Skip to main content

Getting Started

ShortID is a PHP library that creates short string IDs from integer numbers. This is useful when you need to:

  • Shorten numeric IDs for URLs
  • Create compact representations of large numbers
  • Convert UUIDs to shorter strings
  • Generate random short identifiers

Installation​

Install the library using Composer:

composer require byjg/shortid

Basic Usage​

The simplest way to use ShortID is to convert a number to a short string:

<?php
use ByJG\ShortId\ShortId;

// Convert number to short ID
$shortid = ShortId::fromNumber(1234567890);
echo $shortid; // Output: bjme

// Convert back to number
$number = ShortId::get($shortid);
echo $number; // Output: 1234567890

How It Works​

ShortID uses a base-62 encoding system by default, using the following character set:

  • Lowercase letters: a-z (26 characters)
  • Uppercase letters: A-Z (26 characters)
  • Numbers: 0-9 (10 characters)

This means each character can represent 62 different values, making the resulting strings very compact compared to decimal representation.

Example Conversions​

NumberShort ID
0a
1b
62ab
1000qa
999999bjme

Next Steps​

  • Learn about all available methods
  • Explore custom maps to create your own encoding schemes