uuid

The uuid library generates universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) using time-based, random, or sortable timestamp-based schemes.

Available Functions

Functions

uuid1()

Generates a UUID version 1, based on the current time and MAC address. Useful for unique IDs where time ordering matters (the timestamp can be partially recovered from the value, though it isn’t lexicographically sortable as a string).

Returns: str: a UUID in the form xxxxxxxx-xxxx-1xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.

Raises: Error: if UUID generation fails.

import uuid

id = uuid.uuid1()
print(id)  # e.g., "f47ac10b-58cc-1e4c-a26f-e3fc32165abc"

uuid4()

Generates a UUID version 4, fully random. The most commonly used form for general-purpose unique identifiers.

Returns: str: a UUID in the form xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.

import uuid

id = uuid.uuid4()
print(id)  # e.g., "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"

uuid7()

Generates a UUID version 7, based on the Unix timestamp in milliseconds. UUIDs generated in sequence sort in chronological order as strings, making this ideal for database primary keys.

Returns: str: a UUID in the form xxxxxxxx-xxxx-7xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.

Raises: Error: if UUID generation fails.

import uuid

id = uuid.uuid7()
print(id)  # e.g., "018f6b1c-4e5d-7abc-8def-0123456789ab"

UUID Versions Comparison

Examples

Generate a Unique Request ID

import uuid

def make_request():
    request_id = uuid.uuid4()
    print("Request ID:", request_id)

make_request()

Database Record ID

import uuid

def create_record(data):
    record = {
        "id": uuid.uuid7(),  # Sortable by creation time
        "data": data
    }
    return record

record = create_record({"name": "Test"})
print(record["id"])

Python Compatibility

See Also

• random: random number generation.
• hashlib: cryptographic hash functions.