---
title: Identity (TypeID)
description: How Sentinel uses prefix-qualified, globally unique identifiers for every entity.
---

Every entity in Sentinel has a TypeID. TypeIDs are globally unique, sortable, URL-safe identifiers built on UUIDv7 with a human-readable prefix that tells you what kind of entity you're looking at.

A TypeID looks like this:

```
suite_01h455vb4pex5vsknk084sn02q
```

The `suite` prefix identifies this as a suite. The suffix is a base32-encoded UUIDv7 that encodes creation time, so IDs sort chronologically.

## The `id` package

The `id` package wraps the [TypeID Go library](https://github.com/jetify-com/typeid-go) (v2) with a single `ID` struct. All entity types share the same struct -- the prefix distinguishes them.

### Creating IDs

```go
import "github.com/xraph/sentinel/id"

suiteID         := id.New(id.PrefixSuite)          // suite_01h455vb...
caseID          := id.New(id.PrefixCase)           // tcase_01h455vb...
evalRunID       := id.New(id.PrefixEvalRun)        // erun_01h455vb...
evalResultID    := id.New(id.PrefixEvalResult)     // eres_01h455vb...
baselineID      := id.New(id.PrefixBaseline)       // base_01h455vb...
redTeamID       := id.New(id.PrefixRedTeam)        // rteam_01h455vb...
promptVersionID := id.New(id.PrefixPromptVersion)  // pver_01h455vb...
```

Convenience constructors: `id.NewSuiteID()`, `id.NewCaseID()`, `id.NewEvalRunID()`, `id.NewEvalResultID()`, `id.NewBaselineID()`, `id.NewRedTeamID()`, `id.NewPromptVersionID()`.

### Parsing IDs

```go
parsed, err := id.Parse("suite_01h455vb4pex5vsknk084sn02q")
parsed, err := id.ParseWithPrefix("suite_01h455vb...", id.PrefixSuite)  // validates prefix
parsed, err := id.ParseSuiteID("suite_01h455vb...")                     // convenience
```

### Nil ID

```go
var empty id.ID
empty.IsNil()  // true
empty.String() // ""
id.Nil.IsNil() // true
```

### Database storage

`id.ID` implements `Scanner` and `driver.Valuer`. Stores as a string, returns `NULL` for nil IDs.

### JSON serialization

`id.ID` implements `TextMarshaler` and `TextUnmarshaler`. Nil IDs serialize as empty strings.

## Prefix reference

| Constant | Prefix | Entity |
|----------|--------|--------|
| `id.PrefixSuite` | `suite` | Suite |
| `id.PrefixCase` | `tcase` | Test case |
| `id.PrefixEvalRun` | `erun` | Eval run |
| `id.PrefixEvalResult` | `eres` | Eval result |
| `id.PrefixBaseline` | `base` | Baseline |
| `id.PrefixRedTeam` | `rteam` | Red team |
| `id.PrefixPromptVersion` | `pver` | Prompt version |