idkit.js / I don't know it dot javascript

Tiny, secure, zero-dependency ID and randomness toolkit for Node.js and browsers.

Generate tokens, short IDs, invite codes, human-readable IDs, time-sortable IDs, and a few other things you probably didn’t know you needed until now.

Yes, you could write your own random ID generator in 6 lines.
Yes, it will probably break in production.

idkit.js exists so you don't have to find out the hard way.

Install

npm install idkit.js
# or
pnpm add idkit.js
# or
yarn add idkit.js

10-Second Example

import { humanId, inviteCode, shortId, timeId, token } from "idkit.js";

token(32);
// "f8a29c4d7f3a9e1b8c1d2a3b4e5f6a7b"

shortId(8);
// "f9K3aP2L"

humanId();
// "blue-tiger-4821"

inviteCode(6);
// "K7M4XP"

timeId();
// "01HF6K2A9P8J5TQXR4NW"

If this already solves your problem, you can stop reading and go ship something.

Features

• 🔐 Secure by default — uses crypto.randomBytes (Node) / crypto.getRandomValues (browser)
• 🌲 Tree-shakable — import only what you need
• 📦 Zero dependencies — your dependency graph will thank you
• 🟦 TypeScript-first — types included
• ⚡ Node + Browser support
• 🎛️ 13 utilities — tokens, IDs, invite codes, randomness helpers

Quick Examples

Generate a Token

import { token } from "idkit.js";

token(32);

Output:

f8a29c4d7f3a9e1b8c1d2a3b4e5f6a7b

Perfect for:

• API keys
• password reset tokens
• session IDs

Short IDs

import { shortId } from "idkit.js";

shortId(8);

Example:

f9K3aP2L

URL-safe version (includes - and _):

shortId(10, { urlSafe: true });

Example:

aB-_3kZ9mQ

Human-Readable IDs

import { humanId } from "idkit.js";

humanId();

Example:

blue-tiger-4821
solar-fox-1093
silent-ocean-8822

Good for:

• user-visible IDs
• invite systems
• debugging

Invite Codes

import { inviteCode } from "idkit.js";

inviteCode(6);

Example:

K7M4XP

Grouped codes:

inviteCode(12, { group: 4 });

Example:

K7M4-XP9Q-R2TW

Characters like 0, O, I, 1, l are removed to avoid confusion.

Time-Sortable IDs

import { timeId } from "idkit.js";

timeId();

Example:

01HF6K2A9P8J5TQXR4NW7DM3Z2

Properties:

• sortable by creation time
• globally unique
• URL safe

Great for:

• database primary keys
• event logs
• distributed systems

Pattern-Based IDs

import { pattern } from "idkit.js";

pattern("INV-####");
pattern("USER-AAAA-####");

Examples:

INV-4821
USER-XKQW-3921

Pattern symbols:

| Symbol | Meaning | | ------ | ---------------- | | # | random digit | | A | uppercase letter | | a | lowercase letter | | * | alphanumeric |

Random Utilities

Random Integer

import { randomInt } from "idkit.js";

randomInt(1, 100);

Random Float

import { randomFloat } from "idkit.js";

randomFloat();

Shuffle Array

import { shuffle } from "idkit.js";

shuffle([1, 2, 3, 4]);

Pick Random Element

import { pick } from "idkit.js";

pick(["apple", "banana", "cherry"]);

Collision-Safe IDs

import { shortId, uniqueId } from "idkit.js";

const ids = new Set();

const id = uniqueId(() => shortId(6), ids);

Ensures no duplicates exist in your dataset.

Seeded Random Generator

For deterministic testing:

import { seeded } from "idkit.js";

const rng = seeded("test-seed");

rng.shortId(8);
rng.randomInt(1, 100);

Same seed → same results.

Not for security use.

Collision Probability Calculator

import { collisionProbability } from "idkit.js";

collisionProbability({
  alphabet: 62,
  length: 8,
  samples: 1_000_000,
});

Useful for estimating ID collision risk.

Why Not Math.random()?

Math.random() is not cryptographically secure.

It’s fine for:

• games
• visual randomness
• simulations

It is not fine for:

• tokens
• invite codes
• authentication

idkit.js uses cryptographically secure randomness instead.

Choosing the Right Function

| Use Case | Function | | ----------------- | -------------- | | API tokens | token() | | Short IDs | shortId() | | User-friendly IDs | humanId() | | Invite systems | inviteCode() | | Database keys | timeId() | | Custom formats | pattern() |

Tree-Shakable Imports

Import everything:

import { token } from "idkit.js";

Or import individual modules:

import token from "idkit.js/token";

Your bundler will only include what you use.

License

MIT

Use it, modify it, ship it.