Format chat footers in DISPLAY_TIMEZONE instead of UTC.

Docker hosts default to UTC, so bare toLocaleTimeString() showed
wrong "Last checked" times in avstatus and other commands. Add
formatDisplayTime() (default America/New_York, overridable via
DISPLAY_TIMEZONE) and use it across renderers and command footers.

.env.example

@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ SERVER_PORT=1800
 # Logging level: info (default - clean), debug (verbose, includes per-fetch details)
 LOG_LEVEL=info
 
+# IANA timezone for "Last checked" footers in chat output (avstatus,
+# phonestatus, etc.). The bot often runs in UTC inside Docker; this
+# keeps timestamps in operator-local time. Default: America/New_York.
+# DISPLAY_TIMEZONE=America/New_York
+
 # Verbose Webex framework debug logs. Default off; auto-enabled when LOG_LEVEL=debug.
 # WEBEX_FRAMEWORK_DEBUG=false
 

commands/jiraHistory.js

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
 import { summarizeJiraTicket } from '../services/jiraSummarizer.js';
 import { analyzeCommonIssues } from '../services/jiraSummarizer.js';
 import jira from '../integrations/jira/JiraClient.js';
+import { formatDisplayTime } from '../utils/time.js';
 import { logger } from '../utils/logger.js';
 
 const MAX_TICKETS = 20;
@@ -134,7 +135,7 @@ export async function handleJiraHistory(bot, trigger) {
             }
         }
 
-        reply += `\n*Last checked: ${new Date().toLocaleTimeString()}*`;
+        reply += `\n*Last checked: ${formatDisplayTime()}*`;
         await bot.say('markdown', reply.trim());
 
     } catch (err) {

commands/jiraTicket.js

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import jira from '../integrations/jira/JiraClient.js';
 import { summarizeJiraTicket } from '../services/jiraSummarizer.js';
 import { logger } from '../utils/logger.js';
 import { getStatusEmoji, calculateDaysOpen } from '../services/jiraService.js';
+import { formatDisplayTime } from '../utils/time.js';
 
 export async function handleJiraTicket(bot, trigger) {
   logger('jira:ticket', 'Handler entered', 'debug');
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ export async function handleJiraTicket(bot, trigger) {
     reply += `${aiSummary}\n\n`;
     reply += `${statusEmoji} **Status:** ${fields.status?.name || '—'} • Component: ${component}\n`;
     reply += `Assigned: ${assignee} • Open for: ${days} days\n\n`;
-    reply += `\n*Last checked: ${new Date().toLocaleTimeString()}*`;
+    reply += `\n*Last checked: ${formatDisplayTime()}*`;
 
     await bot.say('markdown', reply.trim());
 

commands/woHistory.js

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // src/commands/woHistory.js
 import { collectWoHistory } from '../services/woService.js';
 import { logger } from '../utils/logger.js';
+import { formatDisplayTime } from '../utils/time.js';
 
 export async function handleWoHistory(bot, trigger) {
   logger('wo:history', 'Handler entered');
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ export async function handleWoHistory(bot, trigger) {
       }
     }
 
-    reply += `\n*Last checked: ${new Date().toLocaleTimeString()}*`;
+    reply += `\n*Last checked: ${formatDisplayTime()}*`;
 
     await bot.say('markdown', reply.trim() || 'No data available.');
 

commands/woSummary.js

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // src/commands/woSummary.js
 import { collectWoSummary } from '../services/woService.js';
 import { logger } from '../utils/logger.js';
+import { formatDisplayTime } from '../utils/time.js';
 
 export async function handleWoSummary(bot, trigger) {
   logger('wo:summary', 'Handler entered');
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ export async function handleWoSummary(bot, trigger) {
 
     let reply = `**Work Order Summary – ${woNumber}**\n\n`;
     reply += `${summary || 'No summary data available.'}\n`;
-    reply += `\n*Last checked: ${new Date().toLocaleTimeString()}*`;
+    reply += `\n*Last checked: ${formatDisplayTime()}*`;
 
     await bot.say('markdown', reply.trim());
 

services/renderers/avStatusRenderer.js

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 // handler — same wired-vs-wireless branch, same double-arrow indent
 // convention, same fallback for `{client:...}` vs flat shapes.
 
-import { simpleTimeAgo } from '../../utils/time.js';
+import { simpleTimeAgo, formatDisplayTime } from '../../utils/time.js';
 
 /**
  * Render an AV device-status markdown snapshot from a
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ export function renderAvStatusMarkdown(data, opts = {}) {
   }
 
   if (footer) {
-    reply += `*Last checked: ${new Date().toLocaleTimeString()}*`;
+    reply += `*Last checked: ${formatDisplayTime()}*`;
   }
 
   return reply.trim();

services/renderers/phoneStatusRenderer.js

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 // `simpleTimeAgo` — the same helper the chat handler used, so relative
 // times ("2h ago") stay consistent across chat and Jira surfaces.
 
-import { simpleTimeAgo, formatBytes } from '../../utils/time.js';
+import { simpleTimeAgo, formatBytes, formatDisplayTime } from '../../utils/time.js';
 
 /**
  * Render a phone-status markdown snapshot from a `collectPhoneStatus`
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ export function renderPhoneStatusMarkdown(data, opts = {}) {
   }
 
   if (footer) {
-    reply += `\n*Last checked: ${new Date().toLocaleTimeString()}*`;
+    reply += `\n*Last checked: ${formatDisplayTime()}*`;
   }
 
   return reply.trim();
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ export function renderDectDiagnosticsMarkdown(results, opts = {}) {
   }
 
   if (footer) {
-    out += `\n*Base diagnostics pulled at ${new Date().toLocaleTimeString()} via the DECT relay. Use \`/dectstatus ${storeNum}\` for full details and reboot/factory-reset controls.*`;
+    out += `\n*Base diagnostics pulled at ${formatDisplayTime()} via the DECT relay. Use \`/dectstatus ${storeNum}\` for full details and reboot/factory-reset controls.*`;
   }
   return out.trim();
 }

services/renderers/voiceDiagRenderer.js

@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@
 // The renderer never emits an adaptive card itself. The caller
 // (commands/voiceDiag.js) walks the same results array to post cards.
 
