fix: unify log timestamp offsets (#38904) (thanks @sahilsatralkar)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Docs/IRC: fix five `json55` code-fence typos in the IRC channel examples so Mintlify applies JSON5 syntax highlighting correctly. (#50842) Thanks @Hollychou924.
 - Telegram/forum topics: recover `#General` topic `1` routing when Telegram omits forum metadata, including native commands, interactive callbacks, inbound message context, and fallback error replies. (#53699) thanks @huntharo
 - Discord/config types: add missing `autoArchiveDuration` to `DiscordGuildChannelConfig` so TypeScript config definitions match the existing schema and runtime support. (#43427) Thanks @davidguttman.
+- CLI/logging: make pretty log timestamps always include an explicit timezone offset in default UTC and `--local-time` modes, so incident triage no longer mixes ambiguous clock displays. (#38904) Thanks @sahilsatralkar.
 - Feishu/startup: treat unresolved `SecretRef` app credentials as not configured during account resolution so CLI startup and read-only Feishu config surfaces stop crashing before runtime-backed secret resolution is available. (#53675) Thanks @hpt.
 - DeepSeek/pricing: replace the zero-cost DeepSeek catalog rates with the current DeepSeek V3.2 pricing so usage totals stop showing `$0.00` for DeepSeek sessions. (#54143) Thanks @arkyu2077.
 - Docker/setup: avoid the pre-start `openclaw-cli` shared-network namespace loop by routing setup-time onboard/config writes through `openclaw-gateway`, so fresh Docker installs stop failing before the gateway comes up. (#53385) Thanks @amsminn.

src/cli/logs-cli.test.ts

@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ describe("logs cli", () => {
 
     it("formats UTC timestamp in pretty mode", () => {
       const result = formatLogTimestamp("2025-01-01T12:00:00.000Z", "pretty");
-      expect(result).toBe("12:00:00");
+      expect(result).toBe("12:00:00+00:00");
     });
 
     it("formats local time in plain mode when localTime is true", () => {
@@ -132,13 +132,8 @@ describe("logs cli", () => {
     it("formats local time in pretty mode when localTime is true", () => {
       const utcTime = "2025-01-01T12:00:00.000Z";
       const result = formatLogTimestamp(utcTime, "pretty", true);
-      // Should be HH:MM:SS format
-      expect(result).toMatch(/^\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}$/);
-      // Should be different from UTC time (12:00:00) if not in UTC timezone
-      const tzOffset = new Date(utcTime).getTimezoneOffset();
-      if (tzOffset !== 0) {
-        expect(result).not.toBe("12:00:00");
-      }
+      // Should be HH:MM:SS±HH:MM format with timezone offset.
+      expect(result).toMatch(/^\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}[+-]\d{2}:\d{2}$/);
     });
 
     it.each([

src/cli/logs-cli.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { setTimeout as delay } from "node:timers/promises";
 import type { Command } from "commander";
 import { buildGatewayConnectionDetails } from "../gateway/call.js";
 import { parseLogLine } from "../logging/parse-log-line.js";
-import { formatLocalIsoWithOffset, isValidTimeZone } from "../logging/timestamps.js";
+import { formatTimestamp, isValidTimeZone } from "../logging/timestamps.js";
 import { formatDocsLink } from "../terminal/links.js";
 import { clearActiveProgressLine } from "../terminal/progress-line.js";
 import { createSafeStreamWriter } from "../terminal/stream-writer.js";
@@ -74,16 +74,10 @@ export function formatLogTimestamp(
     return value;
   }
 
-  let timeString: string;
-  if (localTime) {
-    timeString = formatLocalIsoWithOffset(parsed);
-  } else {
-    timeString = parsed.toISOString();
-  }
   if (mode === "pretty") {
-    return timeString.slice(11, 19);
+    return formatTimestamp(parsed, { style: "short", timeZone: localTime ? undefined : "UTC" });
   }
-  return timeString;
+  return localTime ? formatTimestamp(parsed, { style: "long" }) : parsed.toISOString();
 }
 
 function formatLogLine(

src/infra/format-time/format-datetime.ts

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
  * Consolidates duplicated formatUtcTimestamp / formatZonedTimestamp / resolveExplicitTimezone
  * that previously lived in envelope.ts and session-updates.ts.
  */
-
 /**
  * Validate an IANA timezone string. Returns the string if valid, undefined otherwise.
  */

src/logging/console-timestamp.test.ts

@@ -29,15 +29,20 @@ describe("formatConsoleTimestamp", () => {
     return `${year}-${month}-${day}T${h}:${m}:${s}.${ms}${tzSign}${tzHours}:${tzMinutes}`;
   }
 
