datetime_now

Returns the current date and time the moment it is called. Useful for agents that need to know the current time but whose host application does not inject it into the system prompt — a common gap in many LLM deployments.

The response always includes multiple representations at once so the agent can pick the one that fits its task without a follow-up call.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
timezone	string	No	IANA timezone name to convert the result into, e.g. "America/New_York" or "Europe/Berlin". Defaults to "UTC" when not provided.
iso_format	string	No	Controls the UTC suffix style in iso8601. "offset" (default) produces +00:00; "z" produces a Z suffix. Only affects the UTC case — non-UTC timezones always use explicit offset notation regardless of this setting.

Response

Field	Type	Description
iso8601	string	Timestamp in RFC 3339 / ISO 8601 format with UTC offset (e.g. +00:00) or Z suffix, controlled by iso_format.
unix	number	Seconds since the Unix epoch (UTC). Always a whole integer.
human	string	Human-readable string with weekday, full date, time, and timezone abbreviation.
timezone	string	The timezone that was applied. Always "UTC" when none was requested.
utc_offset	string	UTC offset of the applied timezone at the current instant, e.g. "-04:00".
date	string	Local calendar date in the output timezone in YYYY-MM-DD format. Reflects the local date, which may differ from UTC.
weekday	string	Full English weekday name of the local date in the output timezone, e.g. "Monday".

Examples

Current time in UTC (no timezone)

{}

Result:

{
	"iso8601": "2026-04-13T14:30:45+00:00",
	"unix": 1776090645,
	"human": "Monday, April 13, 2026 at 2:30:45 PM UTC",
	"timezone": "UTC",
	"utc_offset": "+00:00",
	"date": "2026-04-13",
	"weekday": "Monday"
}

---

Current time in UTC with Z suffix

{
	"iso_format": "z"
}

Result:

{
	"iso8601": "2026-04-13T14:30:45Z",
	"unix": 1776090645,
	"human": "Monday, April 13, 2026 at 2:30:45 PM UTC",
	"timezone": "UTC",
	"utc_offset": "+00:00",
	"date": "2026-04-13",
	"weekday": "Monday"
}

---

Current time in a specific timezone

{
	"timezone": "America/New_York"
}

Result (during Eastern Daylight Time, UTC−4):

{
	"iso8601": "2026-04-13T10:30:45-04:00",
	"unix": 1776090645,
	"human": "Monday, April 13, 2026 at 10:30:45 AM EDT",
	"timezone": "America/New_York",
	"utc_offset": "-04:00",
	"date": "2026-04-13",
	"weekday": "Monday"
}

tip

unix is always UTC-based and identical across all timezone responses for the same instant — use it for sorting, comparisons, and storage.

info

date and weekday reflect the local calendar date in the output timezone. The local date can differ from the UTC date in both directions:

• UTC− timezones (e.g. America/New_York, UTC−4): before 4 AM UTC, the local clock still shows the previous day.
• UTC+ timezones (e.g. Europe/Berlin, UTC+2): after 10 PM UTC, the local clock has already crossed midnight into the next day.

---

Common IANA timezone names

Region	IANA name	Example offset
US Eastern	America/New_York	−05:00 / −04:00
US Pacific	America/Los_Angeles	−08:00 / −07:00
UK / Ireland	Europe/London	+00:00 / +01:00
Central Europe	Europe/Berlin	+01:00 / +02:00
Japan	Asia/Tokyo	+09:00
India	Asia/Kolkata	+05:30
Australia Eastern	Australia/Sydney	+10:00 / +11:00
UTC	UTC	+00:00

A full list of valid IANA timezone names is available at IANA Time Zone Database.

Errors

Each failure carries a precise code in the response. Argument-schema and server errors are JSON-RPC protocol errors; a rejected value is returned as a tool result with isError: true (so the agent can read the code and self-correct).

Code	When	Delivered as
invalid_arguments	An argument is missing or the wrong type.	protocol error (invalid_params)
invalid_timezone	The timezone value is not a recognized IANA timezone name.	tool error (isError)
internal_error	An unexpected server error.	protocol error (internal_error)

Notes

• The tool reads the system clock at call time; repeated calls will return different values.
• Offsets for timezones that observe daylight saving time (e.g. America/New_York) are calculated automatically based on the current date — no manual DST handling is needed.
• The human field uses a fixed English locale. It is intended for display or prose inclusion, not for machine parsing.
• All timestamps are based on the proleptic Gregorian calendar.
• iso_format: "z" only changes the UTC suffix. Responses for non-UTC timezones always include an explicit numeric offset (e.g. -04:00) regardless of this setting.