docs-v2/content/influxdb/cloud/reference/flux/stdlib/system/time.md

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

The system.time() function returns the current system time.

Function type: Date/Time
Output data type: Timestamp

import "system"

system.time()

Examples

import "system"

data
  |> set(key: "processed_at", value: string(v: system.time() ))

{{% note %}}

system.time() vs now()

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.

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