What is Sqids?
Sqids (pronounced "squids") is an open-source library that lets you generate short unique identifiers from numbers. These IDs are URL-safe, can encode several numbers, and do not contain common profanity words. Read more .
This is what they look like:
https://example.com/Lqj8a0
Quick encode & decode example:
sqids_t *sqids = sqids_new(SQIDS_DEFAULT_ALPHABET, 0, sqids_bl_list_all(NULL));
unsigned long long nums[] = {1, 2, 3};
char *hash = sqids_encode(sqids, 3, nums); // => "86Rf07"
sqids_decode(sqids, hash, nums, 3); // => 3If IDs are too short, you can pad them to a certain length:
sqids_t *sqids = sqids_new(SQIDS_DEFAULT_ALPHABET, 10, sqids_bl_list_all(NULL));
unsigned long long nums[] = {1, 2, 3};
char *hash = sqids_encode(sqids, 3, nums); // => "86Rf07xd4z"
sqids_decode(sqids, hash, nums, 3); // => 3Create unique IDs by shuffling the alphabet:
sqids_t *sqids = sqids_new("k3G7QAe51FCsPW92uEOyq4Bg6Sp8YzVTmnU0liwDdHXLajZrfxNhobJIRcMvKt", 0, sqids_bl_list_all(NULL));
unsigned long long nums[] = {1, 2, 3};
char *hash = sqids_encode(sqids, 3, nums); // => "XRKUdQ"
sqids_decode(sqids, hash, nums, 3); // => 3Full documentation is at https://github.com/sqids/sqids-c
If you're looking for the original Hashids C, you can find it here: https://github.com/tzvetkoff/hashids.c
Use Cases
The main use of Sqids is purely visual. If you'd like to use IDs instead of numbers in your project, Sqids could be a good choice.
Good For
- Encoding primary keys If you're using a relational database
- Saving database lookups By encoding multiple objects
- Temporary login tokens Profanity-free and URL-safe
Not Good For
- Sensitive data This is not an encryption library
- User IDs Can reveal user count if anyone finds out the encoding alphabet
Features
- 🆔 Generate short IDs from non-negative numbers
- ✅ Easy encoding & decoding
- 🫣 Auto-generated IDs do not contain common profanity
- 🎲 Support for custom IDs through shuffled alphabet
- 🥳 45 integrations (84% using new design)
- 📌 Every version produces the same IDs
- 🍻 Small library with a permissive license