idgen

A lightweight command-line utility for generating and inspecting various types of unique identifiers:

UUID (versions 1, 3, 4, and 5)
NanoID
CUID (versions 1 and 2)
ULID
MongoDB ObjectID

This tool is designed for developers who need to generate or analyze various types of IDs during development, testing, debugging, or data migration.

Features

Generate UUIDs with support for all major versions (v1, v3, v4, v5)
Create MongoDB-style ObjectIDs
Generate URL-safe NanoIDs with configurable length
Generate CUIDs (v1 and v2)
Generate ULIDs
Inspect and identify unknown IDs (detect type, version, and embedded timestamps)
Multiple output formats (simple, hyphenated, URN)
JSON output for scripting and automation
Support for batch generation
Custom prefix and suffix support
Shell completions for bash, zsh, fish, and PowerShell
Man page generation for Unix-like systems
Banner-free mode by default (script-friendly)

Installation

From crates.io (Recommended)

cargo install idgen-cli

Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest release for your platform from GitHub Releases:

Platform	Download
Linux (x64)	`idgen-linux-amd64`
macOS (x64)	`idgen-macos-amd64`
Windows (x64)	`idgen-windows-amd64.exe`

# Linux/macOS: Make executable and move to PATH
chmod +x idgen-linux-amd64
sudo mv idgen-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/idgen

# Windows: Move to a directory in your PATH

Build from Source

Install Rust if not already installed

Build from source:

git clone https://github.com/maniartech/idgen.git
cd idgen
cargo build --release

Copy binary to your PATH:

# Linux/macOS
cp target/release/idgen /usr/local/bin/

# Windows (PowerShell, adjust path as needed)
Copy-Item target/release/idgen.exe -Destination "$env:USERPROFILE/AppData/Local/Microsoft/WindowsApps/"

Quick Start

Generate a random UUID (v4):

idgen

Generate with banner:

idgen -b

Generate multiple IDs:

idgen -c 3

Real-World Scenarios

Manual Database Inserts & Seeding

Quickly generate IDs for manual SQL INSERT statements or when creating seed data files (CSV/JSON) for development databases.

# Generate 5 UUIDs for a seed file
idgen -c 5

API Testing & Development

Generate unique IDs on the fly when testing APIs with curl or Postman, especially for endpoints that require a unique request_id or transaction_id.

# Use in a curl request
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
  -H "X-Request-ID: $(idgen -f simple)" \
  -d '{"name": "John"}'

Scripting & Automation

Use in CI/CD pipelines or shell scripts to generate unique filenames, deployment tags, or temporary resource identifiers.

# Create a unique temporary file
touch $(idgen -t nanoid -l 10 -p temp_ -s .log)

Configuration & Secrets

Generate unique strings for configuration files, such as JWT_SECRET, API_KEY, or session secrets during project setup.

# Generate a strong, random secret
idgen -t nanoid -l 64

Verification & Debugging

Verify the output of deterministic IDs (like UUID v5) to ensure your application logic matches the standard.

# Verify UUID v5 generation
idgen -t uuid5 --namespace URL --name "https://example.com"

Distributed Tracing

Generate a unique trace ID to manually tag a request flow across microservices when debugging.

# Generate a trace ID (UUID v4)
idgen -f simple

Mock Data Generation

Generate IDs for JSON mock files used in frontend development.

# Generate 10 NanoIDs for a mock user list
idgen -t nanoid -c 10

# Generate mock email addresses
idgen -t nanoid -l 8 -s @example.com -c 5

Cloud Resource Naming

Generate unique tags for cloud resources (AWS/Azure/GCP) during manual provisioning or Terraform/Ansible runs.

# Generate a unique suffix for an S3 bucket
idgen -t nanoid -l 8 -p my-bucket- | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'

Debugging & Inspection

Analyze unknown IDs found in logs or databases to determine their type, version, and creation timestamp (if available).

# Inspect an ID to see what it is
idgen inspect 01ARZ3NDEKTSV4RRFFQ69G5FAV

# Check if an ID is valid with JSON output
idgen inspect 550e8400-e29b-44d4-a716-446655440000 --json

ID Types and Use Cases

UUID (Universal Unique Identifier)

Standard 128-bit identifiers with multiple versions for different needs:

UUID v1 (Time-based)

Format: Timestamp + node ID based
Example: 550e8400-e29b-11d4-a716-446655440000
Best for: Logging, temporal ordering, distributed systems

UUID v4 (Random)

Format: Random numbers
Example: 550e8400-e29b-44d4-a716-446655440000
Best for: Default choice, database keys, session IDs

UUID v3/v5 (Name-based)

v3 uses MD5, v5 uses SHA-1 (preferred)
Example: cfbff0d1-9375-5685-968c-48ce8b15ae17
Best for: Consistent IDs from same input, content addressing

MongoDB ObjectID

12-byte identifier combining timestamp, machine ID, and counter:

Example: 507f1f77bcf86cd799439011
Best for: Document IDs, chronological sorting

NanoID

Compact, URL-safe identifiers:

Example: V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT
Best for: Short URLs, user-facing IDs, frontend generation

CUID (Collision-resistant Unique Identifier)

Designed for horizontal scaling and performance:

v1: Original version
v2: Secure, collision-resistant, optimized for modern web
Best for: High-performance distributed systems

ULID (Universally Unique Lexicographically Sortable Identifier)

Sortable, random, 128-bit identifier:

Example: 01ARZ3NDEKTSV4RRFFQ69G5FAV
Best for: Database keys where sorting is important

Usage Guide

Command Options

Generate and inspect unique identifiers

Usage: idgen.exe [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]

