Nano ID Generator

Generated Nano ID

Visualization

Nano ID Generator

Introduction

A Nano ID is a tiny, secure, URL-friendly unique string ID generator. It's designed to create compact, non-sequential, and collision-resistant identifiers for various applications in distributed systems. This tool allows you to generate Nano IDs with customizable length and character sets.

How Nano IDs Work

Nano IDs are generated using a cryptographically strong random number generator and a customizable alphabet. The default implementation uses:

A 64-character alphabet (A-Za-z0-9_-) which is URL-friendly
21 characters in length

This combination provides a good balance between ID length and collision probability.

The formula for generating a Nano ID is:

id = random(alphabet, size)

Where random is a function that selects size number of characters from the alphabet with a cryptographically secure random number generator.

Composition of a Nano ID

Customization Options

Length: You can adjust the length of the generated Nano ID. The default is 21 characters, but it can be increased for higher uniqueness or decreased for shorter IDs.
Alphabet: The character set used to generate the ID can be customized. Options include:
- Alphanumeric (default): A-Za-z0-9_-
- Numeric: 0-9
- Alphabetic: A-Za-z
- Custom: Any set of characters you define

Security and Uniqueness

Nano IDs are designed to be:

Unpredictable: They use a cryptographically strong random generator.
Unique: The probability of collisions is extremely low with proper length.

Collision probability depends on the ID length and the number of IDs generated. The probability of a collision can be calculated using the formula:

P(collision) = 1 - e^(-k^2 / (2n))

Where:

k is the number of IDs generated
n is the number of possible IDs (alphabet length ^ Nano ID length)

For example, with the default settings (64 character alphabet, 21 character length), you need to generate ~1.36e36 IDs to have a 1% probability of at least one collision. To put this in perspective:

Generating 1 million IDs per second, it would take ~433 years to have a 1% chance of collision.
You're more likely to win the lottery multiple times than encounter a Nano ID collision in most practical applications.

Use Cases

Nano IDs are suitable for many applications, including:

Database record IDs
URL shorteners
Session IDs in web applications
Temporary file names
Distributed systems where coordination is difficult

Comparison with Other ID Methods

Method	Pros	Cons
Nano ID	Short, URL-friendly, customizable	Not sequential
UUID	Standardized, very low collision probability	Long (36 characters), not URL-friendly
Auto-increment	Simple, sequential	Not suitable for distributed systems, predictable
ULID	Time-sortable, URL-friendly	Longer than Nano ID (26 characters)
KSUID	Time-sortable, URL-friendly	Longer than Nano ID (27 characters)
ObjectID	Includes timestamp and machine identifier	Not as random, 12 bytes long

History and Development

Nano ID was created by Andrey Sitnik in 2017 as a more compact alternative to UUID. It was designed to be easy to use in various programming languages and environments, with a focus on web applications.

Code Examples

Here are examples of generating Nano IDs in different programming languages:

// JavaScript
import { nanoid } from 'nanoid';
const id = nanoid(); // => "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT"

## Python
import nanoid
id = nanoid.generate() # => "kqTSU2WGQPJzuWxfifTRX"

## Ruby
require 'nanoid'
id = Nanoid.generate # => "7nj0iuNXoE0GnQNuH3b7v"

// Java
import com.aventrix.jnanoid.jnanoid.NanoIdUtils;
String id = NanoIdUtils.randomNanoId(); // => "ku-gFr4Zx9QpfvLtO_8LH"

// C#
using Nanoid;
var id = Nanoid.Generate(); // => "xGx2iKPNOEpGQBgJKU-Ow"

// PHP
<?php
use Hidehalo\Nanoid\Client;
$client = new Client();
$id = $client->generateId(); // => "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT"
?>

// Rust
use nanoid::nanoid;
let id = nanoid!(); // => "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT"

// Go
import "github.com/matoous/go-nanoid/v2"
id, err := gonanoid.New() // => "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT"

// Swift
import NanoID
let id = NanoID.new() // => "V1StGXR8_Z5jdHi6B-myT"

Best Practices

Choose an appropriate length based on your uniqueness requirements.
Use a cryptographically secure random number generator.
If using custom alphabets, ensure they have enough entropy.
Store Nano IDs as strings, not integers, in databases.
Use indexes on Nano ID columns for efficient querying.

Limitations and Considerations

Nano IDs are not sequential, which may impact database performance in some cases.
They are not human-readable or sortable by generation time.
Custom alphabets may affect collision probability and should be chosen carefully.

Implementing a Nano ID Generator in Web Applications

To implement a Nano ID generator in a web application:

Install the Nano ID library for your backend language.
Create an API endpoint that generates and returns a Nano ID.
Use client-side JavaScript to call the API when needed.

Example Express.js implementation:

const express = require('express');
const { nanoid } = require('nanoid');

const app = express();

app.get('/generate-id', (req, res) => {
  const id = nanoid();
  res.json({ id });
});

app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Server running on port 3000'));

Performance Implications

Nano ID generation is generally very fast. On a typical computer, it can generate millions of IDs per second. However, consider the following:

Generation speed may vary depending on the random number generator used.
Custom alphabets or longer lengths may slightly impact performance.
In high-load systems, consider generating IDs in batches.

Collision Probability and Mitigation

To mitigate collision risks:

Increase the Nano ID length for higher uniqueness requirements.
Implement a collision check in your application logic.
Use a larger alphabet if possible.

Storing and Indexing Nano IDs in Databases

When working with Nano IDs in databases:

Store them as VARCHAR or equivalent string type.
Use the full length of the Nano ID to ensure uniqueness.
Create an index on the Nano ID column for faster lookups.
Consider using a unique constraint to prevent duplicates at the database level.

Example SQL for creating a table with a Nano ID:

CREATE TABLE users (
  id VARCHAR(21) PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(100),
  email VARCHAR(100)
);

CREATE INDEX idx_users_id ON users (id);

By following these guidelines and understanding the characteristics of Nano IDs, you can effectively implement and use them in your applications to generate compact, unique identifiers.

References

"Nano ID." GitHub, https://github.com/ai/nanoid. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.
"UUID." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.
"Collision probability calculator." Nano ID Collision Calculator, https://zelark.github.io/nano-id-cc/. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.
"ULID Spec." GitHub, https://github.com/ulid/spec. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.
"KSUID: K-Sortable Globally Unique IDs." GitHub, https://github.com/segmentio/ksuid. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.
"ObjectID." MongoDB Manual, https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/reference/method/ObjectId/. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.