Add local time and timezone

Author: Snehal-Reddy

Cargo.toml

@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ regex = "1.11"
 serde_json = "1.0"
 # Date for today + recent daily notes (YYYYMMDD)
 time = { version = "0.3", default-features = false, features = ["formatting", "std"] }
+# IANA timezone support for local-time system prompt line (DST-aware)
+chrono    = { version = "0.4", default-features = false, features = ["std", "clock"] }
+chrono-tz = { version = "0.10", default-features = false }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 wiremock = "0.6"

config.example.toml

@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ model = "YOUR_MODEL"
 [heartbeat]
 interval-minutes = 30
 
+# Your IANA timezone name — used for local time in the agent prompt.
+# Handles DST automatically; no need to update when clocks change.
+# Default if absent: Europe/London.
+# timezone = "Europe/London"
+
 # Optional: Brave web search. Leave commented or set ICRAB_TOOLS_WEB_BRAVE_API_KEY in env.
 # [tools.web]
 # brave-api-key = "YOUR_BRAVE_API_KEY"

src/agent.rs

@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ pub async fn process_message(
     registry: &ToolRegistry,
     workspace_path: &Path,
     model: &str,
+    timezone: &str,
     chat_id: &str,
     user_message: &str,
     tool_ctx: &ToolCtx,
@@ -179,6 +180,7 @@ pub async fn process_message(
     let today = crate::workspace::today_yyyymmdd();
     let messages = build_messages(
         workspace_path,
+        timezone,
         session.history(),
         session.summary(),
         user_message,
@@ -208,6 +210,7 @@ pub async fn process_heartbeat_message(
     registry: &ToolRegistry,
     workspace_path: &Path,
     model: &str,
+    timezone: &str,
     chat_id: &str,
     user_message: &str,
     tool_ctx: &ToolCtx,
@@ -217,6 +220,7 @@ pub async fn process_heartbeat_message(
     let today = crate::workspace::today_yyyymmdd();
     let messages = build_messages(
         workspace_path,
+        timezone,
         &[],
         "",
         user_message,

src/agent/context.rs

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 use std::path::Path;
 
-use time::OffsetDateTime;
+use chrono::Offset as _;
 
 use crate::llm::{Message, Role};
 use crate::workspace;
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ use crate::workspace;
 #[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
 pub fn build_messages(
     workspace_path: &Path,
+    timezone: &str,
     history: &[Message],
     summary: &str,
     user_message: &str,
@@ -23,15 +24,30 @@ pub fn build_messages(
 ) -> Vec<Message> {
     let mut system = String::new();
 
-    // Identity: current date/time (human-readable + timezone) and Unix, workspace
-    let now = OffsetDateTime::now_utc();
-    let now_unix = now.unix_timestamp();
+    // Identity: current local date/time with UTC offset, Unix timestamp, workspace
+    let tz: chrono_tz::Tz = timezone
+        .parse()
+        .expect("timezone was validated at startup; parse cannot fail here");
+    let now_utc = chrono::Utc::now();
+    let now_local = now_utc.with_timezone(&tz);
+    let offset_secs = now_local.offset().fix().local_minus_utc();
+    let offset_hours = offset_secs / 3600;
+    let offset_str = if offset_hours >= 0 {
+        format!("UTC+{}", offset_hours)
+    } else {
+        format!("UTC{}", offset_hours)
+    };
+    let now_unix = now_utc.timestamp();
+    let time_line = format!(
+        "Current time ({}, local): {} ({}). Unix: {}.",
+        offset_str,
+        now_local.format("%A %-d %b %Y %H:%M"),
+        timezone,
+        now_unix,
+    );
     system.push_str("You are iCrab, a minimal personal AI assistant. ");
-    system.push_str("Current time: ");
-    system.push_str(&format!("{} {} {} UTC. ", now.weekday(), now.date(), now.time()));
-    system.push_str("Unix: ");
-    system.push_str(&now_unix.to_string());
-    system.push_str(". Workspace: ");
+    system.push_str(&time_line);
+    system.push_str(" Workspace: ");
     system.push_str(workspace_path.to_string_lossy().as_ref());
     system.push_str(".\n\n");
 
@@ -127,6 +143,7 @@ mod tests {
         let workspace = std::env::temp_dir();
         let messages = build_messages(
             &workspace,
+            "Europe/London",
             &[],
             "",
             "hello",
@@ -137,12 +154,8 @@ mod tests {
         );
         let system = &messages[0].content;
         assert!(
-            system.contains("Current time:"),
-            "system prompt should include 'Current time:'"
-        );
-        assert!(
-            system.contains(" UTC."),
-            "system prompt should include ' UTC.'"
+            system.contains("Current time (UTC"),
+            "system prompt should include 'Current time (UTC'"
         );
         assert!(
             system.contains("Unix: "),

src/agent/subagent_manager.rs

@@ -357,6 +357,7 @@ mod tests {
             }),
             tools: None,
             heartbeat: None,
+            timezone: None,
         };
         HttpProvider::from_config(&cfg).expect("stub provider")
     }

src/config.rs

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 //! Single file: `~/.icrab/config.toml`. Override path with `ICRAB_CONFIG`.
 //! Env overrides (optional): `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` or `ICRAB_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN`,
 //! `ICRAB_LLM_API_KEY`, `ICRAB_LLM_API_BASE`, `ICRAB_LLM_MODEL`, `ICRAB_WORKSPACE`,
-//! `ICRAB_TOOLS_WEB_BRAVE_API_KEY`.
+//! `ICRAB_TOOLS_WEB_BRAVE_API_KEY`, `ICRAB_TIMEZONE`.
 