-  it("pretty style returns local HH:MM:SS", () => {
+  it("pretty style returns local HH:MM:SS with timezone offset", () => {
     vi.useFakeTimers();
     vi.setSystemTime(new Date("2026-01-17T18:01:02.345Z"));
 
     const result = formatConsoleTimestamp("pretty");
     const now = new Date();
-    expect(result).toBe(
-      `${pad2(now.getHours())}:${pad2(now.getMinutes())}:${pad2(now.getSeconds())}`,
-    );
+    const h = pad2(now.getHours());
+    const m = pad2(now.getMinutes());
+    const s = pad2(now.getSeconds());
+    const tzOffset = now.getTimezoneOffset();
+    const tzSign = tzOffset <= 0 ? "+" : "-";
+    const tzHours = pad2(Math.floor(Math.abs(tzOffset) / 60));
+    const tzMinutes = pad2(Math.abs(tzOffset) % 60);
+    expect(result).toBe(`${h}:${m}:${s}${tzSign}${tzHours}:${tzMinutes}`);
   });
 
   it("compact style returns local ISO-like timestamp with timezone offset", () => {

src/logging/console.ts

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { type LogLevel, normalizeLogLevel } from "./levels.js";
 import { getLogger, type LoggerSettings } from "./logger.js";
 import { resolveNodeRequireFromMeta } from "./node-require.js";
 import { loggingState } from "./state.js";
-import { formatLocalIsoWithOffset } from "./timestamps.js";
+import { formatLocalIsoWithOffset, formatTimestamp } from "./timestamps.js";
 
 export type ConsoleStyle = "pretty" | "compact" | "json";
 type ConsoleSettings = {
@@ -175,10 +175,7 @@ function isEpipeError(err: unknown): boolean {
 export function formatConsoleTimestamp(style: ConsoleStyle): string {
   const now = new Date();
   if (style === "pretty") {
-    const h = String(now.getHours()).padStart(2, "0");
-    const m = String(now.getMinutes()).padStart(2, "0");
-    const s = String(now.getSeconds()).padStart(2, "0");
-    return `${h}:${m}:${s}`;
+    return formatTimestamp(now, { style: "short" });
   }
   return formatLocalIsoWithOffset(now);
 }

src/logging/logger.ts

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import { resolveEnvLogLevelOverride } from "./env-log-level.js";
 import { type LogLevel, levelToMinLevel, normalizeLogLevel } from "./levels.js";
 import { resolveNodeRequireFromMeta } from "./node-require.js";
 import { loggingState } from "./state.js";
-import { formatLocalIsoWithOffset } from "./timestamps.js";
+import { formatTimestamp } from "./timestamps.js";
 
 type ProcessWithBuiltinModule = NodeJS.Process & {
   getBuiltinModule?: (id: string) => unknown;
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ function buildLogger(settings: ResolvedSettings): TsLogger<LogObj> {
 
   logger.attachTransport((logObj: LogObj) => {
     try {
-      const time = formatLocalIsoWithOffset(logObj.date ?? new Date());
+      const time = formatTimestamp(logObj.date ?? new Date(), { style: "long" });
       const line = JSON.stringify({ ...logObj, time });
       const payload = `${line}\n`;
       const payloadBytes = Buffer.byteLength(payload, "utf8");
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ function buildLogger(settings: ResolvedSettings): TsLogger<LogObj> {
         if (!warnedAboutSizeCap) {
           warnedAboutSizeCap = true;
           const warningLine = JSON.stringify({
-            time: formatLocalIsoWithOffset(new Date()),
+            time: formatTimestamp(new Date(), { style: "long" }),
             level: "warn",
             subsystem: "logging",
             message: `log file size cap reached; suppressing writes file=${settings.file} maxFileBytes=${settings.maxFileBytes}`,

src/logging/timestamps.test.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import * as fs from "node:fs";
 import * as path from "node:path";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { formatLocalIsoWithOffset, isValidTimeZone } from "./timestamps.js";
+import { formatLocalIsoWithOffset, formatTimestamp, isValidTimeZone } from "./timestamps.js";
 
