Time Formatter Skill

When to Use

Activate this skill automatically when user:

• Mentions specific times with timezone ("15:00 CET", "3 PM EST")
• Asks "what time is..." questions
• Requests timezone conversions
• Provides dates/times for scheduling
• Compares times across locations

Detection Patterns

Explicit Timezone Mentions

• "15:00 Berlin"
• "3 PM EST"
• "10:30 America/New_York"
• "noon CET"

Implicit Conversions

• "What time is it in Tokyo?"
• "When is 5 PM here in New York?"
• "Convert 14:00 to PST"

Scheduling Context

• "Let's meet at 3 PM my time" (need to detect user timezone)
• "Schedule for tomorrow 9 AM Berlin"

Instructions

Step 1: Detect Time/Timezone in Input

Parse user message for:

1. Time: HH:MM format or descriptive (e.g., "noon", "5 PM")
2. Timezone: Name, abbreviation, or location
3. Date: Optional date reference

Timezone Mapping:

CET/CEST → Europe/Berlin
EST/EDT → America/New_York
PST/PDT → America/Los_Angeles
JST → Asia/Tokyo
GMT/UTC → UTC

Step 2: Use MCP DateTime Tools

For "current time" queries:

Use: get_current_time
Parameters:
  - timezone: detected location
  - format: "human" (readable)

For "convert time" queries:

Use: convert_timezone
Parameters:
  - time: extracted time (ISO format)
  - from_tz: source timezone
  - to_tz: target timezone

For "time difference" queries:

Use: calculate_duration
Parameters:
  - start: first time
  - end: second time
  - unit: "hours" (default)

Step 3: Format Output

Single Timezone Query:

Current time in Tokyo:
Tuesday, 15. January 2025 18:30:00 JST
(2025-01-15T18:30:00+09:00)

Timezone Conversion:

3 PM EST (America/New_York)
  = 9 PM CET (Europe/Berlin)
  = 5 AM JST (Asia/Tokyo, next day)

Duration Calculation:

From: 9:00 AM Berlin
To: 5:00 PM Berlin
Duration: 8.0 hours (28800 seconds)

Step 4: Handle Edge Cases

Ambiguous Input:

• "What time is it?" → Ask: "Which timezone?"
• "3 PM" → Ask: "Which timezone? (assuming user's local)"

Invalid Timezone:

• "3 PM XYZ" → Suggest valid timezones
• Show list of common zones

Date Handling:

• "tomorrow 3 PM" → Calculate tomorrow's date
• "next Monday" → Infer date

Examples

Example 1: Simple Current Time

Input: "What time is it in Berlin?"

Actions:

1. Detect timezone: "Berlin" → "Europe/Berlin"
2. Call: get_current_time(timezone="Europe/Berlin", format="human")
3. Format output:

   Current time in Berlin (Europe/Berlin):
   Tuesday, 15. January 2025 14:30:45 CET
   

Example 2: Timezone Conversion

Input: "Convert 3 PM EST to CET"

Actions:

1. Parse:
   • Time: "3 PM" → "15:00"
   • From: "EST" → "America/New_York"
   • To: "CET" → "Europe/Berlin"
2. Get current date (if not specified)
3. Call: convert_timezone(time="2025-01-15T15:00:00", from_tz="America/New_York", to_tz="Europe/Berlin")
4. Output:

   3:00 PM EST (New York)
   = 9:00 PM CET (Berlin)
   
   (+6 hours difference)
   

Example 3: Multi-Timezone Display

Input: "Show me 10 AM Berlin in all major timezones"

Actions:

1. Base time: "10:00" Berlin
2. Convert to:
   • UTC
   • EST (New York)
   • PST (Los Angeles)
   • JST (Tokyo)
3. Output table:

   10:00 AM Berlin (CET) is:
   
   UTC:          09:00 AM
   New York:     04:00 AM (EST)
   Los Angeles:  01:00 AM (PST)
   Tokyo:        06:00 PM (JST)
   

Example 4: Meeting Duration

Input: "How long from 9 AM to 5:30 PM?"

Actions:

1. Parse times (assume same timezone)
2. Call: calculate_duration(start="2025-01-15T09:00:00", end="2025-01-15T17:30:00", unit="hours")
3. Output:

   Duration: 8.5 hours
   
   From: 09:00 AM
   To:   05:30 PM
   
   (That's 8 hours 30 minutes / 30600 seconds)
   

Example 5: Complex Scheduling

Input: "If the meeting starts at 2 PM Berlin time and lasts 90 minutes, what time does it end in Tokyo?"

Actions:

1. Start time: "14:00" Berlin
2. Duration: 90 minutes
3. Calculate end time: 14:00 + 1:30 = 15:30 Berlin
4. Convert to Tokyo:

   Meeting Schedule:
   
   Start: 2:00 PM Berlin (14:00 CET)
         = 10:00 PM Tokyo (22:00 JST)
   
   End:   3:30 PM Berlin (15:30 CET)
         = 11:30 PM Tokyo (23:30 JST)
   
   Duration: 1.5 hours (90 minutes)
   

Error Handling

Unknown Timezone

Input: "What time is it in Atlantis?" Response:

⚠️ Unknown timezone: "Atlantis"

Did you mean:
- Atlanta (America/New_York, EST)
- Atlantic Standard Time (America/Halifax, AST)

Or try: Europe/Berlin, America/New_York, Asia/Tokyo

Invalid Time Format

Input: "Convert 25:00 to EST" Response:

⚠️ Invalid time: "25:00"

Please use 24-hour format (00:00 - 23:59)
or 12-hour format with AM/PM (e.g., "1:00 PM")

Ambiguous Date

Input: "3 PM next week" Response:

⚠️ "next week" is ambiguous.

Please specify:
- Day of week (e.g., "next Monday")
- Exact date (e.g., "2025-01-22")

Performance

• ✅ Instant responses (no network calls for MCP)
• ✅ Works offline (local datetime calculations)
• ✅ Handles 200+ timezone names
• ✅ Supports DST (Daylight Saving Time) automatically

Tips

1. Always be proactive: If you see ANY time/date mention, consider using this skill
2. Show multiple formats: Users appreciate seeing both human and ISO formats
3. Timezone abbreviations: Always clarify (EST vs EDT, CET vs CEST)
4. Visual formatting: Use tables for multi-timezone comparisons