DevEquiv

    strftime to Go time.Format Layout Converter

    Paste an strftime() format to get the equivalent Go reference-time layout string ("Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006"-style).

    Token-by-token mapping

    Shown one token at a time — some dialects combine two adjacent tokens (like a day number plus an ordinal suffix) into a single result above, which can differ slightly from this per-token view.

    Requires review

    strftime
    %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S
    Go time.Format layout
    2006-01-02 15:04:05

    Main limitation: Go has no format "language" at all — every layout is literally the reference date Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006, and Go matches substrings of your layout string against that exact reference. This converter maps each strftime directive to its corresponding reference-time substring (e.g. `%Y` → `2006`).

    How it differs

    • Go has no format "language" at all — every layout is literally the reference date Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 MST 2006, and Go matches substrings of your layout string against that exact reference. This converter maps each strftime directive to its corresponding reference-time substring (e.g. %Y → 2006).
    • Because Go's layout has no escape syntax, literal text that happens to contain a reference substring (like a literal "1" or "2") will be misinterpreted by Go itself — this is a real limitation of the target language, not something this engine can fix.
    • strftime's %Z (full timezone name, e.g. "America/New_York") has no Go layout equivalent — Go's layout only supports the short MST-style abbreviation via the literal MST substring.

    Examples

    Standard timestamp

    strftime %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S
    Go time.Format layout 2006-01-02 15:04:05

    Every directive maps cleanly onto a piece of the Go reference date.

    Timezone name (partial conversion)

    strftime %a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Z %Y
    Go time.Format layout Mon Jan 02 15:04:05 2006

    `%Z` (full timezone name) has no Go layout substring and is dropped with a warning — use the literal `MST` abbreviation token instead if a short zone name is acceptable.

    Edge cases

    Edge case

    strftime has no non-padded 24-hour hour directive, and Go's layout has no non-padded 24-hour token either (only the padded 15) — this pairing happens to align exactly.

    Edge case

    %a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Z %Y drops the %Z timezone name (no Go layout substring exists for it) — use the literal MST substring for the abbreviation instead, and expect a warning here.

    References

    • Python docs — strftime() and strptime() format codes (v3.x) — checked 2026-07-29
    • Go docs — package time (reference-time layout) — checked 2026-07-29

    Last verified 2026-07-29.