Module 4 Lesson 4: Working with Dates

Dates are the #1 source of headaches in programming.

• "What is 3 days from now?"
• "Convert UTC to Pacific Time."
• "Is this invoice overdue?"

n8n uses the Luxon library to make this manageable.

1. The $now Variable

n8n provides a helper for the current moment:

• { $now } -> Returns a full Luxon object.
• { $now.toFormat('yyyy-MM-dd') } -> "2025-12-21"

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2. Adding & Subtracting Time

Need to set a reminder for 48 hours from now? { $now.plus({ hours: 48 }).toISO() }

Need to see if a date was more than a week ago? { $now.minus({ days: 7 }) > DateTime.fromISO($json.created_at) }

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3. Formatting (Human Readable)

External APIs want ISO8601, but humans want "Monday, Dec 21st."

• { $now.setLocale('en-gb').toLocaleString(DateTime.DATE_HUGE) }

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4. Timezone Conversions

{ DateTime.fromISO($json.start_time, { zone: 'utc' }).setZone('America/New_York').toString() }

• This is essential for international teams or scheduling webinars across continents.

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Exercise: The Time Traveler

1. Write an expression that returns the "Current Year."
2. Calculate the date for "Last Tuesday."
3. If an API returns "2025-01-01T12:00:00Z", how do you extract just the "Hour" (12)?
4. Why is it always better to store dates in UTC in your database? (Review Module 2, Lesson 3).
5. Research: What is the "Wait" node's "Wait until" feature? How would you use a dynamic expression there?

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Summary

Date manipulation turns a "Static" automation into a "Time-aware" assistant. By mastering Luxon within n8n, you can build logic that understands deadlines, schedules, and the complex reality of global timezones.

Next Lesson: Final cleanup: Sorting, Filtering, and Limiting data.