Time

Added in v1.0 · Updated March 13, 2026 · Modules

ruby stdlib time datetime

The Time class provides methods for working with dates and times in Ruby. It’s part of the standard library and offers powerful date/time manipulation capabilities.

Overview

Ruby’s Time class represents dates and times:

Create: Generate times from strings, timestamps, or components
Parse: Convert strings into Time objects
Manipulate: Add, subtract, and modify time values
Format: Display times in various formats

Creating Time Objects

Current Time

Time.now        # => 2026-03-13 14:52:00 +0000
Time.current    # => Same as now, but respects Rails timezone

From String

Time.parse("2026-03-13")
# => 2026-03-13 00:00:00 +0000

Time.parse("2026-03-13 10:30:00")
# => 2026-03-13 10:30:00 +0000

From Components

Time.new(2026, 3, 13, 14, 30, 0)
# => 2026-03-13 14:30:00 +0000

From Timestamp

Time.at(1700000000)
# => 2023-11-14 22:13:20 +0000

Time.at(1700000000, :millisecond)
# => 2023-11-14 22:13:20.000 +0000

Time Components

You can extract individual components from a Time object:

time = Time.now

time.year      # => 2026
time.month     # => 3
time.day       # => 13
time.hour      # => 14
time.min       # => 52
time.sec       # => 0
time.wday      # => 5 (0 = Sunday)
time.yday      # => 72 (day of year)
time.zone      # => "UTC"

Time Calculations

Adding/Subtracting

time = Time.now

time + 3600        # One hour from now
time - 86400       # One day ago

Comparing Times

past = Time.parse("2020-01-01")
future = Time.parse("2030-01-01")

future > past      # => true
past <=> future    # => -1 (past is earlier)

Formatting Times

strftime

The strftime method formats time using directives:

time = Time.now

time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")           # => "2026-03-13"
time.strftime("%H:%M:%S")           # => "14:52:00"
time.strftime("%B %d, %Y")          # => "March 13, 2026"
time.strftime("%d/%m/%Y")           # => "13/03/2026"
time.strftime("%A")                 # => "Friday"

Directive	Meaning	Example
`%Y`	Year	2026
`%m`	Month (01-12)	03
`%d`	Day	13
`%H`	Hour (24h)	14
`%M`	Minute	52
`%S`	Second	00
`%A`	Weekday	Friday
`%B`	Month name	March

Predefined Formats

time.iso8601     # => "2026-03-13T14:52:00Z"
time.rfc2822     # => "Fri, 13 Mar 2026 14:52:00 +0000"
time.xmlschema   # => "2026-03-13T14:52:00Z"

Time Zones

Working with Time Zones

require "time"

# Parse with timezone
Time.parse("2026-03-13 10:00:00 EST")
# => 2026-03-13 10:00:00 -0500

# Get time in specific zone
Time.use_zone("Pacific Time (US & Canada)") do
  Time.zone.now
end

Converting Between Zones

time = Time.now.utc

time.getlocal("-0800")    # Convert to PST
time.utc                  # Convert to UTC

Practical Examples

Age Calculation

birthday = Time.parse("1990-06-15")
age = ((Time.now - birthday) / 365.25 / 24 / 60 / 60).to_i
# => 35

Day Start/End

time = Time.now

time.beginning_of_day    # => 2026-03-13 00:00:00 +0000
time.end_of_day         # => 2026-03-13 23:59:59 +0000

Date Arithmetic

require "date"

date = Date.today
next_week = date + 7
last_month = date << 1