fix bases metadata timestamp format

docs/releases/unreleased.md

@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ Example:
 ## Fixed
 
 - ([#508](https://github.com/callumalpass/tasknotes/issues/508)) Showed project note names instead of full project paths in grouped Kanban and Task List headings, while keeping the headings linked to the project note. Thanks to @elvarb for reporting this and @dmodify for confirming it in Task List.
+- ([#466](https://github.com/callumalpass/tasknotes/issues/466)) Stored task created/modified metadata as `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss` datetimes so Obsidian Bases can recognize those properties as dates more reliably across regions. Thanks to @Moyf for reporting this.
 - ([#552](https://github.com/callumalpass/tasknotes/issues/552)) Made instant task convert buttons appear for checkbox tasks inside callouts, and kept converted links inside the callout list. Thanks to @Oblique82 for reporting this and @ksdavidc for the follow-up.
 - ([#559](https://github.com/callumalpass/tasknotes/issues/559)) Treated notes linked to one loaded recurring calendar event instance as related to the other instances in that series. Thanks to @cathywu for reporting this and @mdbraber for the implementation notes.
 - ([#685](https://github.com/callumalpass/tasknotes/issues/685)) Made Calendar list views respect the All-day slot option by hiding all-day events from the list when that option is turned off. Thanks to @RumiaKitinari for reporting this.

docs/settings/property-types-reference.md

@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ This reference documents the expected data types for each frontmatter property t
 | due | text (date) | `"2025-01-15"` |
 | scheduled | text (date) | `"2025-01-10"` |
 | completedDate | text (date) | `"2025-01-20"` |
-| dateCreated | text (datetime) | `"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z"` |
-| dateModified | text (datetime) | `"2025-01-15T10:30:00Z"` |
+| dateCreated | text (datetime) | `"2025-01-01T08:00:00"` |
+| dateModified | text (datetime) | `"2025-01-15T10:30:00"` |
 | tags | list | `["work", "urgent"]` |
 | contexts | list | `["@office", "@home"]` |
 | projects | list | `["[[Project A]]"]` |
@@ -99,14 +99,14 @@ When in doubt, prefer ISO-style values. They sort correctly as text, travel well
 - **Type:** text (datetime string)
 - **Format:** ISO 8601 timestamp
 - **Description:** When the task was created
-- **Example:** `dateCreated: "2025-01-01T08:00:00Z"`
+- **Example:** `dateCreated: "2025-01-01T08:00:00"`
 
 #### dateModified
 
 - **Type:** text (datetime string)
 - **Format:** ISO 8601 timestamp
 - **Description:** When the task was last modified
-- **Example:** `dateModified: "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z"`
+- **Example:** `dateModified: "2025-01-15T10:30:00"`
 
 ---
 
@@ -308,8 +308,8 @@ contexts:
 projects:
   - "[[Q1 Planning]]"
 timeEstimate: 240
-dateCreated: "2025-01-01T08:00:00Z"
-dateModified: "2025-01-20T14:30:00Z"
+dateCreated: "2025-01-01T08:00:00"
+dateModified: "2025-01-20T14:30:00"
 timeEntries:
   - startTime: "2025-01-20T10:00:00Z"
     endTime: "2025-01-20T11:30:00Z"

src/bases/KanbanView.ts

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { renderGroupTitle } from "./groupTitleRenderer";
 import { type LinkServices } from "../ui/renderers/linkRenderer";
 import { showConfirmationModal } from "../modals/ConfirmationModal";
 import { VirtualScroller } from "../utils/VirtualScroller";
-import { getCurrentTimestamp } from "../utils/dateUtils";
+import { getCurrentTimestampForStorage } from "../utils/dateUtils";
 import { getProjectDisplayName } from "../utils/linkUtils";
 import { stringifyUnknown } from "../utils/stringUtils";
 import {
@@ -3742,7 +3742,7 @@ export class KanbanView extends BasesViewBase {
 							);
 							const dateModifiedField =
 								this.plugin.fieldMapper.toUserField("dateModified");
-							fm[dateModifiedField] = getCurrentTimestamp();
+							fm[dateModifiedField] = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 						} else if (needsSwimlaneUpdate && swimlaneTaskProp === "status") {
 							const task = this.taskInfoCache.get(path);
 							const isRecurring = !!task?.recurrence;
@@ -3753,7 +3753,7 @@ export class KanbanView extends BasesViewBase {
 							);
 							const dateModifiedField =
 								this.plugin.fieldMapper.toUserField("dateModified");
-							fm[dateModifiedField] = getCurrentTimestamp();
+							fm[dateModifiedField] = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 						}
 					});
 
