Function.InvokeAfter

Function

Returns the result of invoking a function after a specified duration delay has passed.

Syntax

Function.InvokeAfter(function as function, delay as duration) as any

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`function`	`function`	Yes	A zero-argument function to invoke after the delay.
`delay`	`duration`	Yes	The duration to wait before invoking the function.

Return Value

any — The result of invoking the function after the specified delay.

Remarks

Function.InvokeAfter pauses execution for the specified delay duration, then invokes the provided zero-argument function and returns its result. This is useful for introducing deliberate delays into query execution.

### Common use cases

API rate limiting — adding a delay between paginated API calls to avoid hitting rate limits.
Retry patterns — waiting before retrying a failed operation.
Testing and debugging — simulating slow data sources.

The delay parameter is a standard M duration value. For example:

#duration(0, 0, 0, 5) — 5 seconds
#duration(0, 0, 1, 0) — 1 minute
#duration(0, 0, 0, 0.5) — 500 milliseconds

Note that the delay blocks the query evaluation thread. Use with care in production scenarios, as excessive delays will slow down refresh times.

Examples

Example 1: Invoke a function after a 5-second delay

let
    Result = Function.InvokeAfter(
        () => DateTime.LocalNow(),
        #duration(0, 0, 0, 5)
    )
in
    #table({"Invoked At"}, {{Result}})

Example 2: Simulate rate limiting between API pages

let
    DelayedCall = Function.InvokeAfter(
        () => "Page loaded after delay",
        #duration(0, 0, 0, 1)
    )
in
    #table({"Result"}, {{DelayedCall}})

Compatibility

✓ Power BI Desktop✓ Power BI Service✓ Excel Desktop✓ Excel Online✓ Dataflows✓ Fabric Notebooks