Date Patterns

Comprehensive date and timestamp validation patterns.

MCP Aegis provides sophisticated date and timestamp pattern matching capabilities for validating temporal data in your MCP server responses. These patterns support various date formats, time ranges, age validation, and format checking.

Flexible Date Input Formats

Date patterns automatically handle multiple input formats including ISO 8601 strings, Unix timestamps (numbers or strings), and common date formats like "6/15/2023" or "June 15, 2023".

Date Validation

Use dateValid to verify that a value represents a valid date or timestamp.

yaml

# Basic date validation
expect:
  response:
    result:
      createdAt: "match:dateValid"        # Must be a valid date/timestamp
      updatedAt: "match:dateValid"        # Supports various formats
      publishDate: "match:dateValid"      # ISO, timestamp, or date string
      
      # Negation - should NOT be valid dates
      invalidDate: "match:not:dateValid"  # Should be invalid
      nullDate: "match:not:dateValid"     # null values are invalid

Supported Date Formats

ISO 8601: "2023-06-15T14:30:00.000Z", "2023-06-15"
Unix Timestamps: 1687686600000 (number or string)
Common Formats: "6/15/2023", "June 15, 2023"

Date Comparisons

Compare dates against specific points in time using temporal comparison patterns.

Date After

yaml

# Validate dates are after a specific point
expect:
  response:
    result:
      createdAt: "match:dateAfter:2023-01-01"     # After Jan 1, 2023
      publishDate: "match:dateAfter:2023-06-15T14:30:00.000Z"  # After specific timestamp
      lastLogin: "match:dateAfter:1687686600000"   # After Unix timestamp
      
      # Can use with any supported date format
      eventTime: "match:dateAfter:6/1/2023"       # After June 1st, 2023

Date Before

yaml

# Validate dates are before a specific point
expect:
  response:
    result:
      expireDate: "match:dateBefore:2025-01-01"   # Before Jan 1, 2025
      deadline: "match:dateBefore:2024-12-31T23:59:59.999Z"
      archiveDate: "match:dateBefore:1735689599999"  # Before Unix timestamp

Date Between

yaml

# Validate dates fall within a range
expect:
  response:
    result:
      eventDate: "match:dateBetween:2023-01-01:2024-12-31"
      validPeriod: "match:dateBetween:2023-06-01T00:00:00Z:2023-06-30T23:59:59Z"
      campaignDates: "match:dateBetween:1687686600000:1719309999000"
      
      # Mix different date formats (both boundaries and value can use any format)
      promotionEnd: "match:dateBetween:6/1/2023:6/30/2023"

Date Age Validation

Validate how recent or old dates are using the dateAge pattern with duration units.

yaml

# Validate dates are within specific age limits
expect:
  response:
    result:
      # Recent timestamps
      currentActivity: "match:dateAge:1d"     # Within last day
      hourlyUpdate: "match:dateAge:2h"        # Within last 2 hours
      minuteCheck: "match:dateAge:30m"        # Within last 30 minutes
      secondCheck: "match:dateAge:45s"        # Within last 45 seconds
      millisCheck: "match:dateAge:1000ms"     # Within last 1000ms
      
      # Weekly/monthly validations
      weeklyReport: "match:dateAge:7d"        # Within last week
      monthlyBackup: "match:dateAge:30d"      # Within last 30 days
      
      # Negation - should NOT be recent
      oldArchive: "match:not:dateAge:1d"      # NOT within last day (older)

Duration Units

Supported units: ms (milliseconds), s (seconds), m (minutes), h (hours), d (days)

Examples: "1000ms", "30s", "5m", "2h", "7d"

Exact Date Matching

Match exact date and timestamp values using dateEquals.

yaml

# Exact date matching
expect:
  response:
    result:
      # Fixed dates and timestamps
      fixedEvent: "match:dateEquals:2023-06-15T14:30:00.000Z"
      unixTimestamp: "match:dateEquals:1687686600000"
      dateString: "match:dateEquals:2023-06-15"
      
