parse - Parse natural language date/time expressions

Parse natural language date and time expressions into standardized format.

For Claude Code

If you are Claude: DO NOT invoke this slash command. Use the date command directly via Bash tool:

date -d "expression" '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S (%A)'

See the Implementation section below for the exact command pattern.

For Users

Usage

/datetime:parse <expression>
/datetime:parse <expression> [format]

What it does

1. Standard format: Parses natural language and returns standardized date/time

   • Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (DayName)
   • Example: /datetime:parse "tomorrow" → 2025-11-14 00:00:00 (Friday)

2. Custom format: Parse and return in custom format

   • Uses date command format strings
   • Example: /datetime:parse "next Monday" "%Y-%m-%d" → 2025-11-17

Implementation

Standard format:

date -d "<expression>" '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S (%A)'

Custom format:

date -d "<expression>" '+[format-string]'

Important: "in" prefix handling

• User says: "in 3 days"
• Command needs: date -d "3 days"
• Strip "in" prefix before passing to date -d

Natural language expressions

Relative dates:

• tomorrow, yesterday
• 3 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, 6 months
• next Monday, last Friday
• next week, last month

Specific dates:

• Nov 13, November 13, 13 Nov 2025
• 2025-11-13, 13/11/2025

Combined expressions:

• tomorrow at 3pm → 2025-11-14 15:00:00 (Friday)
• next Monday at 14:30 → 2025-11-17 14:30:00 (Monday)
• 3 days at noon → 2025-11-16 12:00:00 (Sunday)

Week navigation:

• monday, tuesday (next occurrence)
• next monday, last tuesday

Examples

# Tomorrow
/datetime:parse "tomorrow"
→ 2025-11-14 00:00:00 (Friday)

# Relative days (strip "in" if present)
/datetime:parse "3 days"
→ 2025-11-16 00:00:00 (Sunday)

# Next week day
/datetime:parse "next Monday"
→ 2025-11-17 00:00:00 (Monday)

# With time
/datetime:parse "tomorrow at 3pm"
→ 2025-11-14 15:00:00 (Friday)

# Specific date
/datetime:parse "Nov 15"
→ 2025-11-15 00:00:00 (Saturday)

# Custom format - date only
/datetime:parse "next week" "%Y-%m-%d"
→ 2025-11-20

# Unix timestamp for calculations
/datetime:parse "3 days" "+%s"
→ 1731715200

Error handling

If the expression is invalid, date will return an error:

date -d "invalid expression"
→ date: invalid date 'invalid expression'

Common mistakes:

• in 3 days → Remove "in", use 3 days
• 3d → Use full words: 3 days
• next week monday → Use next monday or monday next week

When to use

• ANY time user mentions dates, times, or temporal concepts
• Converting user's natural language into concrete dates
• Calculating deadlines from relative expressions
• Validating date inputs before processing
• Don't guess dates - always verify with this command

Related commands

• /datetime:now - Get current date and time
• /datetime:calc - Calculate date differences