UUIDs have long been the gold standard for global identifiers in distributed systems. But for years, we’ve had to choose between randomness (UUIDv4) and ordering (UUIDv1) — with trade-offs either way.

Now, there's a new option: UUIDv7.

It’s timestamp-based. It’s sort-friendly. And it’s finally standardized in [RFC 9562 (2024)](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc9562/).

Let’s explore how UUIDv7 works, why it matters, and how to use it today across multiple languages.

🚀 What Is UUIDv7?

UUIDv7 is designed to combine the best parts of UUIDv1 and UUIDv4:

Time-sortable like UUIDv1
Randomized and privacy-safe like UUIDv4
Compact (128 bits) and compatible with existing UUID parsers

UUIDv7 Format (simplified):

48 bits: Unix timestamp in milliseconds
4 bits: Version (0111)
74 bits: Random or entropy bits

Result:

Chronologically sortable
Globally unique (with 74+ bits of entropy)
Safer than UUIDv1 (no MAC or clock leakage)

🧠 Why UUIDv7 Matters

Feature	UUIDv4	UUIDv1	UUIDv7
Random	✅	❌ (time/MAC)	✅ (74+ bits)
Sortable	❌	✅	✅
Traceable	❌	⚠️ MAC leaks	✅ Anonymized
Standard-compliant	✅	✅	✅ (RFC 9562)
Ideal for	Auth tokens	Logs/events	Event IDs, DB PKs

💻 Using UUIDv7 Across Languages

🔹 JavaScript (Node.js)

Use the uuidv7 package:

bash

npm install uuidv7

import { v7 as uuidv7 } from 'uuidv7';

console.log(uuidv7());

🔹 Python

Install the uuid6 package:

bash

pip install uuid6

python

from uuid6 import uuid7

print(uuid7())

Or use ulid for a similar result with base32 encoding.

🔹 Go

Use github.com/oklog/ulid (or UUIDv7-native lib):

import (
    "fmt"
    "time"
    "github.com/oklog/ulid/v2"
    "math/rand"
)

func main() {
    entropy := ulid.Monotonic(rand.New(rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano())), 0)
    id := ulid.MustNew(ulid.Timestamp(time.Now()), entropy)
    fmt.Println(id.String())
}

While ULID is not UUIDv7, it serves a similar function.

🔹 Rust

rust

use uuid7::uuid7;

fn main() {
    let id = uuid7();
    println!("UUIDv7: {}", id);
}

Install via:

toml

uuid7 = "0.7"

🧪 Ideal Use Cases for UUIDv7

Primary keys in distributed SQL and NoSQL databases
Event identifiers in Kafka, Pulsar, or SQS
Log entries and trace IDs
Time-series storage, with ordering benefits
Systems that need to sort IDs by creation time

⚠️ Cautions and Considerations

UUIDv7 is new — some libraries or DBs may not fully support it yet
Be careful with time accuracy (ensure millisecond precision)
If you need base32 or lexicographic sortability, consider ULID

🧰 Implementation Tips

Use a library — don't roll your own bit manipulation unless you know the spec
Store UUIDv7 in UUID or BINARY(16) columns — they're still 128-bit
Index by UUIDv7 for better locality in writes (vs UUIDv4)

Final Thoughts

UUIDv7 gives us the ordering of UUIDv1, the safety of UUIDv4, and a standardized format that works across modern systems.

It’s not just an evolution — it’s a solution to long-standing trade-offs in distributed ID generation.

🔧 If you’re building modern APIs, event systems, or scalable databases — the future is UUIDv7.

UUID Version 7: The Future of Unique Identifiers Has Arrived