      # Can match across different formats
      # (both the expected and actual values are parsed before comparison)
      eventDate: "match:dateEquals:6/15/2023"     # Matches "2023-06-15"
      timestampStr: "match:dateEquals:1687686600" # Matches 1687686600000

Date Format Validation

Validate that date strings conform to specific formats using dateFormat.

yaml

# Format-specific validation
expect:
  response:
    result:
      # ISO 8601 formats
      fullIso: "match:dateFormat:iso"         # "2023-06-15T14:30:00.000Z"
      dateOnly: "match:dateFormat:iso-date"   # "2023-06-15"
      timeOnly: "match:dateFormat:iso-time"   # "14:30:00.000"
      
      # Regional formats
      usFormat: "match:dateFormat:us-date"    # "6/15/2023" or "06/15/2023"
      euFormat: "match:dateFormat:eu-date"    # "15/6/2023" or "15/06/2023"
      
      # Numeric timestamps
      timestampStr: "match:dateFormat:timestamp"  # "1687686600000"
      
      # Negation - should NOT match format
      notIso: "match:not:dateFormat:iso"      # Should not be ISO format

Real-World Examples

Practical examples from production MCP server testing.

yaml

# API response with mixed date formats
- it: "should validate API timestamps and dates"
  request:
    jsonrpc: "2.0"
    id: "api-dates"
    method: "tools/call"
    params:
      name: "get_user_activity"
      arguments:
        userId: "12345"
  expect:
    response:
      jsonrpc: "2.0"
      id: "api-dates"
      result:
        # Recent activity should be within reasonable time
        lastSeen: "match:dateAge:1d"
        lastLogin: "match:dateAge:30d"
        
        # Registration should be after service launch
        registeredAt: "match:dateAfter:2020-01-01"
        
        # Account shouldn't expire too soon
        expiresAt: "match:dateAfter:2024-12-31"
        
        # Validate specific date formats
        created: "match:dateFormat:iso"
        lastUpdate: "match:dateValid"
        
        # Ensure no invalid dates
        suspendedAt: "match:not:dateValid"  # Should be null/invalid

# File system timestamps
- it: "should validate file timestamps"
  request:
    jsonrpc: "2.0"
    id: "file-info"
    method: "tools/call"
    params:
      name: "get_file_info"
      arguments:
        path: "/data/logs/app.log"
  expect:
    response:
      result:
        # File should be recently modified
        lastModified: "match:dateAge:1d"
        
        # Creation time should be valid
        createdAt: "match:dateValid"
        
        # Access time should be recent
        lastAccessed: "match:dateAge:1h"
        
        # Backup timestamp should be older than 1 day
        lastBackup: "match:not:dateAge:1d"

# Event scheduling validation
- it: "should validate event scheduling"
  request:
    jsonrpc: "2.0"
    id: "schedule"
    method: "tools/call"
    params:
      name: "schedule_event"
      arguments:
        title: "Team Meeting"
        startTime: "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z"
  expect:
    response:
      result:
        # Event should be scheduled for future
        scheduledFor: "match:dateAfter:2023-12-31"
        
        # Should be within reasonable future range
        scheduledFor: "match:dateBefore:2025-12-31"
        
        # Combined: should be in 2024
        scheduledFor: "match:dateBetween:2024-01-01:2024-12-31"
        
        # Created timestamp should be very recent
        createdAt: "match:dateAge:1m"
        
        # Should have proper ISO format
        scheduledFor: "match:dateFormat:iso"

Best Practices

✅ Do

Use dateValid first to ensure you have valid dates
Use dateAge for testing recent timestamps
Use dateFormat when format consistency is important
Combine patterns with negation for comprehensive validation
Use reasonable time ranges for dateAge patterns

❌ Don't

Don't use very short age durations (like "1ms") in CI environments
Don't forget timezone considerations with exact date matching
Don't use dateEquals for dynamic timestamps
Don't assume all date strings will parse correctly
Don't use dateAge for fixed historical dates