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gen - Generate IDs

Generate new identifiers of various types.

Usage

idt gen <TYPE> [OPTIONS]

Arguments

ArgumentDescription
TYPEID type to generate (uuid, uuidv7, ulid, nanoid, snowflake, etc.)

Options

OptionDescription
-n, --count <N>Number of IDs to generate (default: 1)
-f, --format <FORMAT>Output encoding format
-o, --output <FILE>Write output to file
--no-newlineDon’t print trailing newline (single ID only)

UUID Options

OptionDescription
--uuid-version <V>UUID version (1, 4, 6, 7)
--namespace <NS>Namespace for UUID v3/v5 (dns, url, oid, x500, or UUID)
--name <NAME>Name for UUID v3/v5

NanoID Options

OptionDescription
--alphabet <CHARS>Custom alphabet
--length <N>Custom length (default: 21)

Snowflake Options

OptionDescription
--epoch <MS>Custom epoch in milliseconds (or “twitter”/“discord”)
--machine-id <N>Machine/worker ID (0-31)
--datacenter-id <N>Datacenter ID (0-31)

TypeID Options

OptionDescription
--prefix <PREFIX>Type prefix for TypeID

Supported Types

TypeAliasDescription
uuid-UUIDv4 (random) by default
uuidv1-UUIDv1 (timestamp + MAC)
uuidv4-UUIDv4 (random)
uuidv6-UUIDv6 (reordered timestamp)
uuidv7-UUIDv7 (Unix timestamp + random)
uuid-nil-Nil UUID (all zeros)
uuid-max-Max UUID (all ones)
ulid-ULID
nanoid-NanoID
snowflake-Snowflake ID

Examples

Basic Generation

# Generate a random UUID (v4)
idt gen uuid

# Generate UUIDv7 (time-sortable)
idt gen uuidv7

# Generate ULID
idt gen ulid

# Generate NanoID
idt gen nanoid

# Generate Snowflake ID
idt gen snowflake

Multiple IDs

# Generate 10 UUIDs
idt gen uuid -n 10

# Generate 100 ULIDs
idt gen ulid -n 100

UUID Versions

# UUIDv1 (timestamp-based)
idt gen uuidv1

# UUIDv6 (reordered timestamp)
idt gen uuidv6

# UUIDv7 (Unix timestamp)
idt gen uuidv7

# Or use --uuid-version flag
idt gen uuid --uuid-version 7

NanoID Customization

# Custom length
idt gen nanoid --length 32

# Custom alphabet (hex characters only)
idt gen nanoid --alphabet "0123456789abcdef"

# Both
idt gen nanoid --length 16 --alphabet "0123456789ABCDEF"

Snowflake Customization

# Discord epoch
idt gen snowflake --epoch discord

# Twitter epoch
idt gen snowflake --epoch twitter

# Custom epoch (milliseconds since Unix epoch)
idt gen snowflake --epoch 1420070400000

# With machine and datacenter IDs
idt gen snowflake --machine-id 1 --datacenter-id 2

Output Formats

# Generate and output as hex
idt gen uuid -f hex

# Generate and output as Base64
idt gen uuidv7 -f base64

# Save to file
idt gen uuid -n 1000 -o uuids.txt

JSON Output

# Single ID as JSON
idt gen uuid --json
# Output: {"id":"550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"}

# Multiple IDs as JSON array
idt gen uuid -n 3 --json
# Output: ["550e8400-...", "6ba7b810-...", "7c9e6679-..."]

Without Trailing Newline

# Useful for scripting
ID=$(idt gen uuid --no-newline)
echo "Generated: $ID"