fix(http): relax cookies parser to support HTTP 1.0 and ANSI C timestamp formats by Copilot · Pull Request #6290 · questdb/questdb

Copilot · 2025-10-21T08:08:41Z

Problem

The HTTP header parser was unable to parse cookie Expires values with 2-digit year formats (HTTP 1.0 era) and ANSI C asctime formats, resulting in errors like:

invalid cookie Expires value [value=Mon, 20-Oct-25 15:57:56 GMT]

While these formats are deprecated in favor of 4-digit years per RFC 2616, some legacy systems still use them in the wild. Per RFC 2616 Section 3.3.1, HTTP clients should support three date formats: RFC 1123, RFC 850, and ANSI C asctime.

Solution

Added new HTTP date format patterns to support legacy date formats:

HTTP 1.0 with 2-digit years: E, d-MMM-yy HH:mm:ss Z
ANSI C asctime format: E MMM dd HH:mm:ss yyyy and E MMM d HH:mm:ss yyyy

The patterns are added as fallback formats after the standard HTTP and Microsoft EntraID formats, ensuring:

Backward compatibility: Existing 4-digit year formats are parsed first
Automatic year adjustment: 2-digit years are interpreted relative to the current century using the existing adjustYear() method
Minimal performance impact: The new patterns are only tried after standard formats fail
RFC 2616 compliance: Supports all three recommended HTTP date formats

Changes

MicrosFormatUtils.java: Added HTTP 1.0 and ANSI C date patterns to httpPatterns array
MicrosTest.java: Added unit tests for direct HTTP date parsing with 2-digit years and ANSI C formats
HttpHeaderParserTest.java: Added end-to-end tests for complete cookie parsing flow with both formats

Testing

All existing tests pass (80 in MicrosTest, 41 in HttpHeaderParserTest, 250+ date-related tests)
New tests verify both direct parsing and end-to-end cookie handling
Examples:
- HTTP 1.0: Mon, 20-Oct-25 15:57:56 GMT correctly parses as October 20, 2025
- ANSI C: Sun Nov 6 08:49:37 1994 correctly parses as November 6, 1994

Fixes the issue where legitimate but deprecated HTTP cookie dates were being rejected.

Fixes #6289

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>HttpHeaderParser - relaxed timestamp parsing</issue_title>
<issue_description>### Is your feature request related to a problem?

I was this in the wild: invalid cookie Expires value [value=Mon, 20-Oct-25 15:57:56 GMT]

Apparently, this 2-digit year format is an HTTP 1.0-era format. Technically, it should not be used anymore, but apparently some system still uses it. Our cookie handler should be able to parse this format.

Describe the solution you'd like.

Add a new pattern to

questdb/core/src/main/java/io/questdb/std/datetime/microtime/MicrosFormatUtils.java

Lines 381 to 384 in f0ba286

final String[] httpPatterns = new String[]{ // priority sorted

"E, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss Z", // HTTP standard

"E, d-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss Z" // Microsoft EntraID

};

and write tests

Describe alternatives you've considered.

No response

Full Name:

Jaromir Hamala

Affiliation:

QuestDB

Additional context

No response</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Fixes #6289

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CLAassistant · 2025-10-21T08:08:50Z

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coderabbitai · 2025-10-21T08:09:08Z

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Walkthrough

The changes add support for parsing HTTP 1.0-era date formats with 2-digit years (e.g., "Mon, 20-Oct-25 15:57:56 GMT") to the HTTP date-time format parser. This enables proper handling of legacy cookie Expires timestamps. Tests verify the parsing capability for the new format.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
HTTP date format pattern addition `core/src/main/java/io/questdb/std/datetime/microtime/MicrosFormatUtils.java`	Added HTTP 1.0 date-time pattern `"E, d-MMM-yy HH:mm:ss Z"` (2-digit year) to HTTP_FORMATS initialization to support legacy cookie Expires timestamps.
Test coverage for 2-digit year parsing `core/src/test/java/io/questdb/test/cutlass/http/HttpHeaderParserTest.java`, `core/src/test/java/io/questdb/test/std/datetime/microtime/MicrosTest.java`	Added `testCookiesWithTwoDigitYear` method in HttpHeaderParserTest and two HTTP date parsing tests in MicrosTest to verify parseHTTP correctly handles 2-digit year formats (e.g., "Mon, 20-Oct-25 15:57:56 GMT").

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~12 minutes

The changes are straightforward: a single pattern addition to a format list and corresponding test coverage. The modifications are homogeneous and localized. Review effort focuses on verifying the regex pattern correctness, ensuring test cases adequately validate the new format, and confirming no regressions to existing 4-digit year parsing.

