uuid6

New time-based UUID formats which are suited for use as a database key.

This module extends immutable UUID objects (the UUID class) with the functions uuid6(), uuid7(), and uuid8() from the proposed IETF RFC 9562.

Install

pip install uuid6

Usage

import uuid6

my_uuid = uuid6.uuid6()
print(my_uuid)
assert my_uuid < uuid6.uuid6()

my_uuid = uuid6.uuid7()
print(my_uuid)
assert my_uuid < uuid6.uuid7()

my_uuid = uuid6.uuid8()
print(my_uuid)
assert my_uuid < uuid6.uuid8()

import uuid

my_uuid = uuid.UUID(hex="C232AB00-9414-11EC-B3C8-9E6BDECED846")
assert uuid6.uuid1_to_uuid6(my_uuid) == uuid.UUID(hex="1EC9414C-232A-6B00-B3C8-9E6BDECED846")

Versioning

Important Notice: Starting with version 2025.0.0, this project will transition from Calendar Versioning (YYYY.MM.DD) to Semantic Versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH).

Version Scheme

• Before 2025.0.0: Calendar Versioning (e.g., 2024.07.10)
• 2025.0.0 and after: Semantic Versioning where:
  • MAJOR: Breaking changes
  • MINOR: New features (backward compatible)
  • PATCH: Bug fixes (backward compatible)

For Dependency Management

• Requirements like >=2024.07.10 will continue to work with newer versions
• For the latest features, specify >=2025.0.0

Release Process

Version numbers are managed automatically via Git tags.

1. Maintainers create a new tag following the version scheme:

   git tag <version>
   git tag 2025.0.0   # First SemVer release
   git tag 2025.1.0   # Feature release
   git tag 2025.0.1   # Bug fix release
   

2. Push the tag to GitHub

   git push origin <version>
   

3. GitHub Actions will build and publish the package to PyPI

Which UUID version should I use?

Implementations SHOULD utilize UUID version 7 over UUID version 1 and 6 if possible.

UUID version 7 features a time-ordered value field derived from the widely implemented and well known Unix Epoch timestamp source, the number of milliseconds since midnight 1 Jan 1970 UTC, leap seconds excluded. As well as improved entropy characteristics over versions 1 or 6.

If your use case requires greater granularity than UUID version 7 can provide, you might consider UUID version 8. UUID version 8 doesn't provide as good entropy characteristics as UUID version 7, but it utilizes timestamp with nanosecond level of precision.

Functions

uuid6.uuid1_to_uuid6(uuid1)

Generate a UUID version 6 object from a UUID version 1 object.

uuid6.uuid6(node=None, clock_seq=None)

Generate a UUID from a host ID, sequence number, and the current time. If node is not given, a random 48-bit number is chosen. If clock_seq is given, it is used as the sequence number; otherwise a random 14-bit sequence number is chosen. This function is not thread-safe.

uuid6.uuid7()

Generate a UUID from a random number, and the current time. This function is not thread-safe.

uuid6.uuid8()

Generate a UUID from a random number, and the current time. This function is not thread-safe.

UUID Version 6

UUID version 6 is a field-compatible version of UUIDv1, reordered for improved DB locality. It is expected that UUIDv6 will primarily be used in contexts where there are existing v1 UUIDs. Systems that do not involve legacy UUIDv1 SHOULD use UUIDv7 instead.

UUIDv6 Field and Bit Layout

        0                   1                   2                   3
        0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |                           time_high                           |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |           time_mid            |  ver  |       time_low        |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |var|         clock_seq         |             node              |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |                              node                             |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The time_high, time_mid, and time_low fields guarantee the order of UUIDs generated within the same timestamp by monotonically incrementing the timer.

UUID Version 7

UUID version 7 features a time-ordered value field derived from the widely implemented and well known Unix Epoch timestamp source, the number of milliseconds seconds since midnight 1 Jan 1970 UTC, leap seconds excluded. UUID version 7 also has improved entropy characteristics over versions 1 or 6.

UUIDv7 Field and Bit Layout

        0                   1                   2                   3
        0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |                           unix_ts_ms                          |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |          unix_ts_ms           |  ver  |       rand_a          |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |var|                        rand_b                             |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |                            rand_b                             |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The unix_ts_ms field guarantees the order of UUIDs generated within the same millisecond by monotonically incrementing the timer.

UUID Version 8

UUID version 8 provides an RFC-compatible format for experimental or vendor-specific use cases.

This implementation of uuid8() sacrifices some entropy for granularity compared to uuid7(), while being otherwise compatible.

UUIDv8 Field and Bit Layout

        0                   1                   2                   3
        0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |                           unix_ts_ms                          |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |          unix_ts_ms           |  ver  |      subsec_a         |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |var|   subsec_b    |         rand                              |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |                             rand                              |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

• unix_ts_ms: 48 bit big-endian unsigned number of Unix epoch timestamp with millisecond level of precision
• ver: The 4 bit UUIDv8 version (1000)
• subsec_a: 12 bits allocated to sub-second precision values
• var: 2 bit UUID variant (10)
• subsec_b: 8 bits allocated to sub-second precision values
• rand: The remaining 54 bits are filled with cryptographically strong random data

20 extra bits dedicated to sub-second precision provide nanosecond resolution. The unix_ts_ms, subsec_a, and subsec_b fields guarantee the order of UUIDs generated within the same nanosecond by monotonically incrementing the timer.

Performance

Run the shell script bench.sh to test on your own machine.

Results

MacBook Air 2020

Python 3.12.4
Mean +- std dev: 899 ns +- 8 ns
Mean +- std dev: 1.22 us +- 0.01 us
Mean +- std dev: 2.18 us +- 0.02 us
Mean +- std dev: 1.54 us +- 0.01 us
Mean +- std dev: 1.73 us +- 0.01 us
+-----------+--------+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Benchmark | uuid1  | uuid4                 | uuid6                 | uuid7                 | uuid8                 |
+===========+========+=======================+=======================+=======================+=======================+
| timeit    | 899 ns | 1.22 us: 1.36x slower | 2.18 us: 2.43x slower | 1.54 us: 1.71x slower | 1.73 us: 1.92x slower |
+-----------+--------+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+