Standard Global Tradecraft docs/standards/datetime-and-versioning.md

Datetime And Versioning Standard

Use ISO 8601 UTC timestamps:

Full Index

UNCLASSIFIED//OPEN SOURCE

Standard ID: WI-STD-004

Prepared UTC: 2026-06-12T23:20:35Z

Timestamp Format

Use ISO 8601 UTC timestamps:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ

For filenames, use compact UTC:

YYYY-MM-DDTHHMMZ-short-title.md

Example:

2026-06-12T2320Z-strategic-environment-baseline.md

Information Cutoff

Every product must state an information cutoff. The cutoff is the latest timestamp at which sources were considered, not the time the product was finished.

Product IDs

Use:

WI-ASMT-AREA-YEAR-NNNN

Examples:

  • WI-ASMT-GLOBAL-2026-0001
  • WI-ASMT-INDOPAC-2026-0001

Revisions

For minor corrections, update the file and add a short revision note. For major analytic changes, create a new dated assessment and link the older product as a previous baseline.