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48 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
48 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
---
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summary: "Where timezones show up in OpenClaw — envelopes, tool payloads, system prompt"
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read_when:
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- You want a quick mental model for timezone handling
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- You are deciding where to set or override a timezone
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title: "Timezones"
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---
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OpenClaw standardizes timestamps so the model sees a **single reference time** instead of a mix of provider-local clocks. There are three surfaces where timezones show up, each with its own purpose:
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## Three timezone surfaces
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| Surface | What it shows | Default | Configured via |
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| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
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| Message envelopes | Wraps inbound channel messages: `[Signal +1555 2026-01-18 00:19 PST] hello` | Host-local | `agents.defaults.envelopeTimezone` |
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| Tool payloads | Channel `readMessages`-style tools return raw provider time + normalized `timestampMs` / `timestampUtc` | UTC fields always present | Not configurable — preserves provider-native timestamps |
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| System prompt | A small `Current Date & Time` block with the **time zone only** (no clock value, for cache stability) | Host timezone if `userTimezone` unset | `agents.defaults.userTimezone` |
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The system prompt deliberately omits the live clock to keep prompt caching stable across turns. When the agent needs the current time, it calls `session_status`.
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## Setting the user timezone
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```json5
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{
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agents: {
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defaults: {
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userTimezone: "America/Chicago",
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},
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},
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}
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```
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If `userTimezone` is unset, OpenClaw resolves the host timezone at runtime (no config write). `agents.defaults.timeFormat` (`auto` | `12` | `24`) controls 12h/24h rendering in envelopes and downstream surfaces, not in the system prompt section.
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## When to override
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- **Use UTC envelopes** (`envelopeTimezone: "utc"`) when you want stable timestamps across hosts in different regions, or when you want UTC-aligned logs to match diagnostics output.
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- **Use a fixed IANA zone** (e.g. `"Europe/Vienna"`) when the gateway host is in one zone but the user is in another and you want envelopes to read in the user's zone regardless of host migration.
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- **Set `envelopeTimestamp: "off"`** for low-token envelopes when timestamp context is not useful for the conversation.
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For the full behavior reference, examples per provider, and elapsed-time formatting, see [Date & Time](/date-time).
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## Related
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- [Date & Time](/date-time) — full envelope/tool/prompt behavior and examples.
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- [Heartbeat](/gateway/heartbeat) — active hours use timezone for scheduling.
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- [Cron Jobs](/automation/cron-jobs) — cron expressions use timezone for scheduling.
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