[AZ-508] Consolidate _iso_ts_now into helpers/iso_timestamps

Batch 48 / Cycle 1 (greenfield Step 7). Closes cumulative review
batches 31-33 F2 and 28-30 F3 by replacing the duplicated private
_iso_ts_now() one-liners with a single Layer-1 helper:

  src/gps_denied_onboard/helpers/iso_timestamps.py
  iso_ts_now() -> str

Output format matches the canonical FDR _TS fixture
(YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.ffffffZ); no FDR schema change.

Migrated call-sites (3): c7_inference/onnx_trt_ep_runtime,
c7_inference/thermal_publisher, plus the 3 c6_tile_cache callers
that previously imported from the local c6_tile_cache/_timestamp
shim (now deleted, superseded by the Layer-1 helper).

Spec drift resolved (Choose A, user-approved): spec listed 5 call
sites + +00:00 regex; on-disk reality at batch start is 3 sites +
Z-suffix matching every existing helper and the FDR _TS fixture.
Spec preamble + AC-2 regex updated in the task file; documented in
batch_48_cycle1_report.md.

Tests: 9 new AC tests (AC-1..AC-7 + Layer-1 invariant +
public-surface defensive); 216 focused tests pass including the
unmodified AZ-272 FDR schema suite and AZ-270 / AZ-507 layering
lints. Verdict: PASS (no findings).

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

src/gps_denied_onboard/components/c6_tile_cache/_timestamp.py

@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-"""RFC 3339 UTC timestamp helper shared inside the c6_tile_cache component.
-
-Single source for the FDR record envelope ``ts`` field across
-``postgres_filesystem_store``, ``freshness_gate``, and
-``cache_budget_enforcer`` — formerly a triplicate ``_iso_ts_now`` per
-module (`cumulative_review_batches_28-30` F3). The format is wall-clock
-metadata about WHEN the FDR record was emitted; producers that need a
-Clock-driven payload field (e.g., ``age_seconds`` derived from an
-injected clock) MUST NOT route through this helper.
-"""
-
-from __future__ import annotations
-
-from datetime import datetime, timezone
-
-__all__ = ["iso_ts_now"]
-
-
-def iso_ts_now() -> str:
-    """Return an RFC 3339 UTC timestamp with microsecond precision and a ``Z`` suffix."""
-    return datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ")

src/gps_denied_onboard/components/c6_tile_cache/cache_budget_enforcer.py

@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ from dataclasses import dataclass
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Final
 
-from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache._timestamp import iso_ts_now
 from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache._types import (
     TileId,
     TileMetadata,
@@ -50,6 +49,7 @@ from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache.interface import (
     TileStore,
 )
 from gps_denied_onboard.fdr_client.records import CURRENT_SCHEMA_VERSION, FdrRecord
+from gps_denied_onboard.helpers.iso_timestamps import iso_ts_now
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache._tile_pixel_handle import (

src/gps_denied_onboard/components/c6_tile_cache/freshness_gate.py

@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Final
 import psycopg
 from psycopg_pool import ConnectionPool
 
-from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache._timestamp import iso_ts_now
 from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache._types import (
     Bbox,
     FreshnessLabel,
@@ -61,6 +60,7 @@ from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache.errors import (
 )
 from gps_denied_onboard.config.schema import ConfigError
 from gps_denied_onboard.fdr_client.records import CURRENT_SCHEMA_VERSION, FdrRecord
+from gps_denied_onboard.helpers.iso_timestamps import iso_ts_now
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from gps_denied_onboard.clock.interface import Clock

src/gps_denied_onboard/components/c6_tile_cache/postgres_filesystem_store.py

@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ from psycopg_pool import ConnectionPool
 from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache._tile_pixel_handle import (
     TilePixelHandle,
 )
-from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache._timestamp import iso_ts_now
 from gps_denied_onboard.components.c6_tile_cache._types import (
     Bbox,
     FreshnessLabel,
@@ -76,6 +75,7 @@ from gps_denied_onboard.fdr_client.records import (
     CURRENT_SCHEMA_VERSION,
     FdrRecord,
 )
+from gps_denied_onboard.helpers.iso_timestamps import iso_ts_now
 from gps_denied_onboard.helpers.sha256_sidecar import (
     SIDECAR_SUFFIX,
     Sha256Sidecar,

src/gps_denied_onboard/components/c7_inference/onnx_trt_ep_runtime.py

@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import hashlib
 import os
 from collections.abc import Callable
-from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Final, Literal
 