@@ -3782,7 +3782,7 @@ export class KanbanView extends BasesViewBase {
 									...originalTask,
 									[changedTaskProp]: newPropValue,
 								};
-								updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+								updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 								if (changedTaskProp === "status" && !originalTask.recurrence) {
 									if (
 										this.plugin.statusManager.isCompletedStatus(

src/bases/TaskListView.ts

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import { ReminderModal } from "../modals/ReminderModal";
 import {
 	getDatePart,
 	getTimePart,
-	getCurrentTimestamp,
+	getCurrentTimestampForStorage,
 	parseDateToUTC,
 	createUTCDateFromLocalCalendarDate,
 } from "../utils/dateUtils";
@@ -1249,7 +1249,7 @@ export class TaskListView extends BasesViewBase {
 						);
 						const dateModifiedField =
 							this.plugin.fieldMapper.toUserField("dateModified");
-						fm[dateModifiedField] = getCurrentTimestamp();
+						fm[dateModifiedField] = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 					}
 				}
 				if (sortOrderPlan.sortOrder !== null) {
@@ -1287,7 +1287,7 @@ export class TaskListView extends BasesViewBase {
 						} else {
 							updatedRecord[groupByTaskProp] = normalizedTargetGroupKey;
 						}
-						updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+						updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 						if (groupByTaskProp === "status" && !originalTask.recurrence) {
 							if (
 								normalizedTargetGroupKey !== null &&

src/core/fieldMapping.ts

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import {
 	normalizeDependencyList,
 	serializeDependencies,
 } from "../utils/dependencyUtils";
-import { validateCompleteInstances } from "../utils/dateUtils";
+import { normalizeTimestampForStorage, validateCompleteInstances } from "../utils/dateUtils";
 import { stringifyUnknown } from "../utils/stringUtils";
 
 export function toUserField(mapping: FieldMapping, internalName: keyof FieldMapping): string {
@@ -354,11 +354,11 @@ export function mapTaskToFrontmatter(
 	}
 
 	if (taskData.dateCreated !== undefined) {
-		frontmatter[mapping.dateCreated] = taskData.dateCreated;
+		frontmatter[mapping.dateCreated] = normalizeTimestampForStorage(taskData.dateCreated);
 	}
 
 	if (taskData.dateModified !== undefined) {
-		frontmatter[mapping.dateModified] = taskData.dateModified;
+		frontmatter[mapping.dateModified] = normalizeTimestampForStorage(taskData.dateModified);
 	}
 
 	if (taskData.sortOrder !== undefined) {

src/main.ts

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ import { openTaskSelector } from "./modals/TaskSelectorWithCreateModal";
 import { ProjectSelectModal } from "./modals/ProjectSelectModal";
 import { PomodoroService } from "./services/PomodoroService";
 import { formatTime, getActiveTimeEntry } from "./utils/helpers";
-import { convertUTCToLocalCalendarDate, getCurrentTimestamp } from "./utils/dateUtils";
+import { convertUTCToLocalCalendarDate, getCurrentTimestampForStorage } from "./utils/dateUtils";
 import { TaskManager } from "./utils/TaskManager";
 import { DependencyCache } from "./utils/DependencyCache";
 import { RequestDeduplicator, PredictivePrefetcher } from "./utils/RequestDeduplicator";
@@ -1278,7 +1278,7 @@ export default class TaskNotesPlugin extends Plugin {
 		// Build a TaskInfo object from the note's existing data
 		// Use defaults for required fields that don't exist
 		// Use ?? (nullish coalescing) to properly handle empty string defaults
-		const now = getCurrentTimestamp();
+		const now = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 		const taskInfo: TaskInfo = {
 			path: activeFile.path,
 			title: frontmatterString(frontmatter.title) || activeFile.basename,

