diff --git a/pj_base/CLAUDE.md b/pj_base/CLAUDE.md
index 1b25bd7..c9ece42 100644
--- a/pj_base/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/pj_base/CLAUDE.md
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 pj_base is the **Level 0** foundation and the **SDK boundary** for plugin authors. It owns: the zero-dependency vocabulary types (`Timestamp`, `DatasetId`, `Range`, `Expected<T>`, `Span`, `TypeTree`); the canonical *builtin object* schemas (`sdk::Image`, `PointCloud`, `DepthImage`, `OccupancyGrid`, `FrameTransforms`, … — 16 types) **and 15 of their wire codecs** (RobotDescription has none); and the **C ABI** primitives every plugin family speaks (`plugin_data_api.h` + the service registry) plus the C-ABI protocol headers for **three** families — `data_source_protocol.h`, `message_parser_protocol.h`, `toolbox_protocol.h`. The **Dialog** protocol header is the exception: it lives in `pj_plugins/dialog_protocol/`, not here. It also ships the C++ SDK base classes for DataSource and Toolbox; the MessageParser and Dialog base classes live in `pj_plugins`. Builds as a STATIC lib with **zero public deps** — `fast_float` is a `BUILD_INTERFACE` private impl detail of `parseNumber`. Must NOT depend on `pj_datastore`, `pj_plugins`, Qt, or any Conan runtime lib. This is a read-only submodule subtree: change it only when explicitly working in `plotjuggler_sdk`.
 
 ## Layout
-- `include/pj_base/` — vocabulary primitives: `types.hpp`, `type_tree.hpp`, `dataset.hpp`, `expected.hpp`, `span.hpp`, `number_parse.hpp`, `assert.hpp`, `diagnostic_sink.hpp`, `buffer_anchor.hpp`.
+- `include/pj_base/` — vocabulary primitives: `types.hpp`, `time.hpp` (absolute time spine: `Timepoint`/`Duration` + `fromRaw`/`toRaw`), `type_tree.hpp`, `dataset.hpp`, `expected.hpp`, `span.hpp`, `number_parse.hpp`, `assert.hpp`, `diagnostic_sink.hpp`, `buffer_anchor.hpp`.
 - `include/pj_base/builtin/` — the 16 builtin object struct headers (`*.hpp`; 17 enum values in `BuiltinObjectType`, value 2 reserved) + their 15 wire codecs (`*_codec.hpp`; RobotDescription has none) + the `BuiltinObject` (`std::any`) type-erased holder.
 - `include/pj_base/sdk/` — C++ SDK over the ABI: DataSource + Toolbox `*_plugin_base.hpp`, `service_registry.hpp`/`service_traits.hpp`, host views, Arrow RAII holders, `testing/`.
 - `include/pj_base/*_protocol.h`, `plugin_data_api.h`, `builtin_object_abi.h`, `plugin_abi_export.hpp` — the stable C-ABI surface for DataSource/MessageParser/Toolbox (the Dialog protocol header lives in `pj_plugins/dialog_protocol/`).
diff --git a/pj_base/CMakeLists.txt b/pj_base/CMakeLists.txt
index 9c94b72..d733fbe 100644
--- a/pj_base/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/pj_base/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ if(PJ_BUILD_TESTS)
     tests/video_frame_codec_test.cpp
     tests/scene_entities_codec_test.cpp
     tests/asset_video_codec_test.cpp
+    tests/time_spine_test.cpp
     tests/poses_in_frame_codec_test.cpp
   )
 
diff --git a/pj_base/include/pj_base/time.hpp b/pj_base/include/pj_base/time.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99a01b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pj_base/include/pj_base/time.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#pragma once
+// Copyright 2026 Davide Faconti
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+// The absolute time spine: a chrono vocabulary that sits one lossless step above
+// the int64-ns PJ::Timestamp. Timestamp stays the storage/ABI/wire currency;
+// these types are how layered code names absolute time without re-deriving the
+// epoch or hand-rolling 1e9 conversions. Two concepts, kept un-mixable by the
+// type system:
+//   * Timepoint — an absolute instant (sys_time<nanoseconds>, Unix epoch).
