time-conversion - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: time-conversion description: > Timezone and time conversion specialist for accurate, DST-aware time calculations worldwide. Use when asked to: convert a time between timezones, get the current time in a city or region, schedule meetings across multiple timezones, or check UTC offsets and daylight saving status. Trigger keywords: time-conversion, time-conv. Do NOT use for calendar arithmetic (adding days/weeks) — use a general reasoning approach instead. compatibility: Requires MCP server called time configured in .augment/mcp-config.json.

Time Conversion Skill

Description

Convert times between any IANA-defined timezones and retrieve the current time in any location using the time MCP server. All conversions are DST-aware and sourced from the IANA timezone database, ensuring accuracy for both past and future dates where database coverage exists.

Capabilities

Convert a specific time from one timezone to one or more target timezones
Retrieve the current time in any IANA timezone
Handle daylight saving time transitions automatically
Resolve city or region names to their canonical IANA timezone identifiers
Support multi-timezone comparisons (e.g., finding overlap windows for international meetings)

Key Concepts

IANA timezone name: The canonical identifier for a timezone (e.g., America/New_York, Europe/London, Asia/Tokyo) — always prefer over ambiguous abbreviations like EST or BST.
UTC: The universal reference point; when in doubt, convert to UTC first then to the target.
DST: Daylight Saving Time — the MCP server handles transitions automatically when IANA names are used; UTC offsets (e.g., +05:30) do not account for DST.
get_current_time: MCP tool to retrieve the current time in a given IANA timezone.
convert_time: MCP tool to convert a specific time from a source timezone to a target timezone.

Workflow

Connectivity probe — call get_current_time with timezone UTC as the first action. If it fails, stop immediately and report: "Time conversion MCP server is unavailable. Cannot proceed."
Resolve timezone names — map any city names, abbreviations, or UTC offsets in the user's request to canonical IANA names before calling the tools.
Select the right tool:
- Use get_current_time for "what time is it now in X?"
- Use convert_time for "convert HH:MM from X to Y"
Handle multi-timezone requests — call convert_time (or get_current_time) once per target timezone; batch results into a single response table.
Report using this structure:
- Result: converted time(s) with timezone name and UTC offset
- DST note: flag if a DST transition is relevant to the result (e.g., clocks change within the next week)
- Reference: IANA names used, for verification

Usage Examples

Current Time in a City

time-conv What time is it now in Tokyo?

Basic Conversion

time-conv Convert 3:00 PM EST to Tokyo time

Multi-Timezone Meeting

time-conv What time is 10 AM New York in London, Tokyo, and Sydney?

ISO Timestamp Conversion

time-conv When is 2026-02-15 00:00 UTC in America/Los_Angeles?

DST Awareness

time-conversion Is Europe/London currently on GMT or BST?

Configuration

MCP server is called time and is configured in .augment/mcp-config.json. No sensitive environment variables are required for this skill.

Best Practices

Always use IANA timezone names — abbreviations like EST, BST, IST are ambiguous and should be resolved to IANA names before calling tools
Always run a connectivity probe (get_current_time UTC) before executing the user's request
Prefer convert_time over manual offset arithmetic — let the MCP server handle DST automatically
Present results in a table when converting to multiple timezones simultaneously
Flag DST transitions when a conversion date falls near a clocks-change boundary

Limitations

Relies on the IANA timezone database; historical timezone changes before database coverage may be incomplete
Future DST rule changes (e.g., countries abolishing DST) take effect only after a database update
Cannot perform calendar arithmetic (adding/subtracting days or weeks) — use general reasoning for that
UTC offsets (e.g., +05:30) are accepted but treated as fixed — DST is not applied when using raw offsets