How to Access the Current Date or Time in Pipelines
Jun 09, 2021>> Get the Jinja Date & Time Cheat Sheet <<
This demo predates the new Pipeline Designer. For writing Jinja, the process is similar, but you'll need to click on the </> code icon first. To follow along in the old designer, toggle OFF the "Pipeline Designer" at the top of the screen.
It's pretty common to use the current date or time in field defaults, formulas, filters, etc.
However, using the current date or time in Pipelines can be a bit tricky if not flat out hidden.
Lucky for us, Pipelines uses a code language called Jinja and I'll show you how to use it to get the current date/time!
Please note, Jinja is for Pipelines, so if you haven't used Pipelines >> Start here: Set up your Pipelines access
Use the current date/time to:
- Populate a date field
- Populate a date/time field
- Insert the date and/or time in a text field
- Search records that match the current date
- Set up Advanced Queries that include the current date
- Conditionally branch the Pipeline based on the current date
- Pass the current date/time through webhooks and other advanced channels
The Jinja Functions
There are two Jinja functions that can be used, but I'll warn you... only use 1 of these!
{{ time.now }}
- This will give you the current date and time in the UTC time zone
- This is my go-to Jinja date/time function
{{ time.today }}
- This will give you the current date in the UTC time zone (essentially time is set to the zero hour)
- I suggest forgetting this exists (read why)
IMPORTANT: These both are in UTC time, but only {{ time.now }} can be adjusted to your local time zone.
If you need only the date without the time it's as simple as {{ time.now.date() }}... just remember this is still in UTC time.
Learn how to set the time zone using Jinja
For more information on Jinja see the resources below, or skip right to the good stuff and get the Intro to Jinja for Pipelines course today!
RESOURCES:
Get the FREE Jinja Date & Time Cheat Sheet mentioned in this video
Learn more about how Jinja works in Pipelines
Adjust dates & times using Jinja
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