Sublime Text Plugin — Insert ISO Date & Time Timestamps 🕔

InsertTimestamps.md

Sublime Text Plugin — Insert ISO Date & Time Timestamps 🕔

This small Sublime Text plugin adds three commands:

1. Insert current date → YYYY-MM-DD
2. Insert current time → hh:mm (24-hour)
3. Insert date + time → YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm

Works both for inserting and replacing a selection.

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1️⃣ Create the plugin file

In Sublime Text:

Tools → Developer → New Plugin…

Replace the contents with:

import sublime
import sublime_plugin
from datetime import datetime


def insert_text(edit, view, text):
    for region in view.sel():
        if region.empty():
            view.insert(edit, region.begin(), text)
        else:
            view.replace(edit, region, text)


class InsertIsoDateCommand(sublime_plugin.TextCommand):
    def run(self, edit):
        insert_text(edit, self.view, datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d"))


class InsertIsoTimeCommand(sublime_plugin.TextCommand):
    def run(self, edit):
        insert_text(edit, self.view, datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M"))


class InsertIsoDatetimeCommand(sublime_plugin.TextCommand):
    def run(self, edit):
        insert_text(edit, self.view, datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M"))

Save as e.g.:

InsertTimestamps.py

Sublime reloads plugins automatically.

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2️⃣ Run via Command Palette

Press:

• Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows / Linux)
• Cmd+Shift+P (macOS)

Then type:

• Insert Iso Date
• Insert Iso Time
• Insert Iso Datetime

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3️⃣ Optional — Keybindings

Open:

Preferences → Key Bindings

Add something like:

[
    { "keys": ["ctrl+alt+d"], "command": "insert_iso_date" },
    { "keys": ["ctrl+alt+t"], "command": "insert_iso_time" },
    { "keys": ["ctrl+alt+shift+t"], "command": "insert_iso_datetime" }
]

Change bindings to whatever suits your workflow.

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✅ Done

You now have quick-insert ISO timestamps in Sublime Text.

If you want variations, the formats can easily be changed to include:

• seconds / milliseconds
• UTC timestamps
• full ISO-8601 YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm
• RFC-3339 style output

Just edit the strftime() strings in the plugin.

Other Alternatives

This is a very minimal plugin. If you want something more serious, consider either InsertDate or Timenow from Package Control.