Overview

Segmentation filters users on DateTime fields inside event payloads, with minutes and hours precision. You use it to build time-sensitive segments, such as users whose webinar starts in the next 30 minutes.

Before this feature, you could not use DateTime payload fields in a segment. You had to target broad, date-level audiences that included users you did not want to reach.

Now you select a DateTime payload field, choose an operator, and enter a number of minutes or hours. The segment then returns users whose payload time falls inside that window.

This feature supports event payload fields only. It does not support user attributes.

Prerequisites

The event you use must carry a DateTime value in its payload. Common examples are appointment_time, webinar_start_time, cart_abandoned_at, session_expiry_time, and kyc_started_at.

The following payload shows a DateTime field. Send the value in a consistent timestamp format, such as ISO 8601 in UTC.

{
  "event_name": "Webinar Registered",
  "payload": {
    "webinar_start_time": "2026-05-14T18:30:00Z"
  }
}

Segment Builder lists webinar_start_time as a DateTime payload field for the Webinar Registered event.

Keep these points in mind:

• Minutes and hours operators appear only for DateTime payload fields. Other payload fields do not show them.
• User attributes do not support this feature.
• Existing segments that don't use DateTime payload filters keep working without changes.

Supported operators

Four operators work with DateTime event payload fields. Each takes a number and a unit: minutes or hours.

Use Within the last and More than for past times. Use In the next for upcoming times. Use Exactly before / ago when you need one specific offset.

Segments refresh on a cycle, so Netcore cannot match one exact instant. For Exactly before / ago, Netcore treats the offset as a short time window.

Create a segment with a DateTime payload condition

1. Open Segment Builder and start a new segment.
2. Add an event condition. Select Did Event or Did Not Do Event.
3. Select the event, for example, Webinar Registered.
4. Add a payload filter and select a DateTime payload field, for example webinar_start_time.
5. Open the operator dropdown. Select an operator, for example, In the next.
6. Enter a number, for example 30.
7. Select the unit, minutes or hours.
8. Click Preview to check the audience count.
9. Save the segment.

The finished condition reads like this:

Did Event → Webinar Registered → webinar_start_time → in the next → 30 → minutes

Examples

These four segments show how the operators fit common campaigns.

For the KYC example, add a second condition that excludes users who did the KYC completion event. The first condition alone does not check for completion.

How Netcore evaluates the condition

Netcore measures every minutes and hours condition against the time the segment runs. It does not measure against the time you created the segment.

• Preview. The preview count uses the window you select, relative to the time you click Preview.
• Saved segments. Each refresh evaluates the condition again, relative to the refresh time. The same segment can return different users from one refresh to the next.
• Past and upcoming windows. Within the last and More than look back from the run time. In the next look forward from the run time.

A segment with a short window, such as 30 minutes, changes quickly. Check the refresh timing of your segment before you rely on it for a time-critical campaign.

Notes and limitations

• The feature supports DateTime fields in event payloads only. User attribute DateTime fields are not supported.
• The operators work with minutes and hours.
• Exactly before / ago uses a short time window, not a single instant, because segments refresh on a cycle.
• Journeys that use the segment consume the saved segment output. This feature does not change how journeys run.
• Existing segments without DateTime payload filters behave as before.