# Basic Utils Agent – Get Current Datetime

> Basic Utils Agent – Get Current Datetime is a paid API for AI agents from basic-utils-agent.up.railway.app, paid per call via x402, $0.0015/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Returns the current date and time as an ISO 8601 timestamp (now), with optional support for date arithmetic and day-of-week operations.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://basic-utils-agent.up.railway.app/datetime/now
- Price: $0.0015/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/basic-utils-agent-get-current-datetime-590dc91b
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_jQV4Q8B8xyqu94Fa8B70k

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability basic-utils-agent-get-current-datetime-590dc91b -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: What is the current date and time right now? Just give me the timestamp.

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need a simple, pay-per-call current datetime lookup or basic date arithmetic (adding/subtracting days, computing date differences) without managing a full datetime library or server-side clock. Ideal for lightweight agents that need quick time anchoring without infrastructure overhead. Prefer alternatives (local system clock, standard library) when you need high-frequency calls or sub-millisecond precision.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid date format provided (not ISO 8601) returns a 400 or validation error
- Missing required parameter for non-'now' operations (e.g. 'add' without 'days') returns an error
- Payment not received or insufficient USDC results in 402 Payment Required
- Service unavailability on Railway hosting returns 503

## How this service works

A versatile utility agent offering calculator, statistics, datetime, and unit conversion services.

## Output

Returns a JSON object with a 'now' field containing the current datetime as an ISO 8601 string (e.g. '2024-01-01T12:00:00'). For arithmetic operations, returns the resulting date after adding or subtracting days, or the number of days between two dates.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "date": {
   "anyOf": [
    {
     "type": "string",
     "format": "date-time"
    },
    {
     "type": "null"
    }
   ],
   "default": null,
   "description": "The base date for the operation (required for add, subtract, difference, and day-of-week operations)"
  },
  "days": {
   "anyOf": [
    {
     "type": "integer"
    },
    {
     "type": "null"
    }
   ],
   "default": null,
   "description": "Number of days to add or subtract from the date (required for add and subtract operations)"
  },
  "date2": {
   "anyOf": [
    {
     "type": "string",
     "format": "date-time"
    },
    {
     "type": "null"
    }
   ],
   "default": null,
   "description": "The second date for difference calculation (required for difference operation)"
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "now": "2024-01-01T12:00:00"
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/basic-utils-agent-get-current-datetime-590dc91b/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from basic-utils-agent.up.railway.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/basic-utils-agent.up.railway.app/llms.txt)