Laravel ID Generator

A powerful Laravel package to generate unique, prefixed IDs with database transaction safety and race condition protection. Perfect for invoices, complaints, quotations, orders, and any document that needs professional numbering.

// Generate professional IDs instantly
$invoiceId = generateUniqueId('invoice', 'invoices', 'invoice_no');
// Output: INV-20250814-0001

$complaintId = generateUniqueId('complaint', 'complaints', 'complaint_no');
// Output: CMP-20250814-0001

🎯 Why You Need This Package

The Problem

When building applications, you often need to generate unique document numbers like:

• Invoice Numbers: INV-20250814-0001
• Complaint IDs: CMP-20250814-0001
• Order Numbers: ORD-20250814-0001

Common challenges:

• Race Conditions: Two users creating records simultaneously can get the same number
• Non-Professional Format: Simple auto-increment IDs look unprofessional
• No Business Logic: Hard to identify document type from the number
• Maintenance Overhead: Writing custom numbering logic for each model

The Solution

This package provides:

• ✅ Race Condition Safe: Uses database transactions and row locking
• ✅ Professional Format: PREFIX-YYYYMMDD-XXXX format
• ✅ Zero Conflicts: Guaranteed unique IDs across your entire application
• ✅ Laravel Native: Follows Laravel conventions and best practices
• ✅ Future Proof: Compatible with Laravel 11, 12, and beyond
• ✅ Auto-Scalable: Handles millions of records without performance issues

🚀 Installation

composer require alimarchal/id-generator

That's it! Thanks to Laravel's auto-discovery, the package is immediately ready to use.

📋 Setup (One-Time)

1. Publish and Run Migration

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=id-generator-migrations
php artisan migrate

This creates an id_prefixes table with sample data:

2. Add Your Custom Prefixes (Optional)

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;

DB::table('id_prefixes')->insert([
    ['name' => 'order', 'prefix' => 'ORD'],
    ['name' => 'receipt', 'prefix' => 'RCP'],
    ['name' => 'estimate', 'prefix' => 'EST'],
]);

🎯 Usage

Method 1: Helper Functions (Recommended)

The simplest way to generate IDs anywhere in your application.

Using Database Prefixes

// Generate invoice number using 'invoice' type from database
$invoiceId = generateUniqueId('invoice', 'invoices', 'invoice_no');
// Output: INV-20250814-0001

// Generate complaint number
$complaintId = generateUniqueId('complaint', 'complaints', 'complaint_no');
// Output: CMP-20250814-0001

// Generate quotation number
$quotationId = generateUniqueId('quotation', 'quotations', 'quotation_no');
// Output: QTN-20250814-0001

Using Direct Prefixes

// Generate ID with custom prefix (no database lookup)
$orderId = generateUniqueIdWithPrefix('ORD', 'orders', 'order_no');
// Output: ORD-20250814-0001

$customId = generateUniqueIdWithPrefix('CUST', 'customers', 'customer_id');
// Output: CUST-20250814-0001

Method 2: Dependency Injection

Perfect when you need more control or are following SOLID principles.

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Alimarchal\IdGenerator\IdGenerator;
use App\Models\Invoice;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class InvoiceController extends Controller
{
    public function store(Request $request, IdGenerator $idGenerator)
    {
        // Method 1: Using database prefix
        $invoiceNumber = $idGenerator->generate('invoice', 'invoices', 'invoice_no');
        
        // Method 2: Using direct prefix
        $orderNumber = $idGenerator->generateWithPrefix('ORD', 'orders', 'order_no');

        $invoice = Invoice::create([
            'invoice_no' => $invoiceNumber,
            'customer_name' => $request->customer_name,
            'amount' => $request->amount,
        ]);

        return response()->json(['invoice' => $invoice], 201);
    }
}

📊 Real-World Examples

E-Commerce Platform

class OrderController extends Controller
{
    public function createOrder(Request $request, IdGenerator $idGenerator)
    {
        $orderNumber = $idGenerator->generate('order', 'orders', 'order_no');
        // Output: ORD-20250814-0001
        
        $invoiceNumber = $idGenerator->generate('invoice', 'invoices', 'invoice_no');
        // Output: INV-20250814-0001
        
        $trackingNumber = $idGenerator->generateWithPrefix('TRK', 'shipments', 'tracking_no');
        // Output: TRK-20250814-0001
        
        // Create order with all numbers...
    }
}

Customer Support System

class TicketController extends Controller
{
    public function createTicket(Request $request)
    {
        $ticketNumber = generateUniqueId('ticket', 'tickets', 'ticket_no');
        // Output: TKT-20250814-0001
        
        $ticket = Ticket::create([
            'ticket_no' => $ticketNumber,
            'title' => $request->title,
            'priority' => $request->priority,
        ]);
        
        return response()->json(['ticket' => $ticket], 201);
    }
}

Complete Controller Example

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Models\Invoice;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class InvoiceController extends Controller
{
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        // Validate request...
        $request->validate([
            'customer_name' => 'required|string',
            'amount' => 'required|numeric',
        ]);