src/modals/TaskEditModal.ts

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { App, Notice, TFile, TAbstractFile } from "obsidian";
 import TaskNotesPlugin from "../main";
 import { TaskModal } from "./TaskModal";
 import { TaskDependency, TaskInfo } from "../types";
-import { formatTimestampForDisplay, getCurrentTimestamp } from "../utils/dateUtils";
+import { formatTimestampForDisplay, getCurrentTimestampForStorage } from "../utils/dateUtils";
 import {
 	extractTaskInfo,
 	calculateTotalTimeSpent,
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ export class TaskEditModal extends TaskModal {
 			this.isConvertingNoteToTask &&
 			Object.keys(result.changes).length === 0
 		) {
-			result.changes.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+			result.changes.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 		}
 
 		return result.changes;

src/modals/taskCreationData.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { Reminder, TaskCreationData, TaskDependency } from "../types";
-import { getCurrentTimestamp } from "../utils/dateUtils";
+import { getCurrentTimestampForStorage } from "../utils/dateUtils";
 import { sanitizeTags } from "../utils/helpers";
 import { splitListPreservingLinksAndQuotes } from "../utils/stringSplit";
 
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export interface CreationBlockingUpdates {
 }
 
 export function buildTaskCreationData(input: TaskCreationDataInput): TaskCreationData {
-	const now = getCurrentTimestamp();
+	const now = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 	const contextList = input.contexts
 		.split(",")
 		.map((context) => context.trim())

src/modals/taskEditChanges.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Reminder, TaskDependency, TaskInfo } from "../types";
 import { HideIdentifyingTagsMode, UserMappedField } from "../types/settings";
-import { getCurrentTimestamp } from "../utils/dateUtils";
+import { getCurrentTimestampForStorage } from "../utils/dateUtils";
 import { updateToNextScheduledOccurrence, sanitizeTags, updateDTSTARTInRecurrenceRule } from "../utils/helpers";
 import { parseLinkToPath } from "../utils/linkUtils";
 import { splitListPreservingLinksAndQuotes } from "../utils/stringSplit";
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ export function buildTaskEditChanges(input: TaskEditChangeInput): TaskEditChange
 	}
 
 	if (Object.keys(changes).length > 0) {
-		changes.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+		changes.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 	}
 
 	return {

src/services/ICSNoteService.ts

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { format } from "date-fns";
 import { processFolderTemplate } from "../utils/folderTemplateProcessor";
 import TaskNotesPlugin from "../main";
 import { ICSEvent, TaskInfo, NoteInfo, TaskCreationData } from "../types";
-import { getCurrentTimestamp, formatDateForStorage } from "../utils/dateUtils";
+import { getCurrentTimestampForStorage, formatDateForStorage } from "../utils/dateUtils";
 import {
 	generateICSNoteFilename,
 	generateUniqueFilename,
@@ -251,8 +251,8 @@ export class ICSNoteService {
 					overrides?.details || this.buildICSEventDetails(icsEvent, subscriptionName),
 				icsEventId: [icsEvent.id],
 				creationContext: "ics-event",
-				dateCreated: getCurrentTimestamp(),
-				dateModified: getCurrentTimestamp(),
+				dateCreated: getCurrentTimestampForStorage(),
+				dateModified: getCurrentTimestampForStorage(),
 				// Spread overrides but exclude 'due' since we handle it specially above
 				...Object.fromEntries(
 					Object.entries(overrides || {}).filter(([key]) => key !== "due")
@@ -433,8 +433,8 @@ export class ICSNoteService {
 			const dateModifiedField = this.plugin.fieldMapper.toUserField("dateModified");
 			let frontmatter: Record<string, unknown> = {
 				title: noteTitle,
-				[dateCreatedField]: getCurrentTimestamp(),
-				[dateModifiedField]: getCurrentTimestamp(),
+				[dateCreatedField]: getCurrentTimestampForStorage(),
+				[dateModifiedField]: getCurrentTimestampForStorage(),
 				tags: [this.plugin.fieldMapper.toUserField("icsEventTag")],
 				[this.plugin.fieldMapper.toUserField("icsEventId")]: [icsEvent.id],
 			};
@@ -600,7 +600,7 @@ export class ICSNoteService {
 
 				frontmatter[icsEventIdField] = existingIds;
 				const dateModifiedField = this.plugin.fieldMapper.toUserField("dateModified");
-				frontmatter[dateModifiedField] = getCurrentTimestamp();
+				frontmatter[dateModifiedField] = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 			});
 
