Getting started

Install

npm install uniku

uniku is ESM-only. Import the exact generator you want rather than a package-root barrel:

import { uuidv7 } from 'uniku/uuid/v7'

const id = uuidv7()

For a Deno project without a package import map, use Deno's npm specifier directly:

import { uuidv7 } from 'npm:uniku/uuid/v7'

const id = uuidv7()

The usual shape

Most generators follow the same pattern: call the generator, keep its primary value, and validate unknown input at the boundary.

import { uuidv7 } from 'uniku/uuid/v7'

const id = uuidv7()

if (uuidv7.isValid(id)) {
  // `id` is a UUID v7 string here.
}

Time-ordered formats also expose timestamp(). Each generator page lists its complete public API, including options, constants, and overloads.

Every strategy

Each format is independently importable and tree-shakeable. Install one package, then ship only the strategy your application imports.

See Choosing an ID for the trade-offs, or open a generator reference when you already know which format you need.

Why byte helpers exist

UUIDs, ULIDs, TypeIDs, KSUIDs, ObjectIDs, XIDs, and TSIDs have a canonical binary representation. Their toBytes() and fromBytes() helpers let you store and transport that representation without inventing a second codec.

This matters when an ID lives in a binary database column, a compact protocol payload, or a cache key. A UUID, for instance, is 16 bytes instead of its 36-character string form. The helpers also make the string boundary explicit: convert when data leaves your application, preserve bytes where the system already handles bytes.

String-native formats do not pretend otherwise. Nanoid and CUID v2 have no canonical byte encoding, so they expose a smaller API.

Write into a caller-owned buffer

Binary formats can also write directly into a buffer when an integration already owns the allocation:

import { uuidv7 } from 'uniku/uuid/v7'

// 32 bytes: room for the 16-byte UUID plus other fields the caller packs alongside it.
const destination = new Uint8Array(32)

// Offset 8: write the UUID starting at byte 8, after whatever precedes it in the buffer.
uuidv7(undefined, destination, 8)

Public inputs are validated. Explicit random bytes and buffer offsets make tests and boundary integrations deterministic without changing the generator's default monotonic state.