From 8d20edb02810aac846cbe81f84c12371d44b180c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2025 05:29:29 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Simplify timestampPrefix: bool or timezone string, default
 true

- timestampPrefix: true (UTC), false (off), or 'America/New_York'
- Removed separate timestampTimezone option
- Default is now enabled (true/UTC) unless explicitly false
---
 README.md             | 3 +--
 src/config/config.ts  | 6 ++----
 src/web/auto-reply.ts | 9 ++++++---
 3 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fc22cab6d..70cd06569 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -169,8 +169,7 @@ warelay supports running on the same phone number you message from—you chat wi
 | `inbound.allowFrom` | `string[]` (default: empty) | E.164 numbers allowed to trigger auto-reply (no `whatsapp:`); `"*"` allows any sender. |
 | `inbound.messagePrefix` | `string` (default: `"[warelay]"` if no allowFrom, else `""`) | Prefix added to all inbound messages before passing to command. |
 | `inbound.responsePrefix` | `string` (default: —) | Prefix auto-added to all outbound replies (e.g., `"🦞"`). |
-| `inbound.timestampPrefix` | `boolean` (default: `false`) | Prepend compact timestamp `[Nov 29 06:30]` to messages. |
-| `inbound.timestampTimezone` | `string` (default: `"UTC"`) | IANA timezone for timestamp (e.g., `"Europe/Vienna"`). |
+| `inbound.timestampPrefix` | `boolean \| string` (default: `true`) | Timestamp prefix: `true` (UTC), `false` (disabled), or IANA timezone like `"Europe/Vienna"`. |
 | `inbound.reply.mode` | `"text"` \| `"command"` (default: —) | Reply style. |
 | `inbound.reply.text` | `string` (default: —) | Used when `mode=text`; templating supported. |
 | `inbound.reply.command` | `string[]` (default: —) | Argv for `mode=command`; each element templated. Stdout (trimmed) is sent. |
diff --git a/src/config/config.ts b/src/config/config.ts
index fbadf4cab..f0e46c6c4 100644
--- a/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.ts
@@ -48,8 +48,7 @@ export type WarelayConfig = {
     allowFrom?: string[]; // E.164 numbers allowed to trigger auto-reply (without whatsapp:)
     messagePrefix?: string; // Prefix added to all inbound messages (default: "[warelay]" if no allowFrom, else "")
     responsePrefix?: string; // Prefix auto-added to all outbound replies (e.g., "🦞")
-    timestampPrefix?: boolean; // Prepend compact timestamp to messages (default: false)
-    timestampTimezone?: string; // IANA timezone for timestamp (default: UTC), e.g., "Europe/Vienna"
+    timestampPrefix?: boolean | string; // true/false or IANA timezone string (default: true with UTC)
     transcribeAudio?: {
       // Optional CLI to turn inbound audio into text; templated args, must output transcript to stdout.
       command: string[];
@@ -145,8 +144,7 @@ const WarelaySchema = z.object({
       allowFrom: z.array(z.string()).optional(),
       messagePrefix: z.string().optional(),
       responsePrefix: z.string().optional(),
-      timestampPrefix: z.boolean().optional(),
-      timestampTimezone: z.string().optional(),
+      timestampPrefix: z.union([z.boolean(), z.string()]).optional(),
       transcribeAudio: z
         .object({
           command: z.array(z.string()),
diff --git a/src/web/auto-reply.ts b/src/web/auto-reply.ts
index f67053b44..1edaf0165 100644
--- a/src/web/auto-reply.ts
+++ b/src/web/auto-reply.ts
@@ -562,10 +562,13 @@ export async function monitorWebProvider(
 
         lastInboundMsg = msg;
 
-        // Build timestamp prefix if enabled
+        // Build timestamp prefix (default: enabled with UTC)
+        // Can be: true (UTC), false (disabled), or "America/New_York" (custom timezone)
         let timestampStr = "";
-        if (cfg.inbound?.timestampPrefix) {
-          const tz = cfg.inbound?.timestampTimezone ?? "UTC";
+        const tsCfg = cfg.inbound?.timestampPrefix;
+        const tsEnabled = tsCfg !== false; // default true
+        if (tsEnabled) {
+          const tz = typeof tsCfg === "string" ? tsCfg : "UTC";
           const now = new Date();
           try {
             // Format: "Nov 29 06:30" - compact but informative