Start with date & time row

Start a Parabola flow with a single row containing the current date and time, plus optional offsets and timezones, for use as API parameters or relative date logic.

The Start with date & time row step creates a single row with the current date and time, plus customizable day offsets and timezone settings. It’s a starting step — no input arrows — and the date is calculated at run time, so each flow run gets a fresh value.

The most common use case: feeding a date variable into a downstream API call. APIs that filter by date range need a date sent in, and hardcoding “yesterday” defeats the point of automation. This step gives you a relative date that updates on every run.

Customize settings

Click Add Date & Time Rule to add additional rules. Each rule shows up as its own column in the output.

The Days Offset field defaults to 0 (current date and time). Positive values produce future dates; negative values produce past dates.

Output values are formatted as YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss — for example, 2019-09-18 12:33:09. Connect a Format dates step after this one to convert to a different format.

Related steps

• Format dates — to convert the output to a different date format
• Pull from an API — for API endpoints that need a date parameter
• Run another Parabola flow — to pass the date row to a downstream flow
• Combine tables — to attach the date to other data via a cross join