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Quick Start

This guide covers the essential idt commands to get you productive quickly.

Generating IDs

Generate IDs with the gen command:

# Generate a random UUID (v4)
idt gen uuid

# Generate a time-sortable UUIDv7
idt gen uuidv7

# Generate a ULID
idt gen ulid

# Generate a NanoID
idt gen nanoid

# Generate a Snowflake ID
idt gen snowflake

# Generate multiple IDs
idt gen uuid -n 10

Inspecting IDs

Analyze any ID with the inspect command:

# Inspect a UUID
idt inspect 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

# Inspect a ULID
idt inspect 01ARZ3NDEKTSV4RRFFQ69G5FAV

# Auto-detection works for most formats
idt inspect 019c04e5-6118-7b22-95cb-a10e84dad469

Example output:

UUIDV7
  019c04e5-6118-7b22-95cb-a10e84dad469

  Time (UTC)          2026-01-28T13:57:47.416Z
  Local Time (+09:00) 2026-01-28T22:57:47.416+09:00
  Version             7
  Variant             RFC4122
  Random              62 bits

  Hex                 019c04e561187b2295cba10e84dad469
  Base64              AZwE5WEYeyKVy6EOhNrUaQ==
  Int                 2139325608653621017571381452845274217

Converting Formats

Convert IDs to different encodings:

# Convert to hexadecimal
idt convert 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 -f hex

# Convert to Base64
idt convert 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 -f base64

# Convert to Base58
idt convert 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 -f base58

# Convert to integer
idt convert 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 -f int

Validating IDs

Check if a string is a valid ID:

# Validate any ID
idt validate 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

# Validate as specific type
idt validate -t uuid 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

# Strict validation (canonical form only)
idt validate --strict 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

Comparing IDs

Compare two IDs to understand their relationship:

idt compare 019c04e5-6118-7b22-95cb-a10e84dad469 019c04e5-6119-7000-8000-000000000000

This shows binary, lexicographic, and chronological comparisons.

Using JSON Output

Get machine-readable JSON output for any command:

# JSON output
idt gen uuid --json

# Pretty-printed JSON
idt inspect 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 --json --pretty

Piping and Scripting

idt works great with Unix pipes:

# Generate and immediately inspect
idt gen uuid | idt inspect

# Validate multiple IDs
idt gen ulid -n 100 | idt validate

# Convert piped input
echo "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" | idt convert -f base64

Getting Help

View available commands and options:

# General help
idt --help

# Help for a specific command
idt gen --help
idt inspect --help

Next Steps