strftime

datetime

Formats a timestamp as a string using a format pattern

Syntax

strftime(timestamp, format)

Parameters

timestamp (timestamp)

The timestamp to format

format (string)

The format string (e.g., "%Y-%m-%d")

Returns

string

The formatted date/time string

Examples

Format as ISO date
Input:
strftime("2024-01-15", "%Y-%m-%d")
Output:
"2024-01-15"
Format with time
Input:
strftime("2024-01-15 14:30:00", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
Output:
"2024-01-15 14:30:00"
Format with full month name
Input:
strftime("2024-01-15", "%B %d, %Y")
Output:
"January 15, 2024"
Extract year-month for grouping
Input:
.timestamp | strftime("%Y-%m")
Output:
"2024-01"

The strftime() function formats a timestamp as a string using strftime format codes. Common codes include %Y (year), %m (month), %d (day), %H (hour), %M (minute), %S (second), %B (full month name), and %A (full weekday name).

Usage

Use strftime() to format dates for display, create custom date strings, group data by time periods, or convert timestamps to specific string formats.