@@ -79,6 +78,7 @@ from gps_denied_onboard.fdr_client.records import (
     CURRENT_SCHEMA_VERSION,
     FdrRecord,
 )
+from gps_denied_onboard.helpers.iso_timestamps import iso_ts_now as _iso_ts_now
 from gps_denied_onboard.logging import get_logger
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -166,18 +166,6 @@ def _sha256_of_file(path: Path) -> str:
     return digest.hexdigest()
 
 
-def _iso_ts_now() -> str:
-    """RFC 3339 UTC timestamp with microsecond precision and a ``Z`` suffix.
-
-    Mirrors :func:`components.c6_tile_cache._timestamp.iso_ts_now` —
-    consolidation into ``helpers.iso_timestamp`` is intentionally
-    deferred to the next cross-component hygiene pass (peer imports
-    between c6 and c7 would violate layer-2 horizontal-import etiquette
-    documented in ``module-layout.md``).
-    """
-    return datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ")
-
-
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Runtime.
 

src/gps_denied_onboard/components/c7_inference/thermal_publisher.py

@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import threading
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Protocol, runtime_checkable
 
 from gps_denied_onboard._types.thermal import ThermalState
@@ -65,6 +64,7 @@ from gps_denied_onboard.fdr_client.records import (
     CURRENT_SCHEMA_VERSION,
     FdrRecord,
 )
+from gps_denied_onboard.helpers.iso_timestamps import iso_ts_now as _iso_ts_now
 from gps_denied_onboard.logging import get_logger
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -340,11 +340,6 @@ def _default_safe_snapshot(measured_at_ns: int) -> ThermalState:
     )
 
 
-def _iso_ts_now() -> str:
-    """RFC 3339 UTC timestamp with microsecond precision and ``Z`` suffix."""
-    return datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ")
-
-
 class _JtopSource:
     """``jtop`` (jetson-stats) thermal source — Tier-2 production path.
 

src/gps_denied_onboard/helpers/__init__.py

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from gps_denied_onboard.helpers.imu_preintegrator import (
     ImuPreintegrator,
     make_imu_preintegrator,
 )
+from gps_denied_onboard.helpers.iso_timestamps import iso_ts_now
 from gps_denied_onboard.helpers.lightglue_runtime import (
     LightGlueConcurrentAccessError,
     LightGlueRuntime,
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@ __all__ = [
     "adjoint",
     "exp_map",
     "is_valid_rotation",
+    "iso_ts_now",
     "log_map",
     "make_imu_preintegrator",
     "matrix_to_se3",

src/gps_denied_onboard/helpers/iso_timestamps.py

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+"""UTC ISO-8601 timestamp helper (E-CC-HELPERS / AZ-264 / AZ-508).
+
+Single Layer-1 source for the wall-clock string used in the FDR record
+``ts`` envelope across c6_tile_cache and c7_inference. Consolidates what
+used to be a private ``_iso_ts_now`` one-liner repeated per module.
+
+The output format is locked to RFC 3339 / ISO 8601 UTC with microsecond
+precision and a ``Z`` suffix, matching the canonical FDR ``ts`` fixture
+in ``tests/unit/test_az272_fdr_record_schema.py`` (``_TS =
+"2026-05-11T00:00:00.000000Z"``) and the format produced by the three
+existing local helpers this module replaces. Changing the format would
+alter FDR record bit-shape and is explicitly out of scope for AZ-508.
+
+Producers that need a Clock-injected payload field (e.g.
+``age_seconds`` derived from an injected wall-clock for testability)
+MUST NOT route through this helper — it is purely metadata about WHEN
+the FDR record envelope itself was emitted.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+
+__all__ = ["iso_ts_now"]
+
+
+def iso_ts_now() -> str:
+    """Return an RFC 3339 UTC timestamp with microsecond precision and a ``Z`` suffix.
+
+    Format: ``YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.ffffffZ`` (fixed-width, lexicographically
+    monotonic under a non-decreasing wall clock).
+    """
+    return datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ")