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8.1 Timestamps

A timestamp is a specification of a date (possibly with a time or a range of times) in a special format, either ‘<2003-09-16 Tue>’ or ‘<2003-09-16 Tue 09:39>’ or ‘<2003-09-16 Tue 12:00-12:30>’1. A timestamp can appear anywhere in the headline or body of an Org tree entry. Its presence causes entries to be shown on specific dates in the agenda (see Weekly/daily agenda). We distinguish:

Plain timestamp; Event; Appointment​

A simple timestamp just assigns a date/time to an item. This is just like writing down an appointment or event in a paper agenda. In the agenda display, the headline of an entry associated with a plain timestamp is shown exactly on that date.

* Meet Peter at the movies
  <2006-11-01 Wed 19:15>
* Discussion on climate change
  <2006-11-02 Thu 20:00-22:00>

Timestamp with repeater interval​

A timestamp may contain a repeater interval, indicating that it applies not only on the given date, but again and again after a certain interval of N days (d), weeks (w), months (m), or years (y). The following shows up in the agenda every Wednesday:

* Pick up Sam at school
  <2007-05-16 Wed 12:30 +1w>

Diary-style expression entries​

For more complex date specifications, Org mode supports using the special expression diary entries implemented in the Emacs Calendar package2. For example, with optional time:

* 22:00-23:00 The nerd meeting on every 2nd Thursday of the month
  <%%(diary-float t 4 2)>

Time/Date range​

Two timestamps connected by ‘--’ denote a range. The headline is shown on the first and last day of the range, and on any dates that are displayed and fall in the range. Here is an example:

** Meeting in Amsterdam
   <2004-08-23 Mon>--<2004-08-26 Thu>

Inactive timestamp​

Just like a plain timestamp, but with square brackets instead of angular ones. These timestamps are inactive in the sense that they do not trigger an entry to show up in the agenda.

* Gillian comes late for the fifth time
  [2006-11-01 Wed]
  1. The Org date format is inspired by the standard ISO 8601 date/time format. To use an alternative format, see Custom time format. The day name is optional when you type the date yourself. However, any date inserted or modified by Org adds that day name, for reading convenience.↩
  2. When working with the standard diary expression functions, you need to be very careful with the order of the arguments. That order depends evilly on the variable calendar-date-style. For example, to specify a date December 12, 2005, the call might look like ‘(diary-date 12 1 2005)’ or ‘(diary-date 1 12 2005)’ or ‘(diary-date 2005 12 1)’, depending on the settings. This has been the source of much confusion. Org mode users can resort to special versions of these functions like org-date or org-anniversary. These work just like the corresponding diary- functions, but with stable ISO order of arguments (year, month, day) wherever applicable, independent of the value of calendar-date-style.↩