If you would like to PAUSE a run at any point, click the pause button at the top of the screen.

A window will pop up and you may enter comments for the pause.

When you are finished entering comments, click the Pause button.

You will see a banner at the top of the screen indicating who paused the run.

Hover over the i icon to see any pause run comments that were entered.

The status of the run will display as PAUSED.

To resume the run, click the RESUME button.

Admins can configure a curated list of pause reasons for runs, sections, and steps. This helps standardize why work is being paused and makes pause activity easier to review later.

To configure pause reasons, go to Settings > Rules & Automation > Runs and locate the Pause Reason section.

Choose how pause reasons should behave:

Add each pause reason using the New pause reason field, then click Add.

Pause reasons can be reordered using the drag handle next to each reason. The order shown in settings is the order users will see when selecting a pause reason.

Common examples may include reasons such as Safety, Critical failure, Shift change, waiting on hardware, waiting on engineering review, or any other pause categories your team wants to track consistently.

When pause reasons are set to Required, the pause dialog includes a required Pause Reason dropdown. The user must select one of the configured reasons before the Pause button becomes available.

After selecting a reason, the user can optionally enter a pause comment for additional context. Click Pause to confirm.

Once the run, section, or step is paused, Epsilon3 displays the paused banner as usual. The pause event is also recorded in the activity feed with the selected reason, who paused it, and when it was paused.

When pause reasons are set to Optional, users can choose from the configured pause reason list or pause without selecting a reason. The optional comment field remains available for additional context.

Use this setting when your team wants to encourage consistent pause categorization without blocking users from pausing quickly.

Pause reasons are included in the pause activity record. Open the Activities panel to review when the run, section, or step was paused, who paused it, and the selected reason.

This provides a clearer audit trail and makes it easier to understand pause trends across operations, shifts, blockers, and exceptions.

In addition to pausing an entire procedure, you can pause individual steps or sections within a running procedure. This feature is useful when you need to temporarily halt progress on a specific step or section without affecting the rest of the workflow.

Once paused, the step will be highlighted in yellow and labeled as Paused. A comment noting who paused the step, when it was paused, and any accompanying message will appear in the Activity section of the step.

When you’re ready to continue work on the step:

All pause and resume events are logged in the step’s activity feed for full traceability.

When a step (or the entire procedure) is paused, the Status column in the Procedures list will display a Paused tag. This helps teams quickly identify paused procedures in progress.

💡 Tip: Use Pause Step when an individual task is blocked (for example, waiting on test equipment, part delivery, or signoff clarification) without needing to pause the full procedure.

⚠️ Note: While a step is paused, no further updates, signoffs, or comments can be made until it is resumed.

Pause Constraints let you connect a pause to the condition that must be resolved before work can continue. Constraints can be added when pausing an entire run, a section, or an individual step.

When a pause has constraints, it cannot be lifted until every constraint has been met. You can also choose whether work should resume automatically as soon as the constraints clear, or remain paused until a user manually resumes it.

Pause the run, section, or step as usual. In the pause window, select the required Pause Reason and, if needed, enter an optional comment.

Under Constraints (optional), click Add Constraint.

Each constraint begins with a Wait for field. You can wait for an Issue to meet specific conditions or for another Active run to end.

You can click Add Constraint again to attach additional constraints to the same pause. Use the X beside a constraint to remove it before submitting the pause.

When multiple constraints are added, the pause remains in effect until all of them have been satisfied.

Select Issue from the Wait for menu, then select the issue that should control the pause.

You can base the constraint on the issue's Status, Severity, or both. For each field, choose how the selected values should be evaluated:

At least one Status or Severity condition must be configured for an Issue constraint.

For example, you can pause work until an issue's Status is Resolved. Once that issue reaches the specified condition, the constraint is released.

If conditions are configured for both Status and Severity, the issue must satisfy both of the configured conditions before the constraint is considered met.

Select Active run from the Wait for menu when work should remain paused until another procedure run is finished.

Select the active run from the run selector. The constraint is met when the selected run ends.

This can be useful when one operation depends on the completion of another run and work should not continue until that upstream process is finished.

After configuring your constraints, choose what should happen under When constraints are met.

Select Work resumes automatically when you want the pause removed as soon as every constraint has been satisfied. No additional user action is required.

Select A user can resume when satisfying the constraints should release the hold but not immediately restart work. The run, section, or step remains paused until a user selects Resume.

This setting applies to the complete set of constraints on the pause.

A constrained pause clearly indicates that work is being held by one or more conditions.

For a paused run, a banner at the top of the run indicates that the run cannot resume until its constraints are met.

For an individual step, the step is highlighted and displays Paused Until Constraints Met. While a constraint is still active, the Resume button is disabled.

The information icon on the pause indicator provides additional details about the pause, including the Pause Reason, the constraints that are currently in effect, and the condition required to release each constraint. The referenced Issue or Run can also be opened directly from the constraint details.

Constraints that are still blocking work are labeled In Effect.

What happens next depends on the resume option selected when the pause was created.

If Work resumes automatically was selected, the pause is lifted automatically once every constraint has been met.

If A user can resume was selected, the constraint changes from In Effect to Released and the pause displays Paused (Constraints Met). The Resume button then becomes available so a user can decide when work should continue.

For paused steps, the Activity area records the progression of the pause, including when the step was Paused, when its Holds Released, and when it was ultimately Resumed.

⚠️ Note: Meeting a constraint does not allow a user to bypass any other constraints attached to the same pause. Every constraint must be satisfied before the pause can be lifted.