Reference
Format date node
Please contact your Customer Success Manager to get access to this node. This is a dedicated feature that is not generally available.
What is format date?
Format date is an action that takes an ISO8601, RFC3339, or Epoch/Unix formatted date time input and converts it into a specified format. It’s commonly used to standardise dates across systems, display them in a user-friendly way, or transform them for compatibility with APIs and databases.
Usage scenarios
You can use of a format date action in a workflow that sends appointment confirmations. In this scenario, when a customer books an appointment through a form, the submitted date is output from Salesforce in Epoch format (1742865000). The Format date node converts this into a more user-friendly and human readable output format (March 21, 2025, 2:30 PM UTC). The formatted date is then included in a confirmation email to the customer, ensuring the date information is clear and easy to understand across different systems and audiences.
Another example is to compare a date time field in Salesforce against the present time an experience is triggered. In this example, the “Timestamp from current node” is used to check against an epoch value from a Salesforce field. It is converted to an ISO8601 date to be used when setting the due date on a task that is being created in Salesforce.
Node configuration
Select timestamp to format
In this dropdown field, there are two options you can select to be the source of your data to format into your desired output:
Timestamp from a previous node: Select a date time field from a previous node within the flow to modify the date time output. This allows any existing date time field data available in the flow to be transformed.
Timestamp from current node: Uses the time of when an experiences passes through this node after the flow is triggered. This will return a timestamp of present date time.
Selecting the input format
This section only appears when 'Timestamp from a previous node' is selected. ISO8601 and RFC3339 date time formats look similar but have key differences. Please refer to table below called distinguishing factors.
An Epoch time is a single numeric value, such as 1234567890. This format is for time-based calculations, which enables Pendula to output a custom date time format of your choice.
Input date time field
Select the field containing the date time value you want to format. This could be a timestamp from a form submission, API response, database entry, etc. This section only appears when 'Timestamp from a previous node' is selected; it is hidden if 'Timestamp from current node' is selected as it is not applicable.
Select the current input format
Specify the current format of the date time input. If you are unsure of which one your data is, refer to this table to assist with identification.
Distinguishing factors
| Feature | ISO8601 | RFC3339 |
| Timezone Requirement | Optional (timezone is not required) | Mandatory (must include timezone) |
| Date Precision | Allows microseconds (up to 6 digits) | Typically allows milliseconds (3 digits) |
| Date-Only Format | Can be just a date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
Requires both date and time |
| Flexibility | More flexible in format (supports various representations) |
More strict and standardised format |
| Usage Context | General purpose (databases, APIs) |
Internet protocols (HTTP, email headers) |
-
Platform Format Example Format System Type Salesforce 2025-03-28T14:30:00.000ZISO 8601 CRM & ERP SAP 2025-03-28T14:30:00.000ZISO 8601 CRM & ERP Oracle ERP & Oracle DB 2025-03-28 14:30:00ISO 8601 CRM & ERP NetSuite (Oracle) 2025-03-28T14:30:00.000ZISO 8601 CRM & ERP Microsoft Dynamics 365 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 CRM & ERP Shopify 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 E-commerce & Payments Magento (Adobe Commerce) 2025-03-28 14:30:00ISO 8601 E-commerce & Payments WooCommerce 2025-03-28T14:30:00ISO 8601 E-commerce & Payments Stripe 1711649400/2025-03-28T14:30:00ZUnix Epoch & ISO 8601 E-commerce & Payments PayPal 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 E-commerce & Payments Google Analytics (GA4 & UA) 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 Marketing & Analytics Facebook Ads (Meta Ads Manager) 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 Marketing & Analytics HubSpot 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 Marketing & Analytics Mailchimp 2025-03-28T14:30:00+00:00ISO 8601 Marketing & Analytics Workday 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 HR & Payroll ADP (Payroll & HR) 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 HR & Payroll BambooHR 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 HR & Payroll Zendesk 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 Support & Communication ServiceNow 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 Support & Communication Jira (Atlassian) 2025-03-28T14:30:00.000+0000ISO 8601 Support & Communication Slack API 1711649400Unix Epoch Support & Communication Microsoft Teams API 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 Support & Communication SAP Business One 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 Logistics & POS Square POS 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 Logistics & POS Clover POS 1711649400Unix Epoch Logistics & POS AWS S3 / CloudWatch 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZISO 8601 Cloud & Hosting Azure (Blob Storage, Functions, etc.) 2025-03-28T14:30:00.000ZISO 8601 Cloud & Hosting Google Cloud Storage & Logging 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZRFC 3339 (ISO 8601-compliant) Cloud & Hosting Google Calendar 2025-03-28T14:30:00ZRFC 3339 (ISO 8601-compliant) Calendars & Scheduling MySQL 2025-03-28 14:30:00ISO 8601 Databases PostgreSQL 2025-03-28 14:30:00+00ISO 8601 Databases SQL Server 2025-03-28 14:30:00.000 +00:00ISO 8601 Databases BigQuery 2025-03-28 14:30:00 UTCISO 8601 & Unix Epoch Databases Firestore 1711649400Unix Epoch Databases Google Sheets 2025-03-28T14:30:00Z(or serial number)ISO 8601 & Google Serial Date Databases
Selecting the output format
This section of the node enables you to select how you want a field to be formatted. You will have the option of selecting the type of date time you want to format and your desired output format of this data.