 describe("formatLocalIsoWithOffset", () => {
   const testDate = new Date("2025-01-01T04:00:00.000Z");
@@ -50,6 +50,35 @@ describe("formatLocalIsoWithOffset", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("formatTimestamp", () => {
+  const testDate = new Date("2024-01-15T14:30:45.123Z");
+
+  it("formats short style with explicit UTC offset", () => {
+    expect(formatTimestamp(testDate, { style: "short", timeZone: "UTC" })).toBe("14:30:45+00:00");
+  });
+
+  it("formats medium style with milliseconds and offset", () => {
+    expect(formatTimestamp(testDate, { style: "medium", timeZone: "UTC" })).toBe(
+      "14:30:45.123+00:00",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it.each(["UTC", "America/New_York", "Europe/Paris"])(
+    "matches formatLocalIsoWithOffset for long style in %s",
+    (timeZone) => {
+      expect(formatTimestamp(testDate, { style: "long", timeZone })).toBe(
+        formatLocalIsoWithOffset(testDate, timeZone),
+      );
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("falls back to a valid offset when the timezone is invalid", () => {
+    expect(formatTimestamp(testDate, { style: "short", timeZone: "not-a-tz" })).toMatch(
+      /^\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}[+-]\d{2}:\d{2}$/,
+    );
+  });
+});
+
 describe("isValidTimeZone", () => {
   it("returns true for valid IANA timezones", () => {
     expect(isValidTimeZone("UTC")).toBe(true);

src/logging/timestamps.ts

@@ -7,15 +7,27 @@ export function isValidTimeZone(tz: string): boolean {
   }
 }
 
-export function formatLocalIsoWithOffset(now: Date, timeZone?: string): string {
-  const explicit = timeZone ?? process.env.TZ;
-  const tz =
-    explicit && isValidTimeZone(explicit)
-      ? explicit
-      : Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone;
+export type TimestampStyle = "short" | "medium" | "long";
 
+export type FormatTimestampOptions = {
+  style?: TimestampStyle;
+  timeZone?: string;
+};
+
+function resolveEffectiveTimeZone(timeZone?: string): string {
+  const explicit = timeZone ?? process.env.TZ;
+  return explicit && isValidTimeZone(explicit)
+    ? explicit
+    : Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone;
+}
+
+function formatOffset(offsetRaw: string): string {
+  return offsetRaw === "GMT" ? "+00:00" : offsetRaw.slice(3);
+}
+
+function getTimestampParts(date: Date, timeZone?: string) {
   const fmt = new Intl.DateTimeFormat("en", {
-    timeZone: tz,
+    timeZone: resolveEffectiveTimeZone(timeZone),
     year: "numeric",
     month: "2-digit",
     day: "2-digit",
@@ -27,10 +39,37 @@ export function formatLocalIsoWithOffset(now: Date, timeZone?: string): string {
     timeZoneName: "longOffset",
   });
 
-  const parts = Object.fromEntries(fmt.formatToParts(now).map((p) => [p.type, p.value]));
-
-  const offsetRaw = parts.timeZoneName ?? "GMT";
-  const offset = offsetRaw === "GMT" ? "+00:00" : offsetRaw.slice(3);
-
-  return `${parts.year}-${parts.month}-${parts.day}T${parts.hour}:${parts.minute}:${parts.second}.${parts.fractionalSecond}${offset}`;
+  const parts = Object.fromEntries(fmt.formatToParts(date).map((part) => [part.type, part.value]));
+  return {
+    year: parts.year,
+    month: parts.month,
+    day: parts.day,
+    hour: parts.hour,
+    minute: parts.minute,
+    second: parts.second,
+    fractionalSecond: parts.fractionalSecond,
+    offset: formatOffset(parts.timeZoneName ?? "GMT"),
+  };
+}
+
+export function formatTimestamp(date: Date, options?: FormatTimestampOptions): string {
+  const style = options?.style ?? "medium";
+  const parts = getTimestampParts(date, options?.timeZone);
+
+  switch (style) {
+    case "short":
+      return `${parts.hour}:${parts.minute}:${parts.second}${parts.offset}`;
+    case "medium":
+      return `${parts.hour}:${parts.minute}:${parts.second}.${parts.fractionalSecond}${parts.offset}`;
+    case "long":
+      return `${parts.year}-${parts.month}-${parts.day}T${parts.hour}:${parts.minute}:${parts.second}.${parts.fractionalSecond}${parts.offset}`;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * @deprecated Use formatTimestamp from "./timestamps.js" instead.
+ * This function will be removed in a future version.
+ */
+export function formatLocalIsoWithOffset(now: Date, timeZone?: string): string {
+  return formatTimestamp(now, { style: "long", timeZone });
 }