50 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
50 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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summary: "Timezone handling for agents, envelopes, and prompts"
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read_when:
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- You need to understand how timestamps are normalized for the model
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- Configuring the user timezone for system prompts
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---
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# Timezones
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Clawdbot standardizes timestamps so the model sees a **single reference time**.
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## Message envelopes (UTC)
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Inbound messages are wrapped in an envelope like:
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```
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[Provider ... 2026-01-05T21:26Z] message text
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```
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The timestamp in the envelope is **always UTC**, with minutes precision.
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## Tool payloads (raw provider data + normalized fields)
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Tool calls (`channels.discord.readMessages`, `channels.slack.readMessages`, etc.) return **raw provider timestamps**.
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We also attach normalized fields for consistency:
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- `timestampMs` (UTC epoch milliseconds)
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- `timestampUtc` (ISO 8601 UTC string)
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Raw provider fields are preserved.
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## User timezone for the system prompt
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Set `agents.defaults.userTimezone` to tell the model the user's local time zone. If it is
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unset, Clawdbot resolves the **host timezone at runtime** (no config write).
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```json5
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{
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agents: { defaults: { userTimezone: "America/Chicago" } }
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}
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```
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The system prompt includes:
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- `Current Date & Time` section with local time and timezone
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- `Time format: 12-hour` or `24-hour`
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You can control the prompt format with `agents.defaults.timeFormat` (`auto` | `12` | `24`).
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See [Date & Time](/date-time) for the full behavior and examples.
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