chilean-plate-validator

🇨🇱 Description

A lightweight, zero-dependency utility to validate and identify Chilean license plates. Updated to comply with the latest 2024-2026 regulations (Ley 21.601).

Features

• Dual Build: Native support for ESM (import) and CommonJS (require).
• TypeScript Ready: Full type definitions and typed return values included.
• Up to date: Supports new formats for trailers, motorcycles, and special vehicles.
• Strict by default: Validation functions do not normalize internally — input contract is explicit.

⚠️ Breaking changes in v1.0.0

Version 1.0.0 introduces a redesigned API. If you are upgrading from 0.x, the following changes require attention:

Plate type values

All plate type strings have changed format. Update any comparisons in your code:

| v0.x | v1.0.0 | |--------------------------|-------------------------| | 'NEW_VEHICLE_PLATE' | 'new_vehicle_plate' | | 'NEW_MOTORCYCLE_PLATE' | 'new_motorcycle_plate' | | 'OLD_PLATE' | 'old_plate' | | 'POLICE' | 'police' | | 'AMBULANCE' | 'ambulance' | | 'INVALID' | 'invalid' |

Use the exported PlateType object to avoid hardcoding strings:

import { PlateType } from 'chilean-plate-validator';

plateType('BCDF12') === PlateType.NewVehicle // true

Validation is now strict

plateValid and plateType no longer normalize the input internally. Inputs with hyphens or spaces will return false / 'invalid'. Use normalize explicitly if needed:

// v0.x — worked
plateValid('BC-DF12') // true

// v1.0.0 — strict
plateValid('BC-DF12')              // false
plateValid(normalize('BC-DF12'))   // true

Special plate metadata

Special plate categories (diplomatic, police support, etc.) are no longer returned as a type string. Use the new specialPlateInfo function or CLPlate.specialInfo to access their metadata:

// v0.x
plateType('CD1234') // 'CUERPO_DIPLOMÁTICO'

// v1.0.0
plateType('CD1234')        // 'old_plate'
specialPlateInfo('CD1234') // { prefix: 'CD', label: 'Cuerpo diplomático', authority: 'governmental', ... }

🚀 Installation

npm install chilean-plate-validator

🛠 Usage

Using functions

import { normalize, plateValid, plateType, specialPlateInfo } from 'chilean-plate-validator'

// Strict validation — input must be pre-normalized
plateValid('BCDF12') // true
plateValid('BC-DF12') // false

// Normalize first if the input may contain separators
plateValid(normalize('BC-DF12')) // true

// Get plate category
plateType('BCDF12') // 'new_vehicle_plate'
plateType('AA1234') // 'old_plate'
plateType('Z1234')  // 'police'

// Get special plate metadata (old format only)
specialPlateInfo('CD1234') // { prefix: 'CD', label: 'Cuerpo diplomático', authority: 'governmental', ... }
specialPlateInfo('AA1234') // null

Using the PlateType object

Avoid hardcoding type strings — use PlateType for comparisons:

import { plateType, PlateType } from 'chilean-plate-validator'

if (plateType('BCDF12') === PlateType.NewVehicle) {
  // ...
}

Using the CLPlate class

The class normalizes input automatically and exposes memoized results for convenience:

import { CLPlate } from 'chilean-plate-validator'

const plate = new CLPlate('bc-df12')

plate.clean       // 'BCDF12'
plate.isValid     // true
plate.type        // 'new_vehicle_plate'
plate.formatted   // 'BCDF-12'
plate.specialInfo // null

const special = new CLPlate('CD-1234')

special.isValid     // true
special.type        // 'old_plate'
special.formatted   // 'CD-1234'
special.specialInfo // { prefix: 'CD', label: 'Cuerpo diplomático', authority: 'governmental', ... }

📚 Legal basis & documentation

This module follows the official specifications from the Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación de Chile.

• Official Manual (Online)
• Local Backup (Historical Reference)

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

👤 Author

Gabriel Galilea

• GitHub: @gabo2151
• LinkedIn: Gabriel Galilea