 			new Notice(

src/services/InstantTaskConvertService.ts

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { TasksPluginParser, ParsedTaskData } from "../utils/TasksPluginParser";
 import { NaturalLanguageParser } from "./NaturalLanguageParser";
 import { Reminder, TaskCreationData } from "../types";
 import {
-	getCurrentTimestamp,
+	getCurrentTimestampForStorage,
 	combineDateAndTime,
 	parseDateToUTC,
 	formatDateForStorage,
@@ -773,8 +773,8 @@ export class InstantTaskConvertService {
 			details: enhancedDetails, // Use enhanced details with any overflow from title truncation
 			parentNote: parentNote, // Include parent note for template variable
 			creationContext: "inline-conversion", // Mark as inline conversion for folder logic
-			dateCreated: getCurrentTimestamp(),
-			dateModified: getCurrentTimestamp(),
+			dateCreated: getCurrentTimestampForStorage(),
+			dateModified: getCurrentTimestampForStorage(),
 			customFrontmatter:
 				Object.keys(customFrontmatter).length > 0 ? customFrontmatter : undefined,
 		};

src/services/TaskService.ts

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ import {
 	formatDateForStorage,
 	getDatePart,
 	getCurrentDateString,
-	getCurrentTimestamp,
+	getCurrentTimestampForStorage,
 	getTodayLocal,
 	createUTCDateFromLocalCalendarDate,
 	parseDateToUTC,
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ export class TaskService {
 						? this.normalizeBlockedByValue(value)
 						: value;
 			updatedTask[property] = normalizedValue;
-			updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+			updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 
 			// Handle derivative changes for status updates
 			if (property === "status" && !freshTask.recurrence) {
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ export class TaskService {
 		// Step 1: Construct new state in memory
 		const updatedTask = { ...task };
 		updatedTask.archived = !isCurrentlyArchived;
-		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 
 		// Update tags array to include/exclude archive tag
 		if (!updatedTask.tags) {
@@ -1027,7 +1027,7 @@ export class TaskService {
 
 		// Step 1: Construct new state in memory
 		const updatedTask = { ...task };
-		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 
 		if (!updatedTask.timeEntries) {
 			updatedTask.timeEntries = [];
@@ -1119,7 +1119,7 @@ export class TaskService {
 
 		// Step 1: Construct new state in memory
 		const updatedTask = { ...task };
-		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 
 		if (updatedTask.timeEntries && Array.isArray(updatedTask.timeEntries)) {
 			updatedTask.timeEntries = updatedTask.timeEntries.map((entry) => {
@@ -1432,7 +1432,7 @@ export class TaskService {
 
 		// Step 1: Construct new state in memory using fresh data
 		const updatedTask = { ...freshTask };
-		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 
 		if (newComplete) {
 			// Add date to completed instances if not already present
@@ -1652,7 +1652,7 @@ export class TaskService {
 
 		// Step 1: Construct new state in memory
 		const updatedTask = { ...freshTask };
-		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 
 		if (newSkipped) {
 			// Mark as skipped
@@ -1779,7 +1779,7 @@ export class TaskService {
 
 		// Step 1: Construct new state in memory
 		const updatedTask = { ...task };
-		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestamp();
+		updatedTask.dateModified = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 
 		// Remove the time entry at the specified index
 		updatedTask.timeEntries = task.timeEntries.filter((_, index) => index !== timeEntryIndex);

src/services/task-service/TaskCreationService.ts

@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ import {
 	generateUniqueFilename,
 } from "../../utils/filenameGenerator";
 import { ensureFolderExists } from "../../utils/helpers";
-import { getCurrentTimestamp } from "../../utils/dateUtils";
+import {
+	getCurrentTimestampForStorage,
+	normalizeTimestampForStorage,
+} from "../../utils/dateUtils";
 import { stringifyUnknown } from "../../utils/stringUtils";
 import { mergeTemplateFrontmatter } from "../../utils/templateProcessor";
 import {
@@ -66,8 +69,12 @@ export class TaskCreationService {
 				: title;
 			const priority = taskData.priority || plugin.settings.defaultTaskPriority;
 			const status = taskData.status || plugin.settings.defaultTaskStatus;
-			const dateCreated = taskData.dateCreated || getCurrentTimestamp();
-			const dateModified = taskData.dateModified || getCurrentTimestamp();
+			const dateCreated = taskData.dateCreated
+				? normalizeTimestampForStorage(taskData.dateCreated)
+				: getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
+			const dateModified = taskData.dateModified
+				? normalizeTimestampForStorage(taskData.dateModified)
+				: getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 
 			const contextsArray = taskData.contexts || [];
 			const projectsArray = taskData.projects || [];

