduled-pipeline.md)
- [Manage Pipelines](manage-pipelines.md)