diff --git a/common/chat.cpp b/common/chat.cpp
index ffbc9c3bf4..c3053eaec1 100644
--- a/common/chat.cpp
+++ b/common/chat.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 #include <cstdio>
 #include <cstdlib>
+#include <ctime>
 #include <exception>
 #include <functional>
 
@@ -1199,6 +1200,16 @@ static void func_args_not_string(json & messages) {
 
 }
 
+static json common_chat_extra_context() {
+    json ctx = json::object();
+    std::chrono::system_clock::time_point now = std::chrono::system_clock::now();
+    std::string datetime_str = format_time(now, "%b %d %Y");
+    std::string date_str = format_time(now, "%d %b %Y");
+    ctx["datetime"] = datetime_str;
+    ctx["date_string"] = date_str;
+    return ctx;
+}
+
 static common_chat_params common_chat_templates_apply_jinja(const struct common_chat_templates *        tmpls,
                                                             const struct common_chat_templates_inputs & inputs) {
     autoparser::templates_params params;
@@ -1229,7 +1240,7 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_templates_apply_jinja(const struct common_
         workaround::requires_non_null_content(params.messages);
     }
 
-    params.extra_context = json::object();
+    params.extra_context = common_chat_extra_context();
     for (auto el : inputs.chat_template_kwargs) {
         params.extra_context[el.first] = json::parse(el.second);
     }