Chronos Guide

Unix Timestamp Guide

A Unix timestamp is a count of seconds since 00:00:00 UTC on January 1, 1970. It is widely used in APIs, databases, logs and scheduling systems.

Seconds vs milliseconds

Most Unix timestamps are in seconds. JavaScript often uses milliseconds. If a date looks thousands of years in the future, you may be treating milliseconds as seconds.

Why UTC matters

Unix timestamps are based on UTC, not local time. The same timestamp represents one exact instant everywhere, but the displayed clock time changes by time zone.

Common uses

Developers use timestamps to compare events, store creation dates, expire sessions, sign webhooks and debug server logs.