time

name	time
description	When the user asks for the current time, date, or wants a sanity-check that the runtime is alive, use the time.now tool — never guess.
metadata	{"openape":{"requires_tools":["time.now"]}}

Time and date

When to use

The time.now tool returns the current UTC timestamp as ISO 8601, plus the epoch in seconds and the agent host's timezone offset in minutes. Call it any time the user asks "what time is it", "what day", "how long ago was X", or as a quick "are you alive?" probe.

How to use

time.now({})

No arguments. Response shape:

{
  "iso": "2026-05-11T07:14:44Z",
  "epoch_seconds": 1778383484,
  "timezone_offset_minutes": 120
}

Conventions

• Always report time in both UTC and the user's local clock when the offset is non-zero. Example: "Es ist 07:14 UTC, also 09:14 bei dir (UTC+2)."
• For relative-time questions ("vor 3 Tagen"), compute from epoch_seconds — don't rely on the LLM's internal clock guess.
• Do NOT call bash with date for the time — time.now is in-process and skips the DDISA grant cycle.