> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nika.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# nika:wait

> Usage, declared contract and source links for this Nika builtin.

export const Ecosystem = () => <CardGroup cols={3}>
    <Card title="Documentation" icon="book" href="/introduction">
      Guides, reference contracts and working examples.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Nika Lab" icon="diagram-project" href="https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika-lab">
      Internal workspace and graph projections of the spec, documentation and code.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Language spec" icon="file-contract" href="https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika-spec">
      the nine-key envelope, Apache-2.0. The contract these docs explain.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Engine source" icon="gem" href="https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika">
      Rust, AGPL-3.0-or-later. Every commit public.
    </Card>
    <Card title="TypeScript SDK" icon="code" href="/sdk/overview">
      Use one typed lifecycle locally or against authenticated nika serve HTTP.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Editor extension" icon="puzzle-piece" href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=supernovae.nika-lang">
      VS Code · Cursor · Windsurf: check-as-you-type, DAG view, trace replay.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Homebrew tap" icon="beer-mug-empty" href="https://github.com/supernovae-st/homebrew-tap">
      `brew install supernovae-st/tap/nika` for the latest tagged CLI release.
    </Card>
    <Card title="SuperNovae" icon="star" href="https://supernovae.studio">
      The Paris studio crafting Nika. 🦋
    </Card>
  </CardGroup>;

[Builtins catalog](/reference/builtins) / `nika:wait`

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Core" icon="layer-group">Tool family from the canonical registry.</Card>
  <Card title="invoke" icon="code" href="/reference/language/words/invoke">Call this builtin through the invoke verb.</Card>
</CardGroup>

## Read this contract

This reference preserves the specification at the revision linked below. Source examples are **fragments**: their surrounding tasks, inputs and permissions are not supplied here. Consult [engine status](/reference/status) and `nika catalog --tools --json` for the installed implementation; a registry declaration is not a runtime qualification.

## Usage and behavior

```yaml illustration theme={"system"}
invoke:
  tool: "nika:wait"
  args:
    duration: "5s"                  # RELATIVE · Go-duration string ("500ms"/"30s"/"5m"/"1h30m")
    # OR (mutually exclusive · exactly-one-of) ·
    until: "2026-05-23T09:00:00Z"   # ABSOLUTE · ISO 8601 timestamp · MAY be CEL expression
    timeout: "1h"                   # OPTIONAL · cap for absolute wait (until: only)
```

Temporal pause · ONE builtin · 2 modes (relative `duration:` XOR absolute `until:` · exactly-one-of validated at parse time).

Replaces · legacy `nika:sleep` (relative-only) + `nika:wait_until` (absolute-only · cut per ADR-087 Rams sweep · 2026-05-27). Same family · same trust class (PURE) · same temporal-control semantics · the unified surface preserves both behaviors via mode arg.

Throws · `NIKA-BUILTIN-WAIT-001` on absolute timeout · `-002` if the timestamp is in the past · `-003` if neither `duration:` nor `until:` set (or both set).

***

## Related concepts

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Arguments" icon="sliders" href="/reference/language/words/args">Pass the values required by the tool contract.</Card>
  <Card title="Permissions" icon="shield" href="/concepts/security">Understand authority before granting effects.</Card>
  <Card title="Errors and recovery" icon="rotate" href="/reference/error-codes">Read diagnostics and choose a recovery policy.</Card>
  <Card title="Workflow templates" icon="file-code" href="/guides/templates">Put the fragment inside a complete workflow.</Card>
</CardGroup>

## Contract provenance

[Read the pinned specification](https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika-spec/blob/f8c5df2127c7867b2e51a2cd5712fa9d8461e73e/stdlib/builtins-v0.1.md#L121) · [Canonical registry](https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika-spec/blob/f8c5df2127c7867b2e51a2cd5712fa9d8461e73e/canon/builtins.yaml).

Tool identity: `nika:wait`. Specification revision: `f8c5df2127c7`.
The Lab language identity is `language:tool:wait`; the registry view is `ecosystem:tool/nika:wait`. They refer to this contract without merging their graph identities.

<Ecosystem />