Generate and parse UUIDs.
1.2k
Stars
234
Forks
13
Open issues
30
Contributors
AI Analysis
A foundational Rust library for generating and parsing UUIDs (Universally Unique Identifiers) according to RFC 9562. It serves distributed systems, databases, and network protocols that require unique identifiers without central coordination. This is a core infrastructure library used by countless Rust projects rather than an end-user application.
Inferred from signals mentioned in the README (tests, CI, type safety) — not a review of the actual code.
AI's overall editorial judgment — not an average of the bars above, can weigh other factors too.
Rust's foundational UUID library: mature, minimal, widely embedded in the ecosystem
uuid-rs/uuid is the de facto standard UUID generation and parsing library for Rust. It provides RFC 9562-compliant UUID v1, v3, v4, v5, v6, v7, and v8 support with optional SIMD acceleration. The library is embedded in thousands of Rust projects across web frameworks, databases, and distributed systems, though adoption is often invisible because it's a transitive dependency. Growth is slow but steady, reflecting its status as a mature, feature-complete utility rather than an emerging tool.
Created in 2014, uuid-rs predates Rust's standardization era and became the community standard for UUID handling. It has maintained backward compatibility while adding RFC 9562 support and new UUID versions. The project's longevity and stability made it the default choice for Rust libraries that need UUID functionality.
Star growth is modest (2 stars in 7 days as of June 2026) because the library has reached saturation among Rust developers who need it. Most adoption occurs indirectly—users depend on it transitively through web frameworks (Actix, Rocket), ORMs (Diesel, SQLx), and cloud SDKs. The library's value proposition is not growth but reliability and specification compliance.
Adoption not verified via explicit case studies in README, but indirect evidence is strong: the library is the standard choice in Rust ecosystem tooling. Likely used in production by organizations using Rust web frameworks, cloud SDKs, and distributed systems. crates.io download metrics would confirm adoption but are not provided in metadata.
Based on README, the library appears modular with feature gates for optional functionality (v4, v6, v7 UUID variants; serde, fast-rng). The project recommends uuid-simd for performance-critical parsing, suggesting the base library prioritizes correctness over raw speed. Likely uses Rust's type system to enforce UUID invariants at compile time.
Not documented in README. CI badge indicates continuous integration is active, but specific test coverage metrics are not provided.
Last push 2026-06-26 (8 days before evaluation date), indicating active maintenance. CI workflow badge is present and passing. The 12-year history with regular releases suggests mature, sustained stewardship. Low rate of new feature requests likely reflects completeness rather than abandonment.
ADOPT IF: you are building in Rust and need RFC 9562-compliant UUID generation or parsing. The library is mature, actively maintained, and has no serious alternative in the Rust ecosystem. AVOID IF: you prioritize cutting-edge performance for extreme-scale UUID parsing—consider uuid-simd as a complementary library instead. MONITOR IF: you rely on non-standard UUID schemes (time-ordered, sortable) not yet covered by RFC 9562—evaluate whether v6/v7 meet your needs or if KSUID/ULID alternatives are better suited.
Independent dimensions
Mainstream potential
3/10
Technical importance
8/10
Adoption evidence
7/10
- Single-library dependency risk: uuid-rs is the de facto standard, leaving Rust ecosystem without backup if maintenance ceased. Mitigated by Rust Foundation oversight and strong community investment.
- RFC 9562 compliance burden: RFC updates could require maintenance effort. No evidence this has caused delays historically, but standardization changes could create future friction.
- Performance plateau: Raw parsing speed may lag specialized implementations like uuid-simd. Not a risk for most use cases, but relevant for high-throughput UUID validation scenarios.
- Feature creep vs. minimalism: Balance between adding new UUID versions and keeping the library lean. README suggests maintainers prefer minimalism, reducing this risk.
- Transitive dependency fatigue: Deep embedding in ecosystem means breaking changes would cascade widely. Likely explains conservative versioning and slow feature addition.
uuid-rs will remain the standard UUID library for Rust, with slow, incremental updates as new RFC versions stabilize. Adoption will continue invisibly through ecosystem growth. No major disruption expected, but RFC 9562 compliance work will likely drive periodic maintenance cycles.
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Languages
Information
- Language
- Rust
- License
- NOASSERTION
- Last updated
- 2w ago
- Created
- 145mo ago
- Analyzed with
- anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5
Stars over time
Contributors over time
Top 100 contributors only — repos with more will plateau at 100.
Open issues
The `compact` custom serde representation is not particularly compact
Add `[MaybeUninit<u8>]` variants of `encode_*` functions
dependency loop with borsh and bson
Implement `wasm_bindgen` conversion traits for `Uuid`
Feature Request: Support Option<Uuid> in uuid::serde::simple module
Open pull requests
Top contributors
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Significantly larger star count reflects JavaScript's broader population and JavaScript's dependency management norms. Both serve analogous roles in their respective ecosystems. uuid-rs has lower stars but higher relative adoption density within Rust (smaller ecosystem).
Go's UUID library has similar adoption patterns to uuid-rs: steady, embedded in ecosystem tooling, mature. Go's ecosystem size is comparable to Rust's. Star counts are similar (uuid-rs 1,219 vs. gofrs 1,811), suggesting equivalent ecosystem penetration.
KSUID is an alternative UUID scheme optimized for time-ordered IDs. Serves a narrower use case (distributed tracing, time-series databases). uuid-rs is more general-purpose. Higher star count reflects popularity in specific verticals, not broader utility.
PHP package with similar adoption scale. uuid-rs likely has higher production impact because Rust is used in systems-level applications where UUID correctness is critical; PHP adoption is more web-centric.
UUID functionality is not built into Rust's standard library, making uuid-rs effectively the only viable option for production UUID handling in Rust. No meaningful competition within Rust ecosystem.
