# crypto-random-string > Generate a cryptographically strong random string Latest version **6.0.0** (published 2026-07-23) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install crypto-random-string pnpm add crypto-random-string yarn add crypto-random-string bun add crypto-random-string ``` ## Health **Score 70/100 (B)** — status: active. Positive: has types; esm support; no vulnerabilities; recently updated; high maintenance score; high quality score. Warnings: low downloads. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 6.0.0 | | Published | 2026-07-23 | | First published | 2016-11-14 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | bundled | | Module format | ESM | | Node | >=22 | | Dependencies | 2 | | Unpacked size | 13.1 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 591 | | Author | Sindre Sorhus | | Maintainers | sindresorhus | | Keywords | random, string, text, id, identifier, slug, salt, pin, crypto, strong, secure, hex, secret, protect | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/crypto-random-string - Repository: https://github.com/sindresorhus/crypto-random-string - Homepage: https://github.com/sindresorhus/crypto-random-string#readme - Issues: https://github.com/sindresorhus/crypto-random-string/issues - Funding: https://github.com/sponsors/sindresorhus - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/crypto-random-string ## Dependencies (2) - [type-fest](https://npm.io/package/type-fest.md) ^5.8.0 - [uint8array-extras](https://npm.io/package/uint8array-extras.md) ^1.5.0 ## Alternatives - [@sindresorhus/slugify](https://npm.io/package/@sindresorhus/slugify.md) — 3.7M weekly downloads - [solid-js](https://npm.io/package/solid-js.md) — 2.7M weekly downloads - [expo-glass-effect](https://npm.io/package/expo-glass-effect.md) — 2.5M weekly downloads - [nanoassert](https://npm.io/package/nanoassert.md) — 780.8K weekly downloads - [@ffmpeg/ffmpeg](https://npm.io/package/@ffmpeg/ffmpeg.md) — 529.5K weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 6.0.0 (latest) — 2026-07-23 - 5.0.0 — 2022-05-10 - 4.0.0 — 2021-04-05 - 3.3.1 — 2021-02-12 - 3.3.0 — 2020-09-03 - 3.2.0 — 2020-03-07 - 3.1.0 — 2020-01-12 - 3.0.1 — 2019-06-17 - 3.0.0 — 2019-05-08 - 2.0.0 — 2019-04-09 - 1.0.0 — 2016-11-14 ## README # crypto-random-string > Generate a [cryptographically strong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_cryptography) random string Can be useful for creating an identifier, slug, salt, PIN code, fixture, etc. Works in Node.js and browsers. ## Install ```sh npm install crypto-random-string ``` ## Usage ```js import cryptoRandomString from 'crypto-random-string'; cryptoRandomString({length: 10}); //=> '2cf05d94db' cryptoRandomString({length: 10, type: 'base64'}); //=> 'YMiMbaQl6I' cryptoRandomString({length: 10, type: 'url-safe'}); //=> 'YN-tqc8pOw' cryptoRandomString({length: 10, type: 'numeric'}); //=> '8314659141' cryptoRandomString({length: 6, type: 'distinguishable'}); //=> 'CDEHKM' cryptoRandomString({length: 10, type: 'ascii-printable'}); //=> '`#Rt8$IK>B' cryptoRandomString({length: 10, type: 'alphanumeric'}); //=> 'DMuKL8YtE7' cryptoRandomString({length: 10, characters: 'abc'}); //=> 'abaaccabac' ``` ## API ### cryptoRandomString(options) Returns a randomized string. [Hex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal) by default. #### options Type: `object` ##### length *Required*\ Type: `number` *(non-negative integer)* Length of the returned string. This is the number of characters, so a string generated from a `characters` set with characters outside the [Basic Multilingual Plane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_(Unicode)#Basic_Multilingual_Plane), like emoji, has a larger `.length` than this. ##### type Type: `string`\ Default: `'hex'`\ Values: `'hex' | 'base64' | 'url-safe' | 'numeric' | 'distinguishable' | 'ascii-printable' | 'alphanumeric'` Use only characters from a predefined set of allowed characters. Cannot be set at the same time as the `characters` option. The `distinguishable` set contains only uppercase characters that are not easily confused: `CDEHKMPRTUWXY012458`. It can be useful if you need to print out a short string that you'd like users to read and type back in with minimal errors. For example, reading a code off of a screen that needs to be typed into a phone to connect two devices. The `ascii-printable` set contains all [printable ASCII characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII#ASCII_printable_characters) except the space: ``!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~`` Useful for generating passwords where all possible ASCII characters should be used. The `alphanumeric` set contains uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and digits: `ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789`. Useful for generating [nonce](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLOrForeignElement/nonce) values. ##### characters Type: `string`\ Minimum length: `1`\ Maximum length: `65536` Use only characters from a custom set of allowed characters. Cannot be set at the same time as the `type` option. Each character is picked with equal probability, so repeating a character in the set makes it more likely to be picked. The length limits count Unicode characters, not UTF-16 code units, so characters outside the [Basic Multilingual Plane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_(Unicode)#Basic_Multilingual_Plane), like emoji, are handled correctly. ## Related - [random-int](https://github.com/sindresorhus/random-int) - Generate a random integer - [random-float](https://github.com/sindresorhus/random-float) - Generate a random float - [random-item](https://github.com/sindresorhus/random-item) - Get a random item from an array - [random-boolean](https://github.com/arthurvr/random-boolean) - Get a random boolean - [random-object-key](https://github.com/sindresorhus/random-object-key) - Get a random key from an object - [random-object-value](https://github.com/sindresorhus/random-object-value) - Get a random value from an object - [unique-random](https://github.com/sindresorhus/unique-random) - Generate random numbers that are consecutively unique --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/