Improved ID Format

Date: 2024-09-16

Status: Accepted

Context

NeoWiki started off with GUIDs for Subject IDs (ADR 5) and for Relations (ADR 10).

We have since realized that according to some, GUIDs are not a good format. In particular, the blog post at https://www.unkey.com/blog/uuid-ux, plus seeing nanoid style IDs in various popular modern products.

Decision

We switch to a nanoid-inspired ID format that retains the time-based sortability of our current format (UUID version 7).

We do not provide backwards compatibility with or migration for the old format since there are no production systems yet.

Consequences

We use the new IdGenerator service as implemented in the ProductionIdGenerator experiment
Sortability is retained down to the microsecond
We break backwards compatibility
Our ID format is less standard than UUID
Less storage is used due to shorter IDs
IDs are more aesthetically pleasing and generally cool

Alternatives Considered

Staying UUID Version 7

Least work (no change needed)
IDs are harder to copy due to the hyphens
More storage is used due to unnecessary ID length
IDs might offend some people's sense of aesthetics

Using Standard Nanoid

Can use a standard PHP package: https://packagist.org/packages/hidehalo/nanoid-php
- Less code to maintain
- Extra dependency
We lose sortability

Improved ID Format ​

Context ​

Decision ​

Consequences ​

Alternatives Considered ​

Staying UUID Version 7 ​

Using Standard Nanoid ​