timestamp identifier (TID) codec for AT Protocol.
npm install @atcute/tidthis library implements atproto's TID codec used to generate compact and unique record keys that can be sorted chronologically.
import * as TID from '@atcute/tid';
// generate a TID for the current time
const tid = TID.now();
// -> "3l25zusnsfctk"
// create from specific timestamp (microseconds) and clock ID
const custom = TID.create(1724171495793000, 512);
// -> "3l25zusnsfck2"on Node.js, TID.now() relies on the system's real-time clock for microsecond precision where
available, falling back to millisecond precision otherwise.
TID.now() is not monotonic — TIDs encode wall clock time, so the generator must follow clock
corrections rather than preserve ordering. enforcing monotonicity on devices with unreliable clocks
(e.g. phones) would leave the generator permanently stuck at the wrong time after a correction. the
only exception is rapid successive calls within a single process that observe the same timestamp,
where it increments instead of reusing it to avoid collisions.
import * as TID from '@atcute/tid';
const { timestamp, clockid } = TID.parse('3l25zusnsfctk');
// timestamp: 1724171495793000 (microseconds since epoch)
// clockid: 816import * as TID from '@atcute/tid';
TID.validate('3l25zusnsfctk'); // true
TID.validate('invalid'); // false