Time MCP Server: Empowering LLMs with Accurate Time Context

In the ever-evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models (LLMs) are rapidly becoming indispensable tools for a wide range of applications. However, their effectiveness hinges on their ability to access and process real-world information accurately. One crucial aspect of this is time. LLMs often need to understand and manipulate time data, whether it’s for scheduling tasks, providing context-aware responses, or performing time-sensitive calculations. This is where the Time MCP Server comes in, providing a robust and reliable solution for LLMs to access accurate time and timezone conversion capabilities.

The Time MCP Server, available on the UBOS Asset Marketplace, is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed to provide LLMs with the ability to obtain current time information and perform timezone conversions using IANA timezone names. This eliminates the need for LLMs to rely on potentially outdated or inaccurate internal clocks, ensuring that they have access to the most up-to-date time data. With automatic system timezone detection, the Time MCP Server simplifies configuration and ensures accurate timekeeping, regardless of the LLM’s deployment environment.

Use Cases

The Time MCP Server unlocks a multitude of use cases for LLMs, significantly enhancing their capabilities across various domains:

• Scheduling and Task Management: LLMs can leverage the Time MCP Server to schedule tasks, set reminders, and manage appointments with precision. For example, an AI assistant can use the server to schedule a meeting for a user in a different timezone, ensuring that the meeting time is correctly adjusted for both parties.
• Context-Aware Responses: By understanding the current time and timezone, LLMs can provide more relevant and contextually appropriate responses. Imagine an AI chatbot responding to a user query about the weather. By knowing the user’s current location and time, the chatbot can provide accurate and up-to-date weather information.
• Data Analysis and Reporting: LLMs can utilize the Time MCP Server to analyze time-series data, generate reports, and identify trends over time. For example, an LLM can analyze sales data from different regions and identify peak sales hours in each timezone.
• Global Applications: For applications that operate across multiple timezones, the Time MCP Server is essential for ensuring accurate timekeeping and coordination. This is particularly important for businesses with global operations, where employees and customers are located in different parts of the world.
• Travel Planning: LLMs can assist users with travel planning by providing information about flight times, time zone differences, and local time at their destination.
• Financial Applications: In the financial sector, accurate timekeeping is crucial for tasks such as trading, risk management, and regulatory compliance. LLMs can use the Time MCP Server to ensure that financial transactions are time-stamped accurately and that all calculations are performed using the correct time data.

Key Features

The Time MCP Server boasts several key features that make it an indispensable tool for LLM developers:

• Accurate Time and Timezone Conversions: The server utilizes the IANA timezone database, ensuring that all time and timezone conversions are accurate and up-to-date.
• Automatic System Timezone Detection: The server automatically detects the system’s timezone, simplifying configuration and ensuring accurate timekeeping.
• Easy Integration: The Time MCP Server can be easily integrated into any LLM application via the Model Context Protocol.
• Simple API: The server provides a simple and intuitive API for accessing time and timezone information.
• Customizable Timezone: Override system timezone, customize timezone by adding the argument --local-timezone to the args list in the configuration.
• Open Source: The Time MCP Server is open source and contributions are welcome to improve and extend its functionality.

Available Tools

The Time MCP Server offers two essential tools for interacting with time data:

• get_current_time: This tool retrieves the current time in a specified timezone or the system’s timezone. It requires the timezone argument, which should be a valid IANA timezone name (e.g., ‘America/New_York’, ‘Europe/London’).

• convert_time: This tool converts time between two timezones. It requires three arguments:

  • source_timezone (string): The source IANA timezone name.
  • time (string): The time in 24-hour format (HH:MM).
  • target_timezone (string): The target IANA timezone name.

Installation and Configuration

The Time MCP Server can be installed and configured using various methods, including:

• uv (recommended): Utilizing uvx for direct execution without specific installation.
• PIP: Installing via pip using pip install mcp-server-time.
• Docker: Running as a Docker container.

Configuration examples are provided for popular platforms like Claude.app and Zed, ensuring seamless integration into your existing development environment. You can also customize the server’s behavior, such as overriding the system timezone, to suit your specific needs.

Interacting with the Time MCP Server

Interacting with the Time MCP Server is straightforward. You simply send a JSON request to the server, specifying the desired tool and its arguments. The server then processes the request and returns a JSON response containing the requested time information.

For example, to get the current time in Warsaw, you would send the following request:

{ “name”: “get_current_time”, “arguments”: { “timezone”: “Europe/Warsaw” } }

The server would then respond with a JSON object containing the current time in Warsaw, including the timezone, datetime, and DST (Daylight Saving Time) status.

Similarly, to convert 4:30 PM in New York to Tokyo time, you would send the following request:

{ “name”: “convert_time”, “arguments”: { “source_timezone”: “America/New_York”, “time”: “16:30”, “target_timezone”: “Asia/Tokyo” } }

The server would then respond with a JSON object containing the converted time in Tokyo, along with the time difference between the two timezones.

Debugging and Contributing

The Time MCP Server includes debugging tools to help you troubleshoot any issues that may arise. You can use the MCP inspector to inspect the server’s behavior and identify potential problems. Contributions to the Time MCP Server are highly encouraged. Whether you want to add new time-related tools, enhance existing functionality, or improve documentation, your input is valuable. The project is licensed under the MIT License, allowing you to use, modify, and distribute the software freely.

The UBOS Advantage

The Time MCP Server is a valuable asset within the UBOS ecosystem, a full-stack AI Agent Development Platform. UBOS focuses on bringing AI Agents to every business department, helping you orchestrate AI Agents, connect them with your enterprise data, build custom AI Agents with your LLM model, and create Multi-Agent Systems. By leveraging the UBOS platform, you can seamlessly integrate the Time MCP Server into your AI Agent workflows, unlocking new possibilities for intelligent automation and decision-making.

Conclusion

The Time MCP Server is an essential tool for any LLM developer who needs to work with time data. Its accurate time and timezone conversions, easy integration, and customizable features make it a valuable asset for a wide range of applications. By leveraging the Time MCP Server, you can empower your LLMs to make more informed decisions, provide more relevant responses, and ultimately, deliver a better user experience. Explore the Time MCP Server on the UBOS Asset Marketplace and unlock the full potential of your AI applications.