The Time range, Day and Business hours rules — which time zone they use, ranges that cross midnight, and how they relate to the business hours setting.
You do not want to answer a message that arrives at two in the morning with "We're calling you right now", and saying "We're in the shop today" on a Sunday is not right either. Time conditions let the flow ask the clock and the calendar, so the same automation behaves differently at noon on a weekday and late on a Saturday. This article covers three rules: Time range, and .
Day
Business hours
💡 All three are calculated in the account's time zone, not your phone's. The account's time zone is chosen under Settings › General and is printed in brackets under the rule.
The Time range rule
Time range asks whether we are between two given times of day. It depends on nothing else; you write the hours into the rule itself.
Choose Time range as the rule kind.
Type the opening time into the From box (09:00 by default).
Type the closing time into the To box (18:00 by default).
The range includes the start and excludes the end. In a 09:00–18:00 range, the rule is true at exactly 09:00 and already false at exactly 18:00. Writing 18:00 as the end keeps you open until 17:59.
Ranges that cross midnight are supported. Writing 22:00–06:00 makes the rule true from ten in the evening until six in the morning. You do not need to split it into two rules.
Example: a pizzeria only takes orders while the kitchen is open. The flow holds a "Time range · 11:30 – 23:00" condition; the True branch sends the order menu, and the False branch says "Our kitchen opens at 11.30 — write to us after that and we'll take your order."
The Day rule
The Day rule looks at which day of the week we are on.
Choose Day as the rule kind.
Tap the day buttons to select them: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun. Selected days are highlighted; tapping again clears the selection.
By default the five weekdays are selected. At least one day must stay selected; if you clear them all, the pre-publish check raises "A rule is incomplete".
The day is also calculated in the account's time zone. That matters close to midnight: 00:30 on Monday in one time zone may still be Sunday in another. If you picked the account's time zone correctly, this never concerns you.
Combining Time range and Day in one step with All must match is the most common pattern of all: "on a weekday and between 09:00 and 18:00".
The Business hours rule
Instead of hours written into the rule, the Business hours rule reads the account's own opening schedule. Its operator is inside or outside, and it has no other setting.
The rule takes all of the following into account:
The day and time ranges in the weekly schedule (a day can hold several ranges; an empty day counts as closed).
The account's time zone.
The dates in the Holidays list. On those dates the account counts as closed whatever the schedule says.
Ranges that cross midnight (such as 22:00–02:00) — the previous day's range spills into today.
The schedule is set up under Settings › Business hours. The same schedule also feeds the "we're closed right now" information in the inbox and the out-of-hours auto-reply, so changing it in one place applies everywhere.
⚠️ Note: If the Use business hours switch on the Settings › Business hours screen is off, the system treats the account as always open. The rule then always says "inside" and the flow quietly runs down a single branch. The pre-publish check reports this as a warning.
Time range or Business hours?
When choosing between the two, look at this:
Business hours — Use it when you are asking whether the business is genuinely open. Details like holidays and multiple ranges come for free, and you never have to revisit your flows when the schedule changes.
Time range and Day — Use these when you are defining a window independent of opening hours: "Saturday-only campaign", "lunch menu", "night discount".
How it relates to the out-of-hours deferral setting
The Defer automations to opening time option on Settings › Business hours and the Business hours condition are two different things, and they get confused.
The deferral setting postpones the flow from starting: a session that begins out of hours runs when you open. The person receives nothing in the meantime.
The Business hours conditionsplits the flow: the session runs straight away but takes the out-of-hours branch and sends whatever you wrote there.
If both are on, the deferral acts first, and because the flow will only run once you are open, the condition says "inside". If you want to say something immediately out of hours, keep the deferral setting off and use the condition.
💡 No deferral happens when the 24-hour messaging window is about to close; the flow runs without waiting. What that window is is explained in The 24-hour messaging window.
Limits and known issues
Times are entered in HH:MM on a 24-hour clock. The panel offers a time picker for this.
The end minute of a range is excluded; an end of 18:00 covers up to 17:59.
At least one day must stay selected in the Day rule.
The Business hours rule always says "inside" while the schedule is switched off.
All three count as rules that cannot change within a round: a condition holding only these takes the same branch every time inside a loop that never waits. The pre-publish check warns about it.
Holidays come only from the account's Business hours schedule. The Time range and Day rules know nothing about holidays.
Common mistakes
Thinking in your own phone's time. If the account sits in another time zone, the flow behaves at the account's hour, not the one you expect.
Assuming the end time is included. If you say "we're open until 18:00", write 18:00 as the end; the rule closes at 18:00.
Splitting a night range in two. 22:00–06:00 goes in a single rule; there is no need for two rules with Any is enough.
Relying on the Business hours rule while the schedule is off. Turn the schedule on under Settings › Business hours first.
Trying to handle holidays with a time rule. Public holidays go in the holidays list; the Time range rule does not know those dates.