Laravel Hashids – Generate short unique hashes

Laravel Hashids is a package that provides a simple way to encode and decode unique identifiers into short, human-readable hashes. It’s particularly useful for obscuring numeric IDs, making them less predictable and improving the overall security of your application.

Key Features

Obfuscation: Convert numeric IDs into short, unique hashes to enhance security.
Customizable: Allows customization of hash length and alphabet.
Simple Integration: Easy to set up and use within your Laravel application.

Installation

To install the package, you can use Composer. Run the following command in your terminal:

bash

composer require vinkla/hashids

1	composer require vinkla/hashids

Configuration

After installing the package, you need to publish the configuration file:

bash

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Vinkla\Hashids\HashidsServiceProvider"

1	php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Vinkla\Hashids\HashidsServiceProvider"

This will create a hashids.php configuration file in the config directory.

Configuration Options

Open the config/hashids.php file to configure the package. You can set options like the salt, length, and alphabet for the hashes:

php

return [
    'default' => [
        'salt' => env('HASHIDS_SALT', 'your-salt-here'),
        'length' => 8, // The length of the generated hashes
        'alphabet' => 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890', // Custom alphabet
    ],
];

return [

'default' => [

'salt' => env('HASHIDS_SALT', 'your-salt-here'),

'length' => 8, // The length of the generated hashes

'alphabet' => 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890', // Custom alphabet

];

Usage

1. Encoding IDs

To encode an ID, you can use the Hashids facade. Here’s an example:

php

use Hashids\Hashids;

$hashids = new Hashids('your-salt-here');
$encoded = $hashids->encode(123); // Encode the ID 123
echo $encoded; // Example output: '5e8c9e'

use Hashids\Hashids;

$hashids = new Hashids('your-salt-here');

$encoded = $hashids->encode(123); // Encode the ID 123

echo $encoded; // Example output: '5e8c9e'

2. Decoding Hashes

To decode a hash back into the original ID:

php

$decoded = $hashids->decode($encoded);
echo $decoded[0]; // Output: 123

1 2	$decoded = $hashids->decode($encoded); echo $decoded[0]; // Output: 123

Note: The decode method returns an array of IDs. If the hash does not match any ID, it will return an empty array.

3. Using Hashids in Models

You can easily integrate Hashids into your models. For instance, if you want to automatically encode and decode the id attribute in a User model, you can do the following:

Add the Hashids Trait:

Install the trait by adding it to your model:

php

use Vinkla\Hashids\Facades\Hashids;

class User extends Model
{
    // Other model methods and properties

    public function getRouteKey()
    {
        return Hashids::encode($this->id);
    }

    public static function findByHash($hash)
    {
        $decoded = Hashids::decode($hash);
        return static::find($decoded[0] ?? null);
    }
}

use Vinkla\Hashids\Facades\Hashids;

class User extends Model

{

// Other model methods and properties

public function getRouteKey()

{

return Hashids::encode($this->id);

}

public static function findByHash($hash)

{

$decoded = Hashids::decode($hash);

return static::find($decoded[0] ?? null);

}

Using the Model with Routes:
You can define routes that use the encoded IDs:

php

Route::get('user/{hash}', function ($hash) { $user = User::findByHash($hash); // Handle user... });

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Route::get('user/{hash}', function ($hash) {
$user = User::findByHash($hash);
// Handle user...
});

Conclusion

Laravel Hashids provides a straightforward way to generate short, unique hashes for your IDs, helping to obscure sensitive information and improve the user experience. Its simple setup and ease of use make it a valuable addition to any Laravel application.