fix(admin): parse SQLite timestamps as UTC

.changeset/fix-revision-date-utc.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@emdash-cms/admin": patch
+---
+
+Fixes admin timestamps shown in the wrong timezone on SQLite-backed sites. Stored timestamps without an explicit timezone are now parsed as UTC, so revision history and dashboard timestamps no longer drift by the viewer's offset.

packages/admin/src/components/RevisionHistory.tsx

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import { useQuery, useMutation, useQueryClient } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import * as React from "react";
 
 import { fetchRevisions, restoreRevision, type Revision } from "../lib/api";
-import { formatRelativeTime } from "../lib/utils";
+import { formatRelativeTime, parseTimestamp } from "../lib/utils";
 import { ConfirmDialog } from "./ConfirmDialog";
 
 // =============================================================================
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ interface RevisionHistoryProps {
  * Format a date as a full timestamp
  */
 function formatFullDate(dateString: string): string {
-	return new Date(dateString).toLocaleString(undefined, {
+	return parseTimestamp(dateString).toLocaleString(undefined, {
 		weekday: "short",
 		year: "numeric",
 		month: "short",

packages/admin/src/lib/utils.ts

@@ -8,20 +8,38 @@ const NON_ALPHANUMERIC_HYPHEN_PATTERN = /[^a-z0-9-]/g;
 const MULTIPLE_HYPHENS_PATTERN = /-+/g;
 const LEADING_TRAILING_HYPHEN_PATTERN = /^-|-$/g;
 
+// Regex patterns for parseTimestamp
+const NAIVE_DATETIME_PATTERN = /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}[ T]\d{2}:\d{2}/;
+const TIMEZONE_DESIGNATOR_PATTERN = /(?:[zZ]|[+-]\d\d(?::?\d\d)?)$/;
+
 /**
  * Merge class names with Tailwind CSS support
  */
 export function cn(...inputs: ClassValue[]) {
 	return twMerge(clsx(inputs));
 }
 
+/**
+ * Parse a timestamp string into a Date, treating values without a timezone as UTC.
+ *
+ * SQLite `datetime('now')` returns `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS` with no designator, which JavaScript would otherwise read as local time.
+ */
+export function parseTimestamp(value: string): Date {
+	const hasTime = NAIVE_DATETIME_PATTERN.test(value);
+	const hasZone = TIMEZONE_DESIGNATOR_PATTERN.test(value);
+	if (hasTime && !hasZone) {
+		return new Date(value.replace(" ", "T") + "Z");
+	}
+	return new Date(value);
+}
+
 /**
  * Convert a string to a URL-friendly slug.
  *
  * Handles unicode by normalizing to NFD and stripping diacritics.
  */
 export function formatRelativeTime(dateString: string): string {
-	const date = new Date(dateString);
+	const date = parseTimestamp(dateString);
 	const now = new Date();
 	const diffMs = now.getTime() - date.getTime();
 	const diffSecs = Math.floor(diffMs / 1000);

packages/admin/tests/lib/utils.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
 
-import { cn, slugify } from "../../src/lib/utils";
+import { cn, parseTimestamp, slugify } from "../../src/lib/utils";
 
 describe("slugify", () => {
 	it("converts basic text to slug", () => {
@@ -62,3 +62,29 @@ describe("cn", () => {
 		expect(cn("foo", undefined, null, "bar")).toBe("foo bar");
 	});
 });
+
+describe("parseTimestamp", () => {
+	it("treats a SQLite datetime('now') value as UTC", () => {
+		expect(parseTimestamp("2026-05-03 17:26:23").toISOString()).toBe("2026-05-03T17:26:23.000Z");
+	});
+
+	it("leaves a value with a Z designator unchanged", () => {
+		expect(parseTimestamp("2026-05-03T17:26:23.000Z").toISOString()).toBe(
+			"2026-05-03T17:26:23.000Z",
+		);
+	});
+
+	it("leaves a value with a lowercase z designator unchanged", () => {
+		expect(parseTimestamp("2026-05-03T17:26:23z").toISOString()).toBe("2026-05-03T17:26:23.000Z");
+	});
+
+	it("respects an explicit UTC offset", () => {
+		expect(parseTimestamp("2026-05-03T17:26:23+02:00").toISOString()).toBe(
+			"2026-05-03T15:26:23.000Z",
+		);
+	});
+
+	it("treats a Postgres hour-only offset as already zoned", () => {
+		expect(parseTimestamp("2026-05-03 17:26:23+00").toISOString()).toBe("2026-05-03T17:26:23.000Z");
+	});
+});

packages/admin/vitest.config.ts

@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ export default defineConfig({
 		setupFiles: ["./tests/setup.ts"],
 		browser: {
 			enabled: true,
-			provider: playwright(),
+			// Pin a non-UTC timezone so timestamp-parsing tests catch local-vs-UTC bugs.
+			provider: playwright({
+				contextOptions: { timezoneId: "America/New_York" },
+			}),
 			instances: [{ browser: "chromium" }],
 			headless: true,
 		},