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Timestamps & Go to Time

When Vaste knows how to read the timestamps in a log file, you can jump to a time, see how much time passes between lines, and see when the file is busy or quiet. The status bar shows which timestamp format is active. These features work in Text view.

Timestamp formats

Section titled “Timestamp formats”

Vaste reads timestamps with one of these formats:

Format Example
ISO 8601 2026-09-26T14:03:11.204Z
Syslog Sep 26 14:03:11
Apache CLF 26/Sep/2026:14:03:11 +0000
US date 09/26/2026 14:03:11
Epoch millis 1790000000123
Epoch seconds 1790000000
  • ISO 8601 also accepts a space instead of T, a fraction of a second with up to 9 digits, and a time zone offset such as +02:00. Vaste keeps time to the millisecond.
  • Syslog timestamps have no year. Vaste uses the year in which the file was last modified, so a log that crosses New Year gets the wrong year for the older lines.
  • US date also accepts a comma after the date and AM or PM.
  • Epoch millis and Epoch seconds must be at the start of the line, or right after a [.

Vaste looks for the timestamp near the start of each line and uses the first one it finds. A timestamp that comes after a long prefix is not read, and the preview shows no timestamp for that line. This applies to custom formats too. See Limits.

Time zones

Section titled “Time zones”

Vaste shows every time in UTC. A timestamp without a time zone, such as 2026-09-26 14:03:11, is read as written and treated as UTC, so times are shown as they appear in the file. A timestamp with an offset, such as +02:00, is converted to UTC.

Set the timestamp format

Section titled “Set the timestamp format”

When you open a plain text file, Vaste tries the formats above on the first 200 lines. It picks the first format that reads at least 80% of those lines, and shows the format’s name in the status bar. If no format fits, the status bar shows No timestamps. Vaste does not detect timestamps in CSV, NDJSON, or binary files.

To choose the format yourself:

  1. Select the timestamp item in the status bar, or run Timestamp format from the command palette. The Timestamp format dialog opens.

  2. In Format, choose one of the formats, Auto-detect, Custom regex and format, or None (turn timestamps off).

  3. Check Preview of the visible lines. It shows the first 5 lines on screen with the time Vaste reads from each, or no timestamp.

  4. Select Apply.

Vaste remembers the choice for that file. Auto-detect runs the detection again. If no format fits, Vaste shows No preset matched the first lines of this file.

Custom formats

Section titled “Custom formats”

For a timestamp none of the formats read, choose Custom regex and format and fill in two fields:

  • Regex (finds the timestamp): a regular expression that matches the timestamp, near the start of each line. It uses the syntax of the Rust regex crate with Unicode support on, unlike search, and ^ matches at the start of each line.
  • chrono format (parses the match): how to read the matched text, with chrono % codes such as %Y (year), %m (month), %d (day), %H (hour), %M (minute), and %S (second). The default is %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.

For example, for lines such as [26.09.2026 14:03:11] Connection reset, use the regular expression \d{2}\.\d{2}\.\d{4} \d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2} and the format %d.%m.%Y %H:%M:%S.

If the format has no year, Vaste uses the year the file was last modified. If it has a time but no date, the time lands on 1970-01-01. If it has a date but no time, the time is midnight.

Go to a time

Section titled “Go to a time”

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + T in Text view. The Go to time: box opens.

  2. Wait until the hint below the box shows the file’s first and last times, followed by (as written, UTC). While Vaste reads the file’s timestamps, the hint shows Indexing timestamps….

  3. Type a time and press Enter.

The box accepts:

You type Example
A date and time 2026-09-26 14:03:11, 2026-09-26 14:03, 2026-09-26T14:03:11Z
A date 2026-09-26 (midnight)
A time of day 14:03:11 or 14:03
An epoch time 1790000000 (seconds) or 1790000000123 (milliseconds)

A time of day uses the date of the earliest timestamp in the file. A number with 12 or more digits is read as milliseconds, and a shorter number as seconds, so a bare 14 means 14 seconds after 1970-01-01. Hours need two digits after a date: write 2026-09-26 09:03, not 2026-09-26 9:03.

Vaste moves the first line at or after that time to the top of the view and makes it the active line. A time before the start of the file goes to the first line with a timestamp, and a time after the end goes to the last line. If the text is not a time, the box shows Not a time. Try 14:03:11, 2026-09-26 14:03, or an epoch.

Go to time needs an active timestamp format. It is not available in Grep view. If the log’s lines are not in time order, the result is close to the time you typed but may not be the exact first line.

Time between lines

Section titled “Time between lines”

The Delta-t gutter setting shows, next to each line number, how much time passed since the previous line with a timestamp, for example +1.204s, +3m 02s, +2h 05m, or +3d 04h. A negative value, such as -0.310s, means the line’s time is earlier than the line before it. Use it to spot pauses and out-of-order entries.

The setting is off by default. Turn it on in Settings, or run Toggle delta-t gutter from the command palette. It needs line numbers and an active timestamp format. Lines without a timestamp, such as the lines of a stack trace, have no value. After a run of more than 64 lines without a timestamp, the next line with one can also show no value.

Time histogram

Section titled “Time histogram”

The time histogram is a narrow strip beside the scrollbar. It shows time from the earliest timestamp at the top to the latest at the bottom, and each bar’s length shows how many lines fall in that stretch of time. Long bars show busy periods, and gaps show quiet ones.

Hover over a bar to see its time range and about how many lines it holds. Select a bar to jump to the start of that time range; Vaste moves the line to the middle of the view. The counts are approximate.

The histogram is on by default when a timestamp format is active. To hide it, turn off the Time histogram setting, or run Toggle time histogram from the command palette.

Reading the file’s timestamps

Section titled “Reading the file’s timestamps”

The first time you use Go to time or the histogram on a file, Vaste reads its timestamps. With the histogram on, this usually starts right after the file opens. On a large file it can take a while, and it cannot be canceled. Vaste keeps the result, so the next time you open the file it is ready at once, until the file is rewritten or you change its encoding.

When it is done, the status bar tooltip shows the time range and how many blocks of 128 lines have a timestamp near their start, for example (904 of 980 blocks stamped). Go to time and the histogram skip a long stretch without timestamps, such as a long stack trace.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”