docs-v2/content/influxdb/cloud/reference/flux/stdlib/built-in/misc/now.md

title	description	aliases	menu	weight	related
now() function	The `now()` function returns the current time (UTC).	/influxdb/cloud/reference/flux/functions/built-in/misc/now/	influxdb_cloud_ref name parent now built-in-misc	401	/influxdb/cloud/reference/flux/stdlib/system/time/

The now() function returns the current time (UTC) or the time defined in the now option.

Function type: Date/Time
Output data type: Time

now()

Examples

Use the current UTC time as a query boundary

data
  |> range(start: -10h, stop: now())

Return the now option time

option now = () => 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

now()
// Returns 2020-01-01T00:00:00.000000000Z

{{% note %}}

now() vs system.time()

now() returns the current UTC time. now() is cached at runtime, so all instances of now() in a Flux script return the same value.

system.time() returns the current system time of the host machine, which typically accounts for the local time zone. This time represents the time at which system.time() it is executed, so each instance of system.time() in a Flux script returns a unique value. {{% /note %}}