        // Generate unique invoice number
        $invoiceNumber = generateUniqueId('invoice', 'invoices', 'invoice_no');

        // Create invoice
        $invoice = Invoice::create([
            'invoice_no' => $invoiceNumber,
            'customer_name' => $request->customer_name,
            'amount' => $request->amount,
            'created_at' => now(),
        ]);

        return response()->json([
            'message' => 'Invoice created successfully!',
            'invoice' => $invoice
        ], 201);
    }
}

🚀 Scalability & Performance

Built for Scale

• Millions of Records: Tested with millions of records without performance degradation
• High Concurrency: Can handle hundreds of simultaneous requests without conflicts
• Database Optimized: Uses efficient queries with proper indexing
• Memory Efficient: Minimal memory footprint

Race Condition Protection

// This package handles this scenario automatically:
// User A and User B create invoices at the EXACT same millisecond

// Without protection:
// User A gets: INV-20250814-0001
// User B gets: INV-20250814-0001 ❌ (DUPLICATE!)

// With this package:
// User A gets: INV-20250814-0001 ✅
// User B gets: INV-20250814-0002 ✅ (UNIQUE!)

🔄 Laravel Compatibility

This package is designed to work with current and future Laravel versions:

• ✅ Laravel 11 - Fully supported
• ✅ Laravel 12 - Ready for future releases
• ✅ PHP 8.2+ - Modern PHP support

Auto-Update Strategy

• Semantic Versioning: We follow SemVer for predictable updates
• Laravel Compatibility: New Laravel versions are supported within 30 days of release
• Backward Compatibility: Minor updates never break existing functionality

⚙️ Advanced Configuration

Multiple Environments

// Different prefixes for different environments
// In your AppServiceProvider boot method:

if (app()->environment('production')) {
    DB::table('id_prefixes')->updateOrInsert(
        ['name' => 'invoice'],
        ['prefix' => 'INV']
    );
} else {
    DB::table('id_prefixes')->updateOrInsert(
        ['name' => 'invoice'],
        ['prefix' => 'TEST-INV']
    );
}

Custom Prefixes Management

// Add new prefix types dynamically
DB::table('id_prefixes')->insert([
    'name' => 'purchase-order',
    'prefix' => 'PO',
    'created_at' => now(),
    'updated_at' => now()
]);

// Use the new prefix
$poNumber = generateUniqueId('purchase-order', 'purchase_orders', 'po_number');
// Output: PO-20250814-0001

🐛 Error Handling

Graceful Degradation

// The package includes built-in error handling
try {
    $invoiceId = generateUniqueId('invoice', 'invoices', 'invoice_no');
} catch (\Exception $e) {
    // If normal generation fails, package provides fallback
    // Fallback format: INVOICE-1692012345-1234 (timestamp-based)
    Log::error("ID generation failed: " . $e->getMessage());
    // You still get a unique ID, just less pretty
}

Common Issues & Solutions

Issue: "Prefix not found"

// Solution: Add the prefix to your database
DB::table('id_prefixes')->insert([
    'name' => 'your-type',
    'prefix' => 'YOUR-PREFIX'
]);

Issue: Column doesn't exist

// Solution: Ensure your table has the target column
Schema::table('your_table', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->string('your_id_column')->unique();
});

📚 API Reference

Helper Functions

generateUniqueId(string $type, string $table, string $column): string

Parameters:

• $type: Type name from id_prefixes table (e.g., 'invoice')
• $table: Target database table name
• $column: Target column name for the ID

Returns: Formatted unique ID (e.g., 'INV-20250814-0001')

Throws: \Exception if type not found in database

generateUniqueIdWithPrefix(string $prefix, string $table, string $column): string

Parameters:

• $prefix: Direct prefix string (e.g., 'INV', 'CUSTOM')
• $table: Target database table name
• $column: Target column name for the ID

Returns: Formatted unique ID with custom prefix

Class Methods

IdGenerator::generate(string $type, string $table, string $column): string

Class method equivalent to generateUniqueId() helper function.

IdGenerator::generateWithPrefix(string $prefix, string $table, string $column): string

Class method equivalent to generateUniqueIdWithPrefix() helper function.

🔧 Requirements

• PHP 8.2 or higher
• Laravel 11.0 or higher
• MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, or SQL Server

📖 Format Specification

ID Format: PREFIX-YYYYMMDD-XXXX

• PREFIX: 2-10 characters identifying the document type
• YYYYMMDD: Date in ISO format (e.g., 20250814 for August 14, 2025)
• XXXX: 4-digit sequential number starting from 0001 each day

Examples

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

Development Setup

git clone https://github.com/alimarchal/id-generator.git
cd id-generator
composer install

Reporting Issues

If you find a bug or have a feature request, please open an issue on GitHub.

📄 License

This package is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.

🙋 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• Email: kh.marchal@gmail.com

🔗 Related Packages

• Laravel UUID - For UUID generation
• Laravel Hashids - For URL-safe ID encoding

Made with ❤️ for the Laravel community by Ali Raza Marchal