How to Install the Time MCP Server

OVERVIEW The Time MCP Server is an official Python reference server in modelcontextprotocol/servers. The README lists "Time and timezone conversion capabilities" — deterministic time math instead of model guesses about daylight saving or UTC offsets. Commands verified from https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers. WHAT IT DOES Time exposes tools for current time queries and timezone conversions (directory metadata cites two tools). When users ask "What is 9am Pacific in Berlin tomorrow?" the assistant should call Time rather than hallucinating offset rules. Time does not create calendar events or cron jobs — it is read-only temporal data. For calendar write access, use community MCP servers from the MCP Registry. PREREQUISITES - uv / uvx (recommended) - MCP client Verify: uvx --version STANDALONE INSTALL COMMAND (OFFICIAL) uvx mcp-server-time Listed alongside other Python reference servers in the official README. CLAUDE DESKTOP CONFIGURATION { "mcpServers": { "time": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-server-time"] } } } WINDOWS NOTE uvx does not require cmd /c wrapping per the official README (only npx does). CURSOR NOTES Add Time to mcp.json for distributed teams using Cursor chat or Agent. Especially useful in planning prompts referencing multiple regions. No directory paths needed. CLINE NOTES Low-friction add for Cline — helps schedule-related coding tasks (cron expressions, timezone-aware timestamps) with accurate conversions before editing code. SECURITY NOTES Minimal attack surface — no filesystem or network fetch by default in Time itself. Reference server educational disclaimer still applies from the official README. FAQ Q: Time vs asking the model directly? A: Models mishandle DST edges. Time uses system timezone databases via the server implementation. Q: Official command? A: uvx mcp-server-time from modelcontextprotocol/servers README. Q: Need Node? A: Not for Time alone — Python via uvx. Other servers may still need Node. TROUBLESHOOTING Run uvx mcp-server-time in terminal. Install uv if command missing. Restart MCP client after config changes. COMBINE WITH Memory to remember team working hours; Fetch to read public holiday pages when needed. WHY TIME IS A SEPARATE SERVER Large language models approximate timezone math from training data — errors spike around DST transitions and obscure IANA zones. Time MCP delegates to system timezone databases through Python, yielding deterministic answers clients can trust for scheduling copy, cron explanations, and log timestamp interpretation. PYTHON ECOSYSTEM ALIGNMENT Git and Fetch also use uvx in the official README. Once uv is installed for Time, you can reuse the same toolchain for those servers without installing Node — though most developers still install Node for Filesystem and Memory. REAL-WORLD PROMPT EXAMPLES "What time is it in UTC right now?" — baseline sanity check after install. "If our standup is 10:00 America/New_York, what is that for a colleague in Europe/Berlin next Tuesday?" — conversion stress test. "Convert this Unix timestamp to ISO8601 in my local zone" — log analysis helper. LIMITATIONS TO REMEMBER Time does not integrate Google Calendar, Outlook, or CalDAV. It does not schedule alarms. For those features, add community calendar MCP entries from https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/ alongside Time for math-only assistance. INSTALL VERIFICATION STEPS Run uvx mcp-server-time in a terminal — process should stay alive on stdio. Add Claude config entry, restart Claude, ask a conversion question, confirm tool invocation in UI. If Claude answers without tools, rephrase to require precise zone conversion. EXTENDED FAQ Q: Does Time need internet? A: Generally no for conversions once uvx environment is cached. Q: Dual boot Linux/Windows same config? A: Use separate absolute paths only for Git/Filesystem — Time config is identical across OS. Q: Official source? A: modelcontextprotocol/servers README reference server list. REFERENCE SERVER CONTEXT Time is one of seven active reference servers in https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers — not archived, not community-maintained. It demonstrates Python MCP SDK usage via uvx alongside TypeScript servers via npx, mirroring the split documented in Getting Started. CURSOR AND CLINE QUICK ADD Because Time needs no path arguments, it is ideal as the second server you configure after Memory when learning MCP in Cursor mcp.json or Cline MCP settings — copy the uvx block from this tutorial without editing paths. SCHEDULING COPY WORKFLOW Technical writers can ask the assistant to convert release times across zones for blog posts. SREs can interpret alert timestamps consistently. Time MCP removes ambiguous timezone abbreviations like CST that models confuse with multiple offsets. CLAUDE DESKTOP CONFIG RECAP { "mcpServers": { "time": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-server-time"] } } } No Windows cmd wrapper — uvx is invoked directly per the official README distinction between npx and uvx launchers. PAIR WITH FETCH AND MEMORY Schedule a doc review: Fetch retrieves a conference agenda URL, Time converts session times to your local zone, Memory stores which sessions you chose to attend — all using official reference servers from the same monorepo README. EXTENDED TROUBLESHOOTING If conversions look wrong, verify IANA timezone names (Europe/Berlin not CET). If uvx fails on corporate laptops, allowlist Astral uv download endpoints or pre-cache the environment using uvx mcp-server-time once on a networked machine.