now

This page explains how to use the now function in APL.

Use the now function in APL to return the current UTC clock time as a datetime value, optionally offset by a given timespan. now is evaluated once at the start of the query and returns the same fixed value for the entire duration of the query, regardless of how long the query takes to run. This means all uses of now within a query refer to the same point in time.

You can use now to calculate relative times, filter events by recency, and compute the age of records in your dataset.

Use it when you want to:

• Filter events to a recent time window.
• Calculate how long ago an event occurred.
• Add the current timestamp to query output for audit or comparison purposes.

For users of other query languages

If you come from other query languages, this section explains how to adjust your existing queries to achieve the same results in APL.

Splunk SPL users

In Splunk SPL, now() returns the current time as a Unix timestamp. In APL, now() returns a datetime value in UTC and supports an optional timespan offset to shift the returned time forward or backward.

Splunk example

... | eval current_time=now()

... | extend current_time = now()

ANSI SQL users

In ANSI SQL, you use CURRENT_TIMESTAMP or NOW() to retrieve the current date and time. In APL, now() behaves similarly but also accepts an optional timespan offset to shift the returned time.

SQL example

SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP AS current_time;

['dataset']
| extend current_time = now()

Usage

Syntax

now([offset])

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
offset	timespan	Optional: A timespan added to the current UTC clock time. Default is 0.

Returns

The current UTC clock time as a datetime. All references to now() within a single statement return the same value.

Use case examples

Log analysis

Calculate the age of each request in hours to understand how recent events are.

Query

['sample-http-logs']
| extend age_hours = datetime_diff('hour', now(), _time)
| project _time, age_hours, method, status
| take 10

Run in Playground

Output

_time	age_hours	method	status
2025-01-15T10:00:00Z	48	GET	200
2025-01-15T10:05:00Z	47	POST	201
2025-01-15T10:10:00Z	47	GET	500

This query calculates how many hours ago each HTTP request occurred by comparing the event time to the current time.

OpenTelemetry traces

Find traces from the last 5 minutes to monitor recent activity by service.

Query

['otel-demo-traces']
| where _time > now(-5m)
| summarize trace_count = count() by ['service.name']

Run in Playground

Output

service.name	trace_count
frontend	120
cart	85
checkout	42

This query filters traces to those generated in the last 5 minutes and counts them by service name.

Security logs

Show the current time alongside each failed request to calculate how many minutes have passed since the event.

Query

['sample-http-logs']
| where toint(status) >= 400
| extend current_time = now()
| extend time_since = datetime_diff('minute', current_time, _time)
| project _time, current_time, time_since, status, uri
| take 10

Run in Playground

Output

_time	current_time	time_since	status	uri
2025-01-15T10:00:00Z	2025-01-17T10:00:00Z	2880	403	/admin
2025-01-15T10:05:00Z	2025-01-17T10:00:00Z	2875	500	/api/users
2025-01-15T10:10:00Z	2025-01-17T10:00:00Z	2870	404	/missing

This query adds the current timestamp to each record and calculates the elapsed time in minutes since each failed request occurred.

List of related functions

• ago: Subtracts a given timespan from the current UTC clock time.
• datetime_add: Adds a specified amount to a datetime value.
• datetime_diff: Calculates the difference between two datetime values.
• startofday: Returns the start of the day for a datetime value.
• endofday: Returns the end of the day for a datetime value.