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ pub struct Config {
     pub tools: Option<ToolsConfig>,
     pub heartbeat: Option<HeartbeatConfig>,
     pub restrict_to_workspace: Option<bool>,
+    /// IANA timezone name (e.g. "Europe/London"). Default when absent: "Europe/London".
+    pub timezone: Option<String>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Default, Deserialize)]
@@ -147,6 +149,9 @@ pub fn load(path: &std::path::Path) -> Result<Config, ConfigError> {
         let web = tools.web.get_or_insert_with(WebConfig::default);
         web.brave_api_key = Some(v);
     }
+    if let Ok(v) = std::env::var("ICRAB_TIMEZONE") {
+        cfg.timezone = Some(v);
+    }
 
     cfg.validate()?;
     Ok(cfg)
@@ -187,6 +192,14 @@ impl Config {
                 "llm section is required".to_string(),
             ));
         }
+        if let Some(ref tz) = self.timezone {
+            tz.parse::<chrono_tz::Tz>().map_err(|_| {
+                ConfigError::Validation(format!(
+                    "timezone '{}' is not a valid IANA timezone (e.g. Europe/London, America/New_York)",
+                    tz
+                ))
+            })?;
+        }
         Ok(())
     }
 

src/main.rs

@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ async fn main() {
         .unwrap_or("google/gemini-3-flash-preview");
     let workspace = PathBuf::from(cfg.workspace_path());
     let restrict = cfg.restrict_to_workspace.unwrap_or(true);
+    let timezone = cfg
+        .timezone
+        .as_deref()
+        .unwrap_or("Europe/London")
+        .to_string();
 
     // Build subagent registry (core only — no spawn, no cron).
     let subagent_registry = Arc::new(tools::build_core_registry(&cfg));
@@ -128,6 +133,7 @@ async fn main() {
                 &registry,
                 &workspace,
                 model,
+                &timezone,
                 &chat_id_str,
                 &msg.text,
                 &tool_ctx,
@@ -146,6 +152,7 @@ async fn main() {
                 &registry,
                 &workspace,
                 model,
+                &timezone,
                 &chat_id_str,
                 &msg.text,
                 &tool_ctx,

src/tools/spawn.rs

@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ mod tests {
             }),
             tools: None,
             heartbeat: None,
+            timezone: None,
         };
         let llm = crate::llm::HttpProvider::from_config(&cfg).expect("stub");
         SubagentManager::new(

src/tools/subagent.rs

@@ -222,6 +222,7 @@ mod tests {
             }),
             tools: None,
             heartbeat: None,
+            timezone: None,
         };
         // This might fail if Config::validate() checks paths, but here we just need types.
         // Actually HttpProvider::from_config might check stuff.

tests/agent_tests.rs

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ async fn test_agent_basic_flow() {
         &registry,
         &ws.root,
         "gpt-4-test",
+        "Europe/London",
         "chat_basic",
         "Hi",
         &ctx,
@@ -149,6 +150,7 @@ async fn test_agent_tool_use_loop() {
         &registry,
         &ws.root,
         "gpt-4-test",
+        "Europe/London",
         "chat_tool",
         "Write file test.txt with success",
         &ctx,
@@ -206,6 +208,7 @@ async fn test_agent_session_load_on_restart() {
         &registry,
         &ws.root,
         "gpt-4-test",
+        "Europe/London",
         "chat_restart",
         "First",
         &ctx,
@@ -241,6 +244,7 @@ async fn test_agent_session_load_on_restart() {
         &registry,
         &ws.root,
         "gpt-4-test",
+        "Europe/London",
         "chat_restart",
         "Second",
         &ctx,
@@ -318,6 +322,7 @@ async fn test_agent_unknown_tool_completes_with_error_in_conversation() {
         &registry,
         &ws.root,
         "gpt-4-test",
+        "Europe/London",
         "chat_unknown_tool",
         "Use nonexistent tool",
         &ctx,
@@ -389,6 +394,7 @@ async fn test_agent_invalid_tool_args_completes_with_error_in_conversation() {
         &registry,
         &ws.root,
         "gpt-4-test",
+        "Europe/London",
         "chat_bad_args",
         "Read file foo.txt",
         &ctx,