Pre-merge checks and finishing touches

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	You can run `@coderabbitai generate docstrings` to improve docstring coverage.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title Check	✅ Passed	The pull request title "fix(http): relax cookies parser to support HTTP 1.0 timestamp with 2 digits year" is clear, specific, and directly captures the main objective of the changeset. It accurately describes the primary change—adding support for parsing HTTP 1.0-era cookie timestamps with 2-digit years. The title is concise and helps developers scanning the commit history understand what was fixed.
Linked Issues Check	✅ Passed	The code changes directly address the objectives specified in linked issue #6289. The PR adds a new HTTP date format pattern "E, d-MMM-yy HH:mm:ss Z" to MicrosFormatUtils.java to support 2-digit year parsing [#6289], includes unit tests in MicrosTest.java for direct HTTP date parsing with 2-digit years [#6289], and provides an end-to-end integration test in HttpHeaderParserTest.java for complete cookie parsing flow [#6289]. All primary coding requirements from the linked issue have been implemented with appropriate test coverage.
Out of Scope Changes Check	✅ Passed	All code changes in this pull request are directly related to the stated objective of supporting HTTP 1.0 2-digit year timestamp parsing. The modifications to MicrosFormatUtils.java add the required pattern, changes to MicrosTest.java and HttpHeaderParserTest.java implement the required tests. No unrelated or extraneous changes were introduced outside the scope of relaxing the cookie parser for legacy timestamp formats. The summary notes a duplication in the test method, but this appears to be a quality concern rather than an out-of-scope change.
Description Check	✅ Passed	The pull request description is well-structured and clearly related to the changeset. It provides context about the problem (legacy HTTP 1.0 2-digit year formats not being parsed), the solution approach (adding a new date pattern with year adjustment), and details about the implementation and testing. The description explains the motivation, solution rationale, and verification approach, making it easy to understand the purpose of the changes.

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Co-authored-by: jerrinot <[email protected]>

jerrinot

looking good, I manually checked 1760975876000000L and it indeed it does represent Mon Oct 20 2025 15:57:56 GMT+0000 as expected.

ideoma · 2025-10-21T09:12:34Z

@coderabbitai review

coderabbitai · 2025-10-21T09:13:17Z

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jerrinot · 2025-10-21T09:57:50Z

@copilot add also support for the ANSI C format

Co-authored-by: jerrinot <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-10-21T10:10:25Z

@copilot add also support for the ANSI C format

Added support for ANSI C asctime format (E MMM d HH:mm:ss yyyy and E MMM d HH:mm:ss yyyy for space-padded single-digit days). Examples: Mon Oct 20 15:57:56 2025 and Sun Nov 6 08:49:37 1994. See commit for details.

glasstiger · 2025-10-28T17:19:36Z

[PR Coverage check]

😍 pass : 0 / 0 (0%)

Initial plan

3c7488f

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and jerrinot Oct 21, 2025

Copilot started work on behalf of jerrinot October 21, 2025 08:09 View session

Add support for HTTP 1.0 2-digit year cookie Expires format

e33641b

Co-authored-by: jerrinot <[email protected]>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Add relaxed timestamp parsing for cookie handler~~ Add support for HTTP 1.0 2-digit year format in cookie Expires parsing Oct 21, 2025

Copilot AI requested a review from jerrinot October 21, 2025 08:28

Copilot finished work on behalf of jerrinot October 21, 2025 08:28

jerrinot changed the title ~~Add support for HTTP 1.0 2-digit year format in cookie Expires parsing~~ fix(http): relax cookies parser to support HTTP 1.0 timestamp with 2 digits year Oct 21, 2025

jerrinot approved these changes Oct 21, 2025

View reviewed changes

jerrinot marked this pull request as ready for review October 21, 2025 08:40

glasstiger previously approved these changes Oct 21, 2025

View reviewed changes

Copilot started work on behalf of jerrinot October 21, 2025 09:58 View session

Add support for ANSI C asctime date format

2e12a65

Co-authored-by: jerrinot <[email protected]>

Copilot AI dismissed glasstiger’s stale review via 2e12a65 October 21, 2025 10:10

Copilot AI changed the title ~~fix(http): relax cookies parser to support HTTP 1.0 timestamp with 2 digits year~~ fix(http): relax cookies parser to support HTTP 1.0 and ANSI C timestamp formats Oct 21, 2025

Copilot AI requested a review from jerrinot October 21, 2025 10:11

Copilot finished work on behalf of jerrinot October 21, 2025 10:11

Merge branch 'master' into copilot/add-relaxed-timestamp-parsing

f142fad

RaphDal self-requested a review October 28, 2025 15:08

RaphDal approved these changes Oct 28, 2025

View reviewed changes

Merge branch 'master' into copilot/add-relaxed-timestamp-parsing

e698bbb

bluestreak01 merged commit 23b9f2a into master Oct 31, 2025
34 checks passed

bluestreak01 deleted the copilot/add-relaxed-timestamp-parsing branch October 31, 2025 02:02

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fix(http): relax cookies parser to support HTTP 1.0 and ANSI C timestamp formats#6290

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	final String[] httpPatterns = new String[]{ // priority sorted
	"E, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss Z", // HTTP standard
	"E, d-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss Z" // Microsoft EntraID
	};

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