date_formatter_codespark

A zero-dependency, ultra-lightweight date formatter and DateTime extension package for Dart and Flutter.

Format dates, format DateTime values, generate human-readable dates, create relative timestamps ("5m ago"), display time ago strings, perform business day calculations, and work with weeks, months, quarters, and years through a clean, fluent API.

Perfect as a lightweight alternative to intl for date formatting and a replacement for timeago when displaying relative time and human-readable timestamps.

Built by Katayath Sai Kiran · @Katayath-Sai-Kiran

pub version pub points pub likes MIT License platform: flutter DateTime Extensions

Screenshots

Variables & Relative Time
Calendar Flags
Business Day Logic

Date Math & Formatting
Holiday, Fiscal & Julian Day
Perfect For Common Use Cases
Formatting dates Date formatting
Formatting DateTime values DateTime formatting
Time ago displays Time ago formatting
Relative timestamps Relative timestamp formatting
Human-readable dates Human-readable timestamps
Chat applications Chat message timestamps
Social feeds Activity feed timestamps
Activity timelines Notification timestamps
Notifications Calendar applications
Logs and analytics Business day calculations
Date utilities
Date extension utilities

Date Formatter Example

final now = DateTime.now();

now.toFullHumanDate();   // Friday, 29 May, 2026
now.toIsoDateString();   // 2026-05-29
now.toShortDateString(); // 05/29/2026

The Token-Saving Advantage (Before vs. After)

1. Relative Human Time

Without this package (30 lines of error-prone math):

String timeAgo(DateTime date) {
  final diff = DateTime.now().difference(date);
  if (diff.inMinutes < 60) return '${diff.inMinutes}m ago';
  if (diff.inHours < 24) return '${diff.inHours}h ago';
  return '${diff.inDays}d ago';
}

With this package (1 line):

dateTime.toTimeAgo(); // "5m ago"

2. Live Countdown Tracking

Without this package: Manual epoch calculations checking for midnight boundaries.

With this package:

dueDate.daysRemaining(); // "3 days left"

Key Features & Usage

Semantic Evaluation Flags

dateTime.isToday;        // true/false
dateTime.isYesterday;    // true/false
dateTime.isTomorrow;     // true/false
dateTime.isThisWeek;     // true/false
dateTime.isWeekend;      // true/false
dateTime.isBusinessDay;  // true/false
dateTime.isLastBusinessDayOfMonth; // true/false
dateTime.isLeapYear;     // true/false
dateTime.isFuture;       // true/false
dateTime.isPast;         // true/false

Date Formatting & DateTime Formatter Presets

dateTime.toDayAndMonth();     // "29 May"
dateTime.toTime12Hour();      // "11:30 PM"
dateTime.toFullHumanDate();   // "Friday, 29 May, 2026"
dateTime.toIsoDateString();   // "2026-05-29"
dateTime.toIsoTimeString();   // "09:05:07"
dateTime.toShortTimeString(); // "9:05 AM"
dateTime.toShortDateString(); // "05/30/2026"
dateTime.toRfc2822String();   // "Sat, 30 May 2026 09:05:00 +0000"

Relative Time & Time Ago Formatting

dateTime.toTimeAgo();               // "12m ago"  (short, default)
dateTime.toTimeAgo(short: false);   // "12 minutes ago"  (verbose)

// Future dates work natively:
dateTime.toTimeAgo(); // "in 3h"
dateTime.toTimeAgo(short: false); // "in 3 hours"

Precise Time Countdowns

dateTime.daysRemaining();  // "3 days left" | "1 day left" | "Today" | "Expired"
dateTime.hoursRemaining(); // "5 hours left" | "1 hour left" | "Expired"

Business Day & Calendar Math

dateTime.addBusinessDays(3);      // Skips weekends
dateTime.subtractBusinessDays(2); // Skips weekends
dateTime.nextDay;                 // Next calendar day
dateTime.previousDay;             // Previous calendar day
dateTime.copyWith(year: 2027);    // Clone with changes

Week, Month, Quarter, Year Utilities

dateTime.weekOfYear;         // ISO week number
dateTime.quarter;            // 1-4
dateTime.isQuarterStart;     // true/false
dateTime.isQuarterEnd;       // true/false
dateTime.startOfQuarter;     // First day of quarter
dateTime.endOfQuarter;       // Last day of quarter
dateTime.startOfWeek;        // Monday
dateTime.endOfWeek;          // Sunday
dateTime.startOfMonth;       // First day of month
dateTime.endOfMonth;         // Last day of month
dateTime.startOfYear;        // Jan 1
dateTime.endOfYear;          // Dec 31
dateTime.isFirstDayOfMonth;  // true/false
dateTime.isLastDayOfMonth;   // true/false
dateTime.daysInMonth;        // 28-31
dateTime.isSameDay(other);
dateTime.isSameWeek(other);
dateTime.isSameMonth(other);
dateTime.isSameYear(other);

Julian Day Support

dateTime.toJulianDay;                  // int
DateFormatterExtension.fromJulianDay(2451545); // DateTime

Date Math & Utilities

dateTime.daysUntil(other);        // int
dateTime.monthsBetween(other);    // int
dateTime.yearsBetween(other);     // int
dateTime.isWithin(start, end);    // true/false
dateTime.atTime(9, 30);           // Set time
dateTime.startOfDay;              // 00:00:00.000
dateTime.endOfDay;                // 23:59:59.999
dateTime.roundToNearest(15);      // Snap to nearest 15-min slot
dateTime.withTimeZoneOffset(Duration(hours: 2));
dateTime.toLocalOrUtc();

Season Detection

dateTime.season;    // "Spring" | "Summer" | "Autumn" | "Winter"
dateTime.isSpring;  // true/false
dateTime.isSummer;  // true/false
dateTime.isAutumn;  // true/false
dateTime.isWinter;  // true/false

Smart Date Label

// Context-aware label — perfect for chat & feed UIs:
DateTime.now().toSmartLabel();                              // "Today"
DateTime.now().subtract(Duration(days: 1)).toSmartLabel(); // "Yesterday"
DateTime.now().subtract(Duration(days: 3)).toSmartLabel(); // "Monday"
// Earlier this year → "29 May"; older → "29 May, 2024"

Round to Nearest Interval

// Snap times to scheduling slots:
DateTime(2026, 5, 30, 10, 13).roundToNearest(15); // 2026-05-30 10:15
DateTime(2026, 5, 30, 10,  7).roundToNearest(15); // 2026-05-30 10:00
DateTime(2026, 5, 30, 10, 29).roundToNearest(30); // 2026-05-30 10:30

Installation

Add to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  date_formatter_codespark: ^1.6.0

Then import:

import 'package:date_formatter_codespark/date_formatter_codespark.dart';

Zero Dependencies

This package has no external dependencies. It does not use intl, timeago, or any other third-party package. All date formatting, locale-aware month names, and weekday strings are handled via lean, hand-crafted lookup tables internally.

Full API Reference

All extension methods are documented with concise doc comments and examples in the code. See lib/src/date_extensions.dart for the complete API surface.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Libraries

date_formatter_codespark
date_formatter_codespark