Commands:
  inspect      Inspect an ID to determine its type and extract metadata
  completions  Generate shell completions
  help         Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -t, --type <ID_TYPE>         Type of ID to generate [default: uuid4] [possible values: uuid1, uuid3, uuid4, uuid5, nanoid, cuid1, cuid2, ulid, objectid]
  -f, --format <FORMAT>        Output format for UUIDs [default: hyphenated] [possible values: hyphenated, simple, urn]
  -c, --count <COUNT>          Number of IDs to generate [default: 1]
  -l, --length <LENGTH>        Length for NanoID (default: 21)
  -p, --prefix <PREFIX>        Prefix to add to generated IDs [default: ]
  -s, --suffix <SUFFIX>        Suffix to add to generated IDs [default: ]
      --namespace <NAMESPACE>  Namespace UUID for v3/v5 (use DNS, URL, OID, X500, or a custom UUID)
      --name <NAME>            Name string for UUID v3/v5
      --json                   Output as JSON
  -b, --banner                 Show banner
  -h, --help                   Print help (see more with '--help')
  -V, --version                Print version

EXAMPLES:
    idgen                                       Generate a random UUID v4 (default)
    idgen -t uuid1                              Generate a time-based UUID v1
    idgen -t uuid3 --namespace DNS --name example.com
    idgen -t nanoid -l 10                       Generate a NanoID of length 10
    idgen -t ulid                               Generate a ULID
    idgen -c 5                                  Generate 5 UUIDs
    idgen -p 'test-' -s '.log'                  Add prefix and suffix
    idgen --json                                Output as JSON
    idgen inspect 550e8400-e29b-44d4-a716-446655440000
    idgen completions bash                      Generate bash completions

Format Options

Each ID can be formatted in different ways:

Simple: No separators (550e8400e29b44d4a716446655440000)
Hyphenated: Standard format (550e8400-e29b-44d4-a716-446655440000)
URN: URN format (urn:uuid:550e8400-e29b-44d4-a716-446655440000)

Examples

# Generate IDs (default: UUID v4)
idgen                              # Random UUID v4
idgen -t uuid1                     # Time-based UUID v1
idgen -t uuid5 --namespace DNS --name example.com  # Name-based UUID v5

# ID Types
idgen -t nanoid                    # NanoID (21 chars)
idgen -t nanoid -l 10              # NanoID with custom length
idgen -t cuid1                     # CUID v1
idgen -t cuid2                     # CUID v2
idgen -t ulid                      # ULID
idgen -t objectid                  # MongoDB ObjectID

# UUID Formats
idgen -f simple                    # No hyphens: 550e8400e29b44d4a716446655440000
idgen -f urn                       # URN format: urn:uuid:550e8400-e29b-...

# Multiple IDs
idgen -c 5                         # Generate 5 UUIDs
idgen -t ulid -c 3                 # Generate 3 ULIDs

# Prefix and Suffix
idgen -p 'test-'                   # Add prefix
idgen -s '.log'                    # Add suffix
idgen -p 'user_' -s '_v1' -c 3     # Both prefix and suffix

# JSON Output
idgen --json                       # Single ID as JSON
idgen --json -c 3                  # Multiple IDs as JSON array

# Inspect IDs
idgen inspect 550e8400-e29b-44d4-a716-446655440000
idgen inspect 01ARZ3NDEKTSV4RRFFQ69G5FAV

# Shell Completions
idgen completions bash > ~/.bash_completion.d/idgen
idgen completions zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_idgen
idgen completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/idgen.fish
idgen completions powershell >> $PROFILE

# Man Page
idgen manpage > /usr/local/share/man/man1/idgen.1

Common UUID Namespaces

For UUID v3/v5, use these standard namespaces:

DNS: 6ba7b810-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8
URL: 6ba7b811-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8
OID: 6ba7b812-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8
X500: 6ba7b814-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8

Why idgen?

Feature	idgen	uuidgen	uuid (npm)	nanoid (npm)
UUID v1-v5	✅	✅	✅	❌
NanoID	✅	❌	❌	✅
CUID v1/v2	✅	❌	❌	❌
ULID	✅	❌	❌	❌
ObjectID	✅	❌	❌	❌
ID Inspection	✅	❌	❌	❌
Shell Completions	✅	❌	❌	❌
Zero Runtime Deps	✅	✅	❌	❌
Single Binary	✅	✅	❌	❌

Key advantages:

All-in-one: Single tool for 9 ID types instead of multiple utilities
ID Inspector: Unique feature to analyze and identify unknown IDs
Fast: Native Rust binary with no interpreter overhead
Portable: No Node.js, Python, or other runtime required

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, open an issue first.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 51 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
scripts		scripts
src		src
tests		tests
.gitignore		.gitignore
.travis.yml		.travis.yml
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
compile.sh		compile.sh

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idgen

Table of Contents

Features

Installation

From crates.io (Recommended)

Pre-built Binaries

Build from Source

Quick Start

Real-World Scenarios

Manual Database Inserts & Seeding

API Testing & Development

Scripting & Automation

Configuration & Secrets

Verification & Debugging

Distributed Tracing

Mock Data Generation

Cloud Resource Naming

Debugging & Inspection

ID Types and Use Cases

UUID (Universal Unique Identifier)

UUID v1 (Time-based)

UUID v4 (Random)

UUID v3/v5 (Name-based)

MongoDB ObjectID

NanoID

CUID (Collision-resistant Unique Identifier)

ULID (Universally Unique Lexicographically Sortable Identifier)

Usage Guide

Command Options

Format Options

Examples

Common UUID Namespaces

Why idgen?

Contributing

License

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