# date date and time library

## Function

date() creates a local time zone Date object; supports date string parsing, chrono/strftime style formatting, Unix timestamp conversion, date operations, and reading of fields such as year, month, day, hour, minute, and second.

## Syntax

```bt
date()
date(timestamp)
date(text)
```

## Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Default value | Description |
| ------ | ------ | ------ | ------ | ------ |
| timestamp | Int/Float | No | None | Second level Unix timestamp; if no parameters are passed, the current local time is returned. |
| text | String | No | None | Date string or second-level Unix timestamp string. |

## Return Value

| Type | Description |
| ------ | ------ |
| Date | Returns the local time zone Date object. |

## API List

| API | Description |
| ------ | ------ |
| [Date.format](/en/docs/date/format) | Output date and time according to format string. |
| [Date.from_string](/en/docs/date/from_string) | Parses a date string and creates a new Date object. |
| [Date.from_timestamp](/en/docs/date/from_timestamp) | Creates a new Date object from a Unix timestamp in seconds. |
| [Date.from_millis](/en/docs/date/from_millis) | Create a new Date object from a millisecond Unix timestamp. |
| [Date.from_micros](/en/docs/date/from_micros) | Creates a new Date object from a microsecond Unix timestamp. |
| [Date.from_nanos](/en/docs/date/from_nanos) | Creates a new Date object from a nanosecond Unix timestamp. |
| [Date.add](/en/docs/date/add) | Returns a new Date object plus or minus the specified time. |
| [Date.diff](/en/docs/date/diff) | Returns the difference between two dates converted in the specified unit. |
| [Date.start_of_day](/en/docs/date/start_of_day) | Returns a new Date object at zero o'clock on the day. |
| [Date.timestamp](/en/docs/date/timestamp) | Read second-level Unix timestamp. |
| [Date.timestamp_millis](/en/docs/date/timestamp_millis) | Read millisecond-level Unix timestamp. |
| [Date.timestamp_micros](/en/docs/date/timestamp_micros) | Read microsecond-level Unix timestamp. |
| [Date.timestamp_nanos](/en/docs/date/timestamp_nanos) | Read a nanosecond Unix timestamp. |
| [Date.year](/en/docs/date/year) | Read the year. |
| [Date.month](/en/docs/date/month) | Read the month. |
| [Date.day](/en/docs/date/day) | Read the day of the month. |
| [Date.hour](/en/docs/date/hour) | Read the hour. |
| [Date.minute](/en/docs/date/minute) | Read minutes. |
| [Date.second](/en/docs/date/second) | Read seconds. |
| [Date.millis](/en/docs/date/millis) | Read the millisecond part of the current second. |
| [Date.micros](/en/docs/date/micros) | Read the microsecond part of the current second. |
| [Date.nanos](/en/docs/date/nanos) | Read the nanosecond part of the current second. |
| [Date.weekday](/en/docs/date/weekday) | Read the weekday number. |
| [Date.week](/en/docs/date/week) | Read the ISO week number. |
| [Date.yearday](/en/docs/date/yearday) | Read the date serial number in a year. |
| [Date.quarter](/en/docs/date/quarter) | Read quarter. |
| [Date.to_string](/en/docs/date/to_string) | Output the date and time in the default format. |

## Code Examples

```bt

// Output: 2026-06-09 10:11
print date().format('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M')

d = date('2026-06-09 10:11:12')

result = {
    text: d.format('%Y-%m-%d'),
    timestamp: d.timestamp(),
    quarter: d.quarter()
}
```

## Notes

- No parameters date() returns the current local time.
 - Integer and floating point arguments create a Date in seconds Unix timestamp.
- String parameters will be parsed into Date according to common date formats, and date('%Y-%m-%d') is no longer supported to directly format the current time.
- To format the current time, use date().format('%Y-%m-%d').
 - Date uses the local time zone internally and uses the first local time result when daylight saving time ambiguities are encountered.