Minutes ago for logs and messages
How to get an exact minute for a log line, a chat, or a support reply, and why rounding to “about ten minutes” causes mismatches.
Minutes
Support and chat
“I sent that about ten minutes ago” is not a timestamp. The other person will look at a different clock. Open /10-minutes-ago, copy the time, and send the clock time plus timezone. The page is built for that copy-paste.
5, 10, 15, and 30 minutes are the offsets people actually type. 17 and 18 minutes exist because some users bookmark whatever they measured once; prefer the round numbers unless you have a reason.
Logs and deploys
Build systems and error trackers already store timestamps. The minutes-ago tool is for humans who did not write one down. Subtracting in the URL bar is faster than opening the logging UI when you only need “was that before or after the deploy?”
Include seconds. Two events one minute apart will look identical if you round.
Do not use minutes ago for yesterday
If the event was yesterday, switch to days. A large minute count (1440 minutes ago) is 24 hours ago and is harder to read. Use the unit that matches how you will say it out loud.
Questions
Why does the result keep changing?
Because “10 minutes ago” is defined relative to now. A frozen timestamp belongs in your notes. The page is a calculator, not an archive.