Output format
Choose the desired output format in this field. The dropdown menu provides commonly used date formats and the option to select a "Custom format.” Once selected, the "Input format token" field appears, allowing token formats to be entered from the table below. Separate multiple tokens with a comma or space to build out a desired format.
-
Standalone token Format token Description Example S millisecond, no padding 54SSS millisecond, padded to 3 054u fractional seconds, functionally identical to SSS 054uu fractional seconds, between 0 and 99, padded to 2 05uuu fractional seconds, between 0 and 9 0s second, no padding 4ss second, padded to 2 padding 04m minute, no padding 7mm minute, padded to 2 07h hour in 12-hour time, no padding 1hh hour in 12-hour time, padded to 2 01H hour in 24-hour time, no padding 9HH hour in 24-hour time, padded to 2 13Z narrow offset +5ZZ short offset +05:00ZZZ techie offset +0500ZZZZ abbreviated named offset ESTZZZZZ unabbreviated named offset Eastern Standard Timez IANA zone America/New_Yorka meridiem AMd day of the month, no padding 6dd day of the month, padded to 2 06c E day of the week, as number from 1-7 (Monday is 1, Sunday is 7) 3ccc EEE day of the week, as an abbreviate localized string Wedcccc EEEE day of the week, as an unabbreviated localized string Wednesdayccccc EEEEE day of the week, as a single localized letter WL M month as an unpadded number 8LL MM month as a padded number 08LLL MMM month as an abbreviated localized string AugLLLL MMMM month as an unabbreviated localized string AugustLLLLL MMMMM month as a single localized letter Ay year, unpadded 2014yy two-digit year 14yyyy four- to six- digit year, pads to 4 2014G abbreviated localized era ADGG unabbreviated localized era Anno DominiGGGGG one-letter localized era Akk ISO week year, unpadded 14kkkk ISO week year, padded to 4 2014W ISO week number, unpadded 32WW ISO week number, padded to 2 32ii Local week year, unpadded 14iiii Local week year, padded to 4 2014n Local week number, unpadded 32nn Local week number, padded to 2 32o ordinal (day of year), unpadded 218ooo ordinal (day of year), padded to 3 218q quarter, no padding 3qq quarter, padded to 2 03D localized numeric date 9/4/2017DD localized date with abbreviated month Aug 6, 2014DDD localized date with full month August 6, 2014DDDD localized date with full month and weekday Wednesday, August 6, 2014t localized time 9:07 AMtt localized time with seconds 1:07:04 PMttt localized time with seconds and abbreviated offset 1:07:04 PM EDTtttt localized time with seconds and full offset 1:07:04 PM Eastern Daylight TimeT localized 24-hour time 13:07TT localized 24-hour time with seconds 13:07:04TTT localized 24-hour time with seconds and abbreviated offset 13:07:04 EDTTTTT localized 24-hour time with seconds and full offset 13:07:04 Eastern Daylight Timef short localized date and time 8/6/2014, 1:07 PMff less short localized date and time Aug 6, 2014, 1:07 PMfff verbose localized date and time August 6, 2014, 1:07 PM EDTffff extra verbose localized date and time Wednesday, August 6, 2014, 1:07 PM Eastern Daylight TimeF short localized date and time with seconds 8/6/2014, 1:07:04 PMFF less short localized date and time with seconds Aug 6, 2014, 1:07:04 PMFFF verbose localized date and time with seconds August 6, 2014, 1:07:04 PM EDTFFFF extra verbose localized date and time with seconds Wednesday, August 6, 2014, 1:07:04 PM Eastern Daylight TimeX unix timestamp in seconds 1407287224x unix timestamp in milliseconds 1407287224054
Example custom output formats
| User input (format string) | Output example |
| dd/MM/yyyy | 08/04/2025 |
| cccc, dd LLLL yyyy | Tuesday, 08 April 2025 |
| hh:mm a | 03:45 PM |
| yyyy-MM-dd 'at' HH:mm | 2025-04-08 at 15:45 |
Time zone
Select the timezone for the output date time. The chosen UTC offset adjusts the date and time accordingly. For example, selecting UTC+11:00 converts the output to Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) during daylight saving or UTC+10:00 for Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) outside of daylight saving.
Related to