Lock any device, camera, or app to one UTC-accurate clock over plain HTTPS. One endpoint, a free key, and an honest millisecond accuracy readout on every response. It's the same public clock the DropFrame apps lock to — now callable from your own code.
A single read. The nearest edge answers automatically — no region to pick.
# the current agreed instant + how far it may be from true UTC
GET https://time.dropframe.app/v1/now?key=YOUR_KEY{
"v": 1,
"epochMs": 1750000000123, // server time at request receipt (ms since 1970 UTC)
"disp": 8, // how far this may be from true UTC (ms) — the honesty bound
"dispSource": "measured", // "measured" or "assumed" — we tell you which
"leapOffset": 37, // TAI − UTC, for the SMPTE / PTP timescale
"edge": "EWR" // which edge served you (transparency)
}| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| epochMs | The agreed instant, in milliseconds since 1970 UTC, stamped at request receipt. |
| disp | The dispersion — how far epochMs may be from true UTC, in ms. Smaller is tighter. |
| dispSource | measured (from an out-of-band monitor) or assumed (a conservative fallback). We never pretend a number we haven't measured. |
| leapOffset | TAI − UTC (currently 37), for building an SMPTE / PTP timescale. |
| edge | Which edge location answered — purely for transparency. |
Also: GET /v1/health → a liveness check. Time responses are never cached.
A free key is required for programmatic access. Sign in with just your email — no password. No account yet? We'll create one automatically.
Any one of these — whichever suits your client:
# query parameter
GET /v1/now?key=df_your_key
# request header
X-DropFrame-Key: df_your_key
# bearer token
Authorization: Bearer df_your_keyEvery response includes X-DropFrame-Plan and, on the free tier, X-DropFrame-Quota-Remaining.
disp field tells you the real bound, live, on every call.