> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://alphacastio.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Filter Dates

> Restrict a pipeline to a fixed date range or to a window defined relative to today.

The **Filter Dates** step narrows the pipeline to the time period you want to focus on. It supports two modes.

## Absolute date range

Specify a start and end date by clicking the calendar.

You can also click **earliest available** to pull the full history, and **latest available** to always track the most recent data point without editing the step again.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/alphacastio/ttF_U-V9HDrmrPbo/images/steps/filter-dates-1.jpg?fit=max&auto=format&n=ttF_U-V9HDrmrPbo&q=85&s=bb7f883b9153c44f68bf1d17b8ab7be0" alt="Setting an absolute date range" width="991" height="425" data-path="images/steps/filter-dates-1.jpg" />
</Frame>

## Relative dates

Click **relative dates** to filter against a window measured from the current date. Choose a number of years, quarters, months or days.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/alphacastio/ttF_U-V9HDrmrPbo/images/steps/filter-dates-2.jpg?fit=max&auto=format&n=ttF_U-V9HDrmrPbo&q=85&s=5392976945cf3eea74435ae2789952f3" alt="Setting a relative date window" width="994" height="498" data-path="images/steps/filter-dates-2.jpg" />
</Frame>

<Tip>
  Relative dates keep a scheduled pipeline pointed at a rolling window — for example the last 24 months — without any maintenance.
</Tip>

<Warning>
  Remember to save the step before moving to the next one.
</Warning>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Change frequency" icon="clock" href="/steps/resample">
    Resample the series to a different time frequency.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Filter rows" icon="filter" href="/steps/filter-rows">
    Filter by value rather than by date.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>