Unique Identifier Tools

Unique Identifier Tools

This collection provides tools for UUID, GUID, ULID, Nano ID, Snowflake ID, MongoDB ObjectId, and other common identifiers used for database primary keys, API resources, orders, log events, message IDs, and distributed systems.

Common unique identifiers

• UUID: A widely used universal identifier with mature standards and broad ecosystem support.
• UUID v7: Adds time-ordering characteristics and can be useful when identifiers need to be sorted by creation time.
• ULID: Combines time information with a random component and is commonly represented as a string.
• Nano ID: Suitable for generating shorter random string IDs.
• Snowflake ID: Commonly used by distributed systems to generate 64-bit numeric IDs.
• MongoDB ObjectId: A common BSON object identifier used by MongoDB.

How do you choose a unique ID?

Choose UUID for a general standard, UUID v7 or ULID when time ordering is useful, Snowflake for distributed numeric IDs, Nano ID for short strings, and ObjectId when working with MongoDB.

Can unique IDs collide?

Different ID algorithms use different uniqueness mechanisms. Random IDs rely on a sufficiently large random space to reduce collision probability, while distributed IDs may combine time, node, and sequence information. Important business data should still use database unique indexes.