Time phrases

Every place mxr asks for a time reads the same phrases: mxr snooze --until, mxr send --at, --remind-after on send, reply and reply-all, mxr remind --when, mxr desk later --at, mxr send-time --at, mxr commitments add --due, the TUI snooze, reply-later, send-later and remind prompts, and the web app’s snooze, reply-later, send-later, reminder and promise fields. One parser, shared by the CLI, TUI, daemon and web bridge, resolves them, so every surface gives the same answer.

Phrases resolve in your local time zone. In the web app that is the browser’s zone, even when the daemon runs elsewhere (remote-host mode). Where a phrase leaves out the time, mxr uses your [snooze] hours from config: morning_hour (default 09:00), evening_hour (18:00), and weekend_hour (10:00) on weekend_day (Saturday; sunday is the only other value).

Preview before you commit

mxr time shows what a phrase resolves to without changing anything:

mxr time fri 3 --now 2026-09-28T09:00:00+01:00

Friday 2 October, 15:00 (in 4 days)
  Assumed: am or pm
  Or: Friday 2 October, 03:00 (in 4 days)

mxr time "in 2d" --now 2026-09-28T09:00:00+01:00 --format json

{
  "error": null,
  "input": "in 2d",
  "resolution": {
    "at": "2026-09-30T08:00:00Z",
    "choices": [
      {
        "at": "2026-09-30T08:00:00Z",
        "date_label": "Wednesday 30 September",
        "implied": [],
        "label": "09:00",
        "local": "2026-09-30T09:00:00+01:00",
        "relative_label": "in 2 days",
        "time_label": "09:00"
      }
    ],
    "description": "Wednesday 30 September, 09:00",
    "input": "in 2d",
    "spans": [{ "end": 5, "start": 0 }]
  }
}

The JSON has the resolved instant (resolution.at), every reading in resolution.choices with the default first (at most three), the byte spans of the input that were understood, and, on each choice, what was implied (the day, the year, the time, or am/pm). A phrase mxr can’t read exits non-zero with a message that names the word, such as Didn't catch "frday". Try "fri 3pm" or "in 2d". Pass --now <RFC3339> to resolve against a fixed instant.

The web app and TUI show the same preview as you type. When a phrase has more than one reading, they offer each as a choice (Tab in the TUI, arrow keys, number keys or a click in the web app). Flags take the default reading, which is the one mxr time lists first.

Accepted phrases

You type	It means
in 30m, in 2h, in 5d, in 1w, in 2 months	That long from now. Days, weeks and months keep the time of day.
3d, 2w, 90min	The same, without in.
in an hour, in 2h 30m	Words and combined offsets.
tomorrow, tom, tmr, tmrw	Tomorrow at your morning hour.
tonight	Today at your evening hour. It has passed once the evening hour has.
today 5pm	Today at that time. today alone needs a time.
mon … sun, tue, thurs, friday	The next one, never today, at your morning hour (weekend hour for Saturday and Sunday).
next monday, this friday	The same as the day name.
weekend, next weekend	Your weekend day at your weekend hour.
next week	Next Monday at your morning hour.
next month	The 1st of next month at your morning hour.
end of week, eow	Friday at 17:00: today if it is Friday before 17:00, otherwise the next Friday.
3 oct, oct 3, 3rd october, oct 3 2027	That date, this year if it is still ahead, otherwise next year.
2026-10-03, 2026-10-03 15:00	That date at your morning hour, or that date and time, in local time.
2026-10-03T15:00:00Z	An exact RFC3339 instant.

Times go before or after the day, with or without at: fri 3pm, 3pm fri, fri at 15:00.

Time	Meaning
9am, 9 am, 9:30pm, 9a	12-hour time. 12am is midnight and 12pm is noon.
17:00, 09:30	24-hour time.
noon, midday, midnight	12:00 and 00:00.
eod, end of day, cob	17:00.
morning, afternoon, evening, night	Your morning hour, 14:00, your evening hour.
3, fri 3	An hour without am or pm. See below.

A time with no day means its next occurrence: 5pm is today if it is still ahead, otherwise tomorrow.

Ambiguous hours

An hour from 1 to 12 without am or pm has two readings. mxr offers both and picks the one inside working hours (08:00 to 20:00) as the default, so fri 3 defaults to 15:00 and fri 9 to 09:00. A reading that has already passed is dropped: at 14:00, today 9 can only mean 21:00. Words settle it too: tonight 9 is 21:00.

Clock changes

A time skipped when the clocks go forward moves forward by the gap, so 01:30 on the spring change becomes 02:30. A time that happens twice when the clocks go back takes the first. The preview says when either happens.