Date and Time Formats

Reference for all date and time formats used in Argon JQL functions.

Date Format

Used in: changedBy, transitionedBy, commented, attachment, worklog

Formats

Format	Example	Description
yyyy/MM/dd	2024/01/15	Date only (midnight UTC)
yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm	2024/01/15 14:30	Date and time (UTC)

Examples

-- Date only
issue in changedBy("project = DEV", "Status", "2024/01/01", "2024/12/31")

-- Date and time
issue in transitionedBy("project = DEV", "Done", "2024/01/15 09:00", "2024/01/15 17:00")

Important Notes

• All dates are interpreted as UTC
• When using date-only format, time defaults to 00:00 (midnight)
• Leading zeros are required: use 01 not 1
• Year must be 4 digits

Time Expression Format

Used in: timeInStatus, timeExpression, worklog (min/max time spent)

Units

Unit	Meaning	Example
w	Weeks	2w = 2 weeks
d	Days	5d = 5 days
h	Hours	8h = 8 hours
m	Minutes	30m = 30 minutes
s	Seconds	45s = 45 seconds

Combining Units

You can combine multiple units in a single expression:

2w 3d 4h 30m

This equals: 2 weeks + 3 days + 4 hours + 30 minutes

Examples

-- Find issues in progress for over 2 weeks
issue > timeInStatus("project = DEV", "In Progress", "2w")

-- Find issues in review for less than 3 days
issue < timeInStatus("project = DEV", "In Review", "3d")

-- Find issues with 2+ hours of worklogs
issue in worklog("project = DEV", "", "", "", "2h")

-- Use with Time in Status custom field
"In Progress.time" >= timeExpression("1w 2d")

-- Complex time expression
issue > timeInStatus("project = DEV", "Blocked", "1w 3d 4h")

Conversion Reference

Expression	Equivalent
1w	7 days
1d	24 hours
1h	60 minutes
1m	60 seconds

Notes

• Order doesn't matter: 2d 1w equals 1w 2d
• Spaces are optional: 2w3d equals 2w 3d
• Values can be any positive integer
• No decimal values: use 1h 30m not 1.5h

UTC Handling

All dates and times in Argon are processed in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

Why UTC?

• Consistency: Avoids timezone-related bugs
• Jira Compatibility: Jira stores timestamps in UTC
• Reproducibility: Queries produce the same results regardless of user timezone

Best Practices

1. Convert to UTC before using dates in queries
2. Account for timezone offset when querying "today's" issues

Example: Querying Today's Changes

If you're in EST (UTC-5) and want issues changed "today" (Jan 15, local time):

-- Wrong: This queries Jan 15 00:00 UTC to Jan 15 23:59 UTC
-- Which is Jan 14 7pm to Jan 15 6:59pm EST

issue in changedBy("project = DEV", "", "2024/01/15", "2024/01/15")

-- Correct: Account for your timezone offset
issue in changedBy("project = DEV", "", "2024/01/15 05:00", "2024/01/16 05:00")

Function Reference

Functions Using Date Format

Function	Parameters
changedBy	start_date, end_date
transitionedBy	start_date, end_date
commented	start_date, end_date
attachment	start_date, end_date
worklog	start_date, end_date

Functions Using Time Expression

Function	Parameters
timeInStatus	time_expression
timeExpression	expression
worklog	min_time_spent, max_time_spent

Error Messages

Invalid Date Format

Invalid date format. Expected: yyyy/MM/dd or yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm

Check your date string matches the expected format.

Invalid Time Expression

Invalid time expression. Expected format: 1w 2d 3h 4m 5s

Check for typos in unit letters or invalid characters.