+//   * Duration  — a span (nanoseconds); Timepoint + Timepoint won't compile.
+//
+// fromRaw()/toRaw() are the only sanctioned crossing between the int64 spine and
+// the chrono world: lift a Timestamp into a Timepoint to compute with it, lower
+// it back immediately before a storage/ABI/wire boundary. Display-relative time
+// (the Qwt-axis / PlaybackEngine coordinate) is a separate, app-level vocabulary
+// that builds on this one — it lives in pj_runtime, not here.
+
+#include <chrono>
+
+#include "pj_base/types.hpp"  // PJ::Timestamp, PJ::Range
+
+namespace PJ {
+
+/// An ABSOLUTE wall-clock instant, nanosecond precision, Unix epoch. Lossless
+/// mirror of PJ::Timestamp (C++20 guarantees system_clock's epoch == Unix epoch).
+using Timepoint = std::chrono::sys_time<std::chrono::nanoseconds>;
+
+/// A length of time (a span, not a point): retention windows, lifetimes, deltas.
+using Duration = std::chrono::nanoseconds;
+
+/// Lift an int64-ns PJ::Timestamp out of the spine into a Timepoint.
+[[nodiscard]] constexpr Timepoint fromRaw(Timestamp ns) noexcept {
+  return Timepoint{Duration{ns}};
+}
+
+/// Lower a Timepoint back to the int64-ns spine, immediately before crossing a
+/// storage/ABI boundary (DataWriter, the C-ABI trampolines, the codecs).
+[[nodiscard]] constexpr Timestamp toRaw(Timepoint t) noexcept {
+  return t.time_since_epoch().count();
+}
+
+/// Lift an int64 interval into an absolute Timepoint interval (reuses PJ::Range,
+/// never std::pair).
+[[nodiscard]] constexpr Range<Timepoint> fromRawRange(const Range<Timestamp>& r) noexcept {
+  return {fromRaw(r.min), fromRaw(r.max)};
+}
+
+}  // namespace PJ
diff --git a/pj_base/tests/time_spine_test.cpp b/pj_base/tests/time_spine_test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6edf09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pj_base/tests/time_spine_test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Davide Faconti
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+// Compile-fence + behavior tests for the absolute time spine (pj_base/time.hpp).
+// The static_asserts are the real point: they prove the type system rejects the
+// instant-vs-duration and raw-vs-Timepoint mistakes the vocabulary prevents.
+// Display-relative time lives in pj_runtime and is tested there.
+
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+#include <type_traits>
+
+#include "pj_base/time.hpp"
+
+namespace {
+
+template <class A, class B>
+concept Addable = requires(A a, B b) { a + b; };
+
+// An absolute instant plus another absolute instant is meaningless and must not
+// compile — this is the instant-vs-duration guarantee std::chrono gives us.
+static_assert(!Addable<PJ::Timepoint, PJ::Timepoint>, "Timepoint + Timepoint must be ill-formed");
+// ...but instant - instant (a span) and instant + duration (a shifted instant) do.
+static_assert(Addable<PJ::Timepoint, PJ::Duration>, "Timepoint + Duration must compile");
+
+// A raw int64 timestamp must go through fromRaw(), never implicitly become a
+// Timepoint.
+static_assert(!std::is_convertible_v<PJ::Timestamp, PJ::Timepoint>);
+
+TEST(TimeSpine, RawRoundTrip) {
+  const PJ::Timestamp ts = 1'717'500'000'123'456'789LL;
+  EXPECT_EQ(PJ::toRaw(PJ::fromRaw(ts)), ts);
+}
+
+TEST(TimeSpine, FromRawRangeLiftsBothEnds) {
+  const PJ::Range<PJ::Timestamp> raw{1'000'000'000LL, 5'000'000'000LL};
+  const PJ::Range<PJ::Timepoint> lifted = PJ::fromRawRange(raw);
+  EXPECT_EQ(PJ::toRaw(lifted.min), 1'000'000'000LL);
+  EXPECT_EQ(PJ::toRaw(lifted.max), 5'000'000'000LL);
+}
+
+}  // namespace