What timezone does DATE("now") function return?
DATE("now") will return a UTC time.
Read about the DATE function in our docs.
You can find an example of DATE function uses in the story library
How can I convert timezones in Tines Stories?
There are two examples in the action below,
UTC to PST (28800 seconds difference)
UTC to PDT (25200 seconds difference)
You can copy/paste the below code into your story board:
{"standardLibVersion":"20","actionRuntimeVersion":"4","agents":[{"disabled":false,"name":"Timezone","description":null,"options":"{\"mode\":\"message_only\",\"PST\":\"<<DATE(\\\"now\\\", \\\"%s\\\") |> MINUS(%, 28800) |> DATE(%, \\\"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S\\\")>>\",\"PDT\":\"<<DATE(\\\"now\\\", \\\"%s\\\") |> MINUS(%, 25200) |> DATE(%, \\\"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S\\\")>>\"}","position":{"x":705,"y":780},"type":"eventTransformation","timeSavedUnit":"minutes","timeSavedValue":0,"monitorAllEvents":false,"monitorFailures":false,"monitorNoEventsEmitted":null,"spotlightTemplate":null,"spotlightWriters":[],"form":null,"cardIconName":null,"cardIconColor":null,"createdFromTemplateGuid":null,"createdFromTemplateVersion":null}],"links":[],"diagramNotes":[]}Converting time into UNIX or epoch time
To convert time into UNIX time, use the function DATE("now", "%s")
Calculate the difference between two dates
Option 1: Using formulas
You can calculate time differences using the DATE_TO_UNIX formula:
=DATE_TO_UNIX("2026-04-15") - DATE_TO_UNIX("2026-01-01")
This gives you the difference in seconds. Then divide:
÷ 60 → minutes
÷ 3600 → hours
÷ 86400 → days
Example in an event transform (automatic mode):
{
"diff_in_days": "=DIVIDE(MINUS(DATE_TO_UNIX(date_two),
DATE_TO_UNIX(date_one)), 86400)"
}Option 2: Using a run script action (python)
If you need more precision or complex date math, a python script is very flexible:
from datetime import datetime
date1 = datetime.strptime("{{ date_one }}", "%Y-%m-%d")
date2 = datetime.strptime("{{ date_two }}", "%Y-%m-%d")
diff = (date2 - date1).daysprint(diff)
To learn more about the date function, see here
You can find an example of DATE function in the story library