+import { formatDisplayTime } from '../../utils/time.js';
+
 const SEVERITY_ORDER = ['error', 'warn', 'skipped', 'ok'];
 const SEVERITY_LABEL = {
   error: 'ERRORS',
@@ -118,8 +120,7 @@ export function renderVoiceDiagMarkdown(results, opts = {}) {
   }
 
   if (emitFooter) {
-    const now = new Date();
+    reply += `_Last checked: ${formatDisplayTime()}_\n`;
-    reply += `_Last checked: ${now.toISOString()}_\n`;
   }
 
   return reply.trim();

services/renderers/wanDiagnosticsRenderer.js

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import {
   rollupAlarms as sharedRollupAlarms,
   humanizeAge,
 } from '../enrichment/alarmSemantics.js';
+import { formatDisplayTime } from '../../utils/time.js';
 
 // Thresholds are read from env at render time so the rendered
 // icons stay in sync with the check bucket verdicts. Same defaults
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ export function renderWanDiagnosticsMarkdown(data, opts = {}) {
 
   if (footer) {
     const store = storeNum || data.storeNum;
-    out += `\n*WAN metrics pulled at ${new Date().toLocaleTimeString()} from Prisma SD-WAN. ` +
+    out += `\n*WAN metrics pulled at ${formatDisplayTime()} from Prisma SD-WAN. ` +
       `Use \`/voicediag ${store} --only wanLatency,wanJitter,wanLoss,wanMos,wanHealthscore,wanLinkState,wanAlarms\` for link-probe breakdowns, ` +
       `or \`/voicediag ${store} --only wanAppRtpMos,wanAppRtpLoss,wanAppRtpJitter\` for per-app RTP quality.*`;
   }

tests/time.test.js

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+
+import { formatDisplayTime, DISPLAY_TIMEZONE } from '../utils/time.js';
+
+test('DISPLAY_TIMEZONE defaults to America/New_York', () => {
+  // If DISPLAY_TIMEZONE env is unset in test runner, we expect the default.
+  const expected = process.env.DISPLAY_TIMEZONE || 'America/New_York';
+  assert.equal(DISPLAY_TIMEZONE, expected);
+});
+
+test('formatDisplayTime: converts UTC instant to Eastern wall clock', () => {
+  // 2026-07-21 18:13:45 UTC → 2:13:45 PM EDT (DST)
+  const d = new Date('2026-07-21T18:13:45.000Z');
+  const formatted = formatDisplayTime(d);
+  assert.match(formatted, /2:13:45 PM/);
+  assert.match(formatted, /EDT/);
+});
+
+test('formatDisplayTime: winter offset uses EST', () => {
+  // 2026-01-15 18:00:00 UTC → 1:00:00 PM EST
+  const d = new Date('2026-01-15T18:00:00.000Z');
+  const formatted = formatDisplayTime(d);
+  assert.match(formatted, /1:00:00 PM/);
+  assert.match(formatted, /EST/);
+});

tests/voiceDiagRenderer.test.js

@@ -118,12 +118,12 @@ test('renderer: emitFooter=false suppresses trailing timestamp', () => {
   assert.equal(md.includes('Last checked'), false);
 });
 
-test('renderer: emitFooter=true (default) adds an ISO timestamp line', () => {
+test('renderer: emitFooter=true (default) adds a display-timezone timestamp line', () => {
   const md = renderVoiceDiagMarkdown([R('c1', 'ok', 'good')], {
     storeNum: '99',
     detailed: true,
   });
-  assert.match(md, /_Last checked: \d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}/);
+  assert.match(md, /_Last checked: .+ (AM|PM) [A-Z]{2,5}_/);
 });
 
 test('renderer: details values — arrays truncated past 3 items, nested objects JSON-ified', () => {

utils/time.js

@@ -1,6 +1,32 @@
 // utils/time.js
 import { logger } from './logger.js';
 
+/**
+ * IANA timezone for human-facing footer timestamps ("Last checked", etc.).
+ * The bot process often runs in UTC (Docker default); this keeps chat
+ * output in operator-local time without requiring TZ on the container.
+ * Override via DISPLAY_TIMEZONE in .env.
+ */
+export const DISPLAY_TIMEZONE = process.env.DISPLAY_TIMEZONE || 'America/New_York';
+
+/**
+ * Format a Date for chat footers ("Last checked: …"). Uses DISPLAY_TIMEZONE
+ * and includes a short zone label (e.g. "EDT") so UTC-looking output is obvious.
+ *
+ * @param {Date} [date=new Date()]
+ * @returns {string} e.g. "2:13:45 PM EDT"
+ */
+export function formatDisplayTime(date = new Date()) {
+  return date.toLocaleTimeString('en-US', {
+    timeZone: DISPLAY_TIMEZONE,
+    hour: 'numeric',
+    minute: '2-digit',
+    second: '2-digit',
+    hour12: true,
+    timeZoneName: 'short',
+  });
+}
+
 /**
  * Human-readable "X time ago" from ISO string or Date
  * @param {string|Date|number} input - ISO string, Date object, or timestamp