SharePoint Online - Wait for event in list item

Use the SharePoint Online - Wait for event in list item action A tool for building the processes, logic, and direction within workflows. Actions are the steps the workflow performs to complete a process. to pause a workflow until a selected event occurs in the specified SharePoint Online list. The workflow pauses and resumes only when the event occurs. You can add conditions to specify a particular item or field that has to be updated or added for the workflow to resume.

For more information about the SharePoint Online connector, go to SharePoint Online.

Before you begin: 

Jump to:

Configure the SharePoint Online - Wait for event in list item action

  1. Add the action to the designer canvas and open the action configuration panel. For more information, see Add an action to the workflow.

  2. Select the Event that has to happen for the workflow to resume.

  3. Select a SharePoint Online Connection. If you do not have a connection, see Add a connection.

    4. Note: Only the connections created with the List and libraries authentication method are available in the drop-down. For more information about authentication methods for SharePoint Online connections, see Authentication methods for SharePoint Online connections.

  4. Type a SharePoint site URL.

    Example:https://domain.sharepoint.com/sites/hr

  5. Click Retrieve lists to retrieve the lists from the SharePoint site.

  6. Select the List name.

SharePoint Online - Wait for event in list item action fields and settings

Section

 Field Description Variable types
(unlabeled) Event

The event that should occur in the specified list for the workflow to resume. Select from one of these options:

  • New list item: The workflow pauses and waits until a new item is added to the list. The workflow resumes only when this event occurs.

  • Update list item: The workflow pauses and waits until an item in the list is updated. The workflow resumes only when this event occurs.

  • Update or new list item: The workflow pauses and waits until a new item is added to the list or an existing item in the list is updated. The workflow resumes only when one of these events occur.

 Text, Decimal, Integer, Boolean, DateTime, Collection
(unlabeled)

Connection Credentials and other settings that enables workflows to communicate with external systems, services, or applications. It's required to pass data between the workflow and the indicated service, which could be a cloud service, business application, or content store.

The SharePoint Online connection for the SharePoint Online site that you want to access.

To refresh the available connections , click .

 (n/a)
List item

SharePoint site URL

The URL of the SharePoint Online site that has the list or document library you want to use.

To retrieve the lists for the SharePoint site URL, type the SharePoint site URL and click Retrieve lists.

Example: https://domain.sharepoint.com/sites/hr

Text, Decimal, Integer, Boolean, DateTime, Collection
 

List name

The list that the event should happen in for the workflow to resume.

The values in the drop-down list is limited to lists and document libraries within the site specified in the SharePoint site URL field.

Text, Decimal, Integer, Boolean, DateTime, Collection
Conditions Add conditions/Edit conditions

Add conditions if you want to specify which item in the list has to be updated or added for the workflow to resume.

Displays the Condition builder to define new conditions or edit existing conditions.

  • Add conditions: Displayed when there are no existing conditions specified for the action.

  • Edit conditions: Displayed when there are existing conditions set for the action. You can edit the conditions.

The Condition builder supports nested conditions, enabling you to create conditions within another condition.

(n/a)
Condition builder When

Displays the items from the Column field of the selected list.

Note: 

The following columns are not supported:

  • Calculated

  • Hyperlink

  • Managed metadata

  • Multiple lines of text

  • Date and time

 Text, Decimal, Integer, Boolean, DateTime, Collection
  Operator

How the item from the When drop-down and Value are compared. Select from the drop-down.

The operators available in the drop-down depend on the data type of the item selected from the When drop-down.

 (n/a)
  Value

The value you are expecting in the column (field) specified for When.

The data type of Value must match the data type of the item selected in the When drop-down.

 (varies)
  Add

Adds a new condition. When adding a new condition you have to select the level of the condition.

Select Nested condition to nest the new condition within the condition above it.

(n/a)
  And/Or

The connecting operator to use for the conditions. If you select:

And: The workflow resumes when the item that is added matches all the conditions.

Or: The workflow resumes when the item that is added matches any one of the conditions.

 (n/a)
  Edit

Displays the following options menu for a condition. The following options are available:

  • Promote: Promotes the condition to a higher level. Promote option is shown if the condition is nested within another condition and allows you to move it to a higher level.

  • Demote: Demotes the condition to a lowel level. If you demote a condition it is moved to a lower level making it nested within the condition immediately above it.

  • Delete: Deletes the selected condition.

 (n/a)
Output Result

Stores the result of the action as an object with multiple variables.

Object

Best practices when using SharePoint Online - Wait for event in list item action in parallel branches

When using the SharePoint Online - Wait for event in list item action in parallel branches, carefully design the workflow to ensure efficient event handling and prevent unnecessary event subscriptions.

Avoid placing multiple wait actions for the same SharePoint list item inside parallel branches.

Instead, use a single wait action with combined conditions using nested OR logic. This allows the workflow to respond to multiple possible outcomes within a single action instead of splitting the logic across multiple branches.

Impact of multiple wait actions in parallel branches

Each wait action creates its own SharePoint event subscription.

When multiple wait actions are used within parallel branches, separate event subscriptions remain active until the workflow completes, even after one branch condition has already been met.

Over time, this can result in too many active subscriptions and may reach SharePoint event subscription limits or Nintex event evaluation limits. For more information, see Maximum number of event evaluations.

Recommended configuration

  1. To handle multiple possible outcomes for the same list item, use one SharePoint Online - Wait for event in list item action.

  2. Configure all required conditions within the same action using OR logic in the Condition builder. For example, (FieldA = Pass) OR (FieldA = Fail) OR (Status changes).

    Where required, you can apply AND conditions to further refine the event criteria.