Unix Timestamps MCP Server

Overview

The Unix Timestamps MCP Server is a minimal, purpose‑built service that lets AI assistants instantly translate ISO 8601 date/time strings into Unix timestamps. By exposing a single, well‑documented tool (), the server removes the need for developers to write their own parsing logic or depend on external libraries whenever an assistant must convert human‑readable dates into epoch seconds. This is especially valuable in contexts where time calculations are frequent—log analysis, event scheduling, or any workflow that requires a standard numeric representation of time.

Why It Matters

In many AI‑driven applications, the assistant must understand or manipulate timestamps in a format that downstream systems (databases, APIs, monitoring tools) expect. Relying on the client to perform this conversion introduces redundancy and potential errors, especially when time zones or locale nuances are involved. The MCP server centralizes the conversion logic, ensuring consistent results across all agents that consume it and simplifying the assistant’s prompt language: a single function call replaces lengthy explanations or manual parsing steps.

Core Features

• ISO 8601 to Unix Conversion: Accepts any ISO‑formatted string that JavaScript’s parser recognises, returning the epoch value in seconds.
• Input Validation: Quickly checks that the supplied string is a valid date, preventing silent failures.
• Clear Error Reporting: Provides informative messages when the input cannot be parsed, aiding debugging and user guidance.
• Lightweight Implementation: Built on Node.js 18+, the server adds negligible overhead to an MCP deployment and can be launched with a single command.

Real‑World Use Cases

• Event Scheduling: An assistant can convert user‑supplied dates into timestamps that a calendar API consumes, streamlining booking workflows.
• Log Normalisation: When ingesting logs from heterogeneous sources, the server can standardise timestamps before storage or analysis.
• Time‑Based Calculations: Assistants can compute time differences, set reminders, or schedule tasks by first converting human‑readable dates into a uniform numeric format.

Integration with AI Workflows

Developers add the server to their MCP configuration once, and any client—Claude Desktop, web‑based assistants, or custom agents—can invoke directly in prompts. The function’s simple signature () keeps the interaction natural, while the server’s robust error handling ensures that malformed inputs are caught early. Because the MCP protocol handles tool execution transparently, the assistant can chain this conversion with other tools or prompts without additional plumbing.

Distinctive Advantages

The server’s focused scope means it is fast, easy to audit, and free from unnecessary dependencies. Its use of native JavaScript date parsing guarantees compatibility with the ISO 8601 standard, including time‑zone offsets. By centralising timestamp conversion in a single MCP service, teams avoid duplication of logic across multiple assistants and reduce the surface area for bugs related to time‑zone handling—a common pain point in distributed systems.