Format a Date filled by "AI Extract Info"

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1

Yesterday I used the “AI Extract Info” feature to create a column that extracts a DATE from a TIMELINE with the Instruction: “end date”.

When I first created this, the date was filling in as “September 3, 2025” which is what I want. Then, today, I noticed that there were actually two “AI Extract Info - End Date” automations on the board, and since I couldn’t delete them from the Automations area, I deleted the column and started over.

Today, the EXACT SAME INSTRUCTIONS have the AI filling the DATE field with “2025-09-03” which I do not want. I’ve tried many variations on instructions that say things like “end date as ‘month, DD’” but these instructions either lead to “no result” or the same date format.

There is no Date format option in the column settings, because it’s technically not a Date column.

Any suggestions on how to get the AI to fill the date in using the format I prefer?

2

Answering my own question:

Start with a DATE column, click the “…” that appears in the header on mouse-over, go to Settings > Customize Date Column > Format Date. Select the desired format (only four options available, and none of them are the default AI format).

Now go back to the “…” menu in the header, select “Autofill this column” and go on to use the same AI setup to extract the date from the existing Timeline. This time the column is still technically a Date column, so the date conforms to the chosen format.

3

To format a date filled by “AI Extract Info,” the process will typically involve two steps: extracting the date from the AI’s output and then applying a specific date format.

Here’s how you can do it depending on your environment:

  1. Extract the Date:

    • If you’re using an AI tool that extracts the date in a text format, ensure it’s in a recognizable format (like YYYY-MM-DD, MM/DD/YYYY, etc.).

    • If the date is in a string format, you may need to convert it into a Date object or a DateTime object using the relevant parsing function or library for your environment.

  2. Format the Date:

    • In Python, you can use the datetime module to format it:
    from datetime import datetime

# Example: AI Extract Info output
extracted_date = "2025-10-08"

# Convert to a DateTime object
date_obj = datetime.strptime(extracted_date, "%Y-%m-%d")

# Format the date to your desired format
formatted_date = date_obj.strftime("%B %d, %Y")  # Example: October 08, 2025

print(formatted_date)
    • In JavaScript, you can use Date objects to format it:
    const extractedDate = "2025-10-08";  // Date output from AI

// Create a Date object
const dateObj = new Date(extractedDate);

// Format the date using toLocaleDateString or other methods
const formattedDate = dateObj.toLocaleDateString("en-US", {
    year: "numeric", month: "long", day: "numeric"
});

console.log(formattedDate);  // October 8, 2025

  3. Handle Timezones (if applicable):
    If you’re dealing with time zones, you may want to use libraries like Moment.js (for JavaScript) or pytz (for Python) to handle time zone conversions.

  4. UI/UX Considerations:
    If you’re showing the formatted date in a UI (web app, for example), ensure the date format is appropriate for your target audience (e.g., MM/DD/YYYY in the US vs. DD/MM/YYYY in Europe).