src/services/task-service/TaskUpdateService.ts

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { EVENT_TASK_UPDATED, IWebhookNotifier, TaskInfo } from "../../types";
 import { addDTSTARTToRecurrenceRule, updateToNextScheduledOccurrence } from "../../core/recurrence";
 import { splitFrontmatterAndBody } from "../../utils/helpers";
 import { generateUniqueFilename } from "../../utils/filenameGenerator";
-import { getCurrentDateString, getCurrentTimestamp } from "../../utils/dateUtils";
+import { getCurrentDateString, getCurrentTimestampForStorage } from "../../utils/dateUtils";
 import {
 	applyPropertyTaskIdentifier,
 	getFrontmatterTags,
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ export class TaskUpdateService {
 					...originalTask,
 					...updates,
 					...recurrenceUpdates,
-					dateModified: getCurrentTimestamp(),
+					dateModified: getCurrentTimestampForStorage(),
 				};
 
 				const mappedFrontmatter = plugin.fieldMapper.mapToFrontmatter(
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ export class TaskUpdateService {
 				...updates,
 				...recurrenceUpdates,
 				path: newPath,
-				dateModified: getCurrentTimestamp(),
+				dateModified: getCurrentTimestampForStorage(),
 			};
 			if (finalTags) {
 				updatedTask.tags = finalTags;

src/utils/buildTaskCreationDataFromCli.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import type { CliData } from "obsidian";
 import type TaskNotesPlugin from "../main";
 import type { Reminder, TaskCreationData } from "../types";
 import { NaturalLanguageParser } from "../services/NaturalLanguageParser";
-import { getCurrentTimestamp } from "./dateUtils";
+import { getCurrentTimestampForStorage } from "./dateUtils";
 import { sanitizeTags } from "./helpers";
 import { buildTaskCreationDataFromParsed } from "./buildTaskCreationDataFromParsed";
 
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ export function buildTaskCreationDataFromCli(
 		});
 		usedNlp = true;
 	} else {
-		const now = getCurrentTimestamp();
+		const now = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 		const title = titleOverride || text;
 		if (!title) {
 			throw new Error("Either --text or --title is required");

src/utils/buildTaskCreationDataFromParsed.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import type TaskNotesPlugin from "../main";
 import type { ParsedTaskData } from "../services/NaturalLanguageParser";
 import type { TaskCreationData } from "../types";
-import { combineDateAndTime, getCurrentTimestamp } from "./dateUtils";
+import { combineDateAndTime, getCurrentTimestampForStorage } from "./dateUtils";
 import { sanitizeTags } from "./helpers";
 
 interface BuildTaskCreationDataOptions {
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export function buildTaskCreationDataFromParsed(
 	parsed: ParsedTaskData,
 	options: BuildTaskCreationDataOptions = {}
 ): TaskCreationData {
-	const now = getCurrentTimestamp();
+	const now = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
 	const taskData: TaskCreationData = {
 		title: parsed.title.trim(),
 		status: parsed.status || plugin.settings.defaultTaskStatus,

src/utils/dateUtils.ts

@@ -680,6 +680,50 @@ export function getCurrentTimestamp(): string {
 	return `${year}-${month}-${day}T${hours}:${minutes}:${seconds}.${milliseconds}${diff}${tzOffsetHours}:${tzOffsetMinutes}`;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Get current timestamp in Obsidian/Bases-friendly local datetime format.
+ * Bases date-time fields reliably parse `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss`; including
+ * milliseconds and timezone offsets can be interpreted as text in some locales.
+ */
+export function getCurrentTimestampForStorage(): string {
+	return formatDateTimeForStorage(new Date());
+}
+
+/**
+ * Normalize a task metadata timestamp to the storage format expected by Bases.
+ * Invalid or blank values are returned unchanged so imports do not silently
+ * discard user data.
+ */
+export function normalizeTimestampForStorage(value: string): string {
+	const trimmed = value.trim();
+	if (!trimmed) return value;
+
+	const isoDateTimeMatch = trimmed.match(
+		/^(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})[T ](\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2})(?:\.\d+)?(?:Z|[+-]\d{2}:\d{2})?$/
+	);
+	if (isoDateTimeMatch) {
+		return `${isoDateTimeMatch[1]}T${isoDateTimeMatch[2]}`;
+	}
+
+	try {
+		const parsed = parseDateToLocalInternal(trimmed);
+		if (!isValid(parsed)) {
+			return value;
+		}
+
+		return formatDateTimeForStorage(parsed);
+	} catch {
+		return value;
+	}
+}
+
+function formatDateTimeForStorage(date: Date): string {
+	const pad = (num: number) => String(num).padStart(2, "0");
+	return `${date.getFullYear()}-${pad(date.getMonth() + 1)}-${pad(date.getDate())}T${pad(
+		date.getHours()
+	)}:${pad(date.getMinutes())}:${pad(date.getSeconds())}`;
+}
+
 /**
  * Get current date in YYYY-MM-DD format for completion dates
  */

tests/unit/issues/issue-466-bases-date-metadata-format.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { mapTaskToFrontmatter } from "../../../src/core/fieldMapping";
+import { DEFAULT_FIELD_MAPPING } from "../../../src/settings/defaults";
+
+describe("Issue #466: Bases-compatible task metadata timestamps", () => {
+	it("normalizes dateCreated and dateModified to datetime strings Bases can parse", () => {
+		const frontmatter = mapTaskToFrontmatter(DEFAULT_FIELD_MAPPING, {
+			title: "Timestamp metadata",
+			status: "open",
+			dateCreated: "2025-08-15T14:53:20.653+08:00",
+			dateModified: "2025-08-15T14:53:20.653Z",
+		});
+
+		expect(frontmatter.dateCreated).toBe("2025-08-15T14:53:20");
+		expect(frontmatter.dateModified).toBe("2025-08-15T14:53:20");
+	});
+
+	it("preserves already compatible datetime values", () => {
+		const frontmatter = mapTaskToFrontmatter(DEFAULT_FIELD_MAPPING, {
+			title: "Timestamp metadata",
+			status: "open",
+			dateCreated: "2025-08-15T14:53:20",
+			dateModified: "2025-08-15T14:53:21",
+		});
+
+		expect(frontmatter.dateCreated).toBe("2025-08-15T14:53:20");
+		expect(frontmatter.dateModified).toBe("2025-08-15T14:53:21");
+	});
+});

tests/unit/utils/dateUtils.test.ts

@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ import {
   isPastDate,
   formatDateForDisplay,
   getCurrentTimestamp,
+  getCurrentTimestampForStorage,
+  normalizeTimestampForStorage,
   getCurrentDateString,
   parseTimestamp,
   formatTimestampForDisplay,
@@ -274,6 +276,28 @@ describe('DateUtils', () => {
       });
     });
 
+    describe('getCurrentTimestampForStorage', () => {
+      it('should return a Bases-compatible local datetime without milliseconds or offset', () => {
+        const result = getCurrentTimestampForStorage();
+        expect(result).toMatch(/^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}$/);
+      });
+    });
+
+    describe('normalizeTimestampForStorage', () => {
+      it('should remove milliseconds and timezone offsets from task metadata timestamps', () => {
+        expect(normalizeTimestampForStorage('2025-08-15T14:53:20.653+08:00')).toBe(
+          '2025-08-15T14:53:20'
+        );
+        expect(normalizeTimestampForStorage('2025-08-15T14:53:20')).toBe(
+          '2025-08-15T14:53:20'
+        );
+      });
+
+      it('should preserve invalid timestamp values instead of dropping user data', () => {
+        expect(normalizeTimestampForStorage('not-a-date')).toBe('not-a-date');
+      });
+    });
+
     describe('getCurrentDateString', () => {
       it('should return current date in YYYY-MM-DD format', () => {
         const result = getCurrentDateString();
@@ -1283,4 +1307,4 @@ describe('DateUtils', () => {
       });
     });
   });
-});
+});