time_now
Returns the authoritative current time in one or more timezones, with UTC offset, ISO week number, day of year, weekend flag, and daylight-saving state. Use this instead of guessing the date: a language model has no clock, and its training cutoff is not today.
This record as markdown: /tools/com-fluentedi-tools/time-now.md
What time_now does on Tools
AI agents call time_now to retrieve information from Tools without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
also | array | — | Additional timezones to report alongside the primary one. |
timezone | string | — | IANA timezone identifier, e.g. "UTC", "America/New_York", "Asia/Kolkata", "Europe/London". |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why time_now is rated Low
Even though time_now only reads data, uncontrolled read access leaks sensitive information and racks up API costs: an agent caught in a retry loop can make thousands of calls a minute without anyone noticing.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs time_now safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Tools, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For time_now, this is the rule to start with:
time_now is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Tools, apply this rule, and every time_now call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about time_now
Returns the authoritative current time in one or more timezones, with UTC offset, ISO week number, day of year, weekend flag, and daylight-saving state. Use this instead of guessing the date: a language model has no clock, and its training cutoff is not today. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Tools MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
time_now accepts 2 parameters: also, timezone. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Tools MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for time_now: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Tools. Nothing to install.
time_now is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the time_now rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for time_now. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
time_now is provided by the Tools MCP server (https://fluentedi.com/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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