Feat: Enable toggling date format between relative and absolute (#491)

Author: jakubbortlik

after/syntax/gitlab.vim

@@ -5,10 +5,11 @@ endif
 let expanders = '^\s*\%(' . g:gitlab_discussion_tree_expander_open . '\|' . g:gitlab_discussion_tree_expander_closed . '\)'
 let username = '@[a-zA-Z0-9.]\+'
 
-" Covers times like '14 days ago', 'just now', as well as 'October  3, 2024'
+" Covers times like '14 days ago', 'just now', as well as 'October  3, 2024', and '02/28/2025 at 00:50'
 let time_ago = '\d\+ \w\+ ago'
 let formatted_date = '\w\+ \{1,2}\d\{1,2}, \d\{4}'
-let date = '\%(' . time_ago . '\|' . formatted_date . '\|just now\)'
+let absolute_time = '\d\{2}/\d\{2}/\d\{4} at \d\{2}:\d\{2}'
+let date = '\%(' . time_ago . '\|' . formatted_date . '\|' . absolute_time . '\|just now\)'
 
 let published = date . ' \%(' . g:gitlab_discussion_tree_resolved . '\|' . g:gitlab_discussion_tree_unresolved . '\|' . g:gitlab_discussion_tree_unlinked . '\)\?'
 let state = ' \%(' . published . '\|' . g:gitlab_discussion_tree_draft . '\)'

doc/gitlab.nvim.txt

@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ you call this function with no values the defaults will be used:
           switch_view = "c", -- Toggle between the notes and discussions views
           toggle_tree_type = "i", -- Toggle type of discussion tree - "simple", or "by_file_name"
           publish_draft = "P", -- Publish the currently focused note/comment
+          toggle_date_format = "dt", -- Toggle between date formats: relative (e.g., "5 days ago", "just now", "October 13, 2024" for dates more than a month ago) and absolute (e.g., "03/01/2024 at 11:43")
           toggle_draft_mode = "D", -- Toggle between draft mode (comments posted as drafts) and live mode (comments are posted immediately)
           toggle_sort_method = "st", -- Toggle whether discussions are sorted by the "latest_reply", or by "original_comment", see `:h gitlab.nvim.toggle_sort_method`
           toggle_node = "t", -- Open or close the discussion
@@ -267,6 +268,7 @@ you call this function with no values the defaults will be used:
         draft = "✎", -- Symbol to show next to draft comments/notes
         tree_type = "simple", -- Type of discussion tree - "simple" means just list of discussions, "by_file_name" means file tree with discussions under file
         draft_mode = false, -- Whether comments are posted as drafts as part of a review
+        relative_date = true, -- Whether to show relative time like "5 days ago" or absolute time like "03/01/2025 at 01:43"
         winbar = nil, -- Custom function to return winbar title, should return a string. Provided with WinbarTable (defined in annotations.lua)
                      -- If using lualine, please add "gitlab" to disabled file types, otherwise you will not see the winbar.
       },

lua/gitlab/actions/common.lua

@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ M.build_note_header = function(note)
   if note.note then
     return "@" .. state.USER.username .. " " .. state.settings.discussion_tree.draft
   end
-  return "@" .. note.author.username .. " " .. u.time_since(note.created_at)
+  local time = state.settings.discussion_tree.relative_date and u.time_since(note.created_at)
+    or u.format_to_local(note.created_at, vim.fn.strftime("%z"))
+  return "@" .. note.author.username .. " " .. time
 end
 
 M.switch_can_edit_bufs = function(bool, ...)

lua/gitlab/actions/discussions/init.lua

@@ -649,6 +649,16 @@ M.set_tree_keymaps = function(tree, bufnr, unlinked)
     })
   end
 
+  if keymaps.discussion_tree.toggle_date_format then
+    vim.keymap.set("n", keymaps.discussion_tree.toggle_date_format, function()
+      M.toggle_date_format()
+    end, {
+      buffer = bufnr,
+      desc = "Toggle date format",
+      nowait = keymaps.discussion_tree.toggle_date_format_nowait,
+    })
+  end
+
   if keymaps.discussion_tree.toggle_resolved then
     vim.keymap.set("n", keymaps.discussion_tree.toggle_resolved, function()
       if M.is_current_node_note(tree) and not M.is_draft_note(tree) then
@@ -809,6 +819,13 @@ M.toggle_sort_method = function()
   M.rebuild_view(false, true)
 end
 
+---Toggle between displaying relative time (e.g., "5 days ago") and absolute time (e.g., "04/10/2025 at 22:49")
+M.toggle_date_format = function()
+  state.settings.discussion_tree.relative_date = not state.settings.discussion_tree.relative_date
+  M.rebuild_unlinked_discussion_tree()
+  M.rebuild_discussion_tree()
+end
+
 ---Indicates whether the node under the cursor is a draft note or not
 ---@param tree NuiTree
 ---@return boolean

lua/gitlab/state.lua

@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ M.settings = {
       switch_view = "c",
       toggle_tree_type = "i",
       publish_draft = "P",
+      toggle_date_format = "dt",
       toggle_draft_mode = "D",
       toggle_sort_method = "st",
       toggle_node = "t",
@@ -169,6 +170,7 @@ M.settings = {
     draft = "✎",
     tree_type = "simple",
     draft_mode = false,
+    relative_date = true,
   },
   emojis = {
     formatter = nil,