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Format Date

Type key: format_date
Group: Data
Category: data
Tier: CORE

The Format Date node parses a date/time value and reformats it, optionally adding or subtracting time offsets. It uses Carbon internally for robust timezone-aware date manipulation.

Handles

Handle Direction Description
input Input Receives data from the preceding node
output Output Emits the formatted date alongside the original input

Configuration

Field Type Default Description
input_date string "" The date value to format; supports {{tags}}
output_format string Y-m-d H:i:s PHP date() format string for the output
timezone string UTC Target timezone (e.g. Europe/Rome, America/New_York)
add_days integer 0 Days to add (negative = subtract)
add_hours integer 0 Hours to add (negative = subtract)
add_minutes integer 0 Minutes to add (negative = subtract)

Input Date Parsing

The input_date field supports:

Value Behavior
{{input.created_at}} Parses the date from the input field
now Uses the current timestamp
(empty) Falls back to the current timestamp
Any Carbon-parseable string ISO 8601, Y-m-d, d/m/Y, timestamps, etc.

Output

JSON 
{
    "formatted_date": "16/03/2025",
    "iso_8601": "2025-03-16T08:00:00+00:00",
    "timestamp": 1742112000,
    "timezone": "Europe/Rome"
}

These fields are merged into the existing input data.

Common Format Strings

Format Example Output
d/m/Y 16/03/2025
Y-m-d 2025-03-16
d/m/Y H:i 16/03/2025 08:00
Y-m-d H:i:s 2025-03-16 08:00:00
D, d M Y Sun, 16 Mar 2025
l j F Y Sunday 16 March 2025
U 1742112000 (Unix timestamp)

See the PHP date() documentation for the full format reference.

Timezone Support

All IANA timezone identifiers are supported:

YAML 
Timezone: Europe/Rome
Timezone: America/New_York
Timezone: Asia/Tokyo
Timezone: UTC

Examples

Format Date node — date formatting examples Format Date node — date formatting examples

::: info 💾 Try this example Download the workflow JSON — open an empty workflow and import the file. :::

Format a Record's Date

YAML 
Input Date: { { input.created_at } }
Output Format: d/m/Y
Timezone: Europe/Rome

Output: formatted_date: "16/03/2025"

Calculate Expiry Date (+30 days)

YAML 
Input Date: { { input.start_date } }
Output Format: Y-m-d
Add Days: 30

Get Yesterday's Date

YAML 
Input Date: now
Output Format: Y-m-d
Add Days: -1

Format "3 Hours from Now" for a Reminder

YAML 
Input Date: now
Output Format: Y-m-d H:i:s
Add Hours: 3
Timezone: Europe/Rome

Notes

  • The Format Date node works on a single date value. To format dates on multiple records, wrap it inside a For Each loop
  • {{tags}} in input_date and output_format are resolved before parsing
  • If Carbon cannot parse the input_date value, the node returns an error
  • The iso_8601 output field is always in UTC with the +00:00 offset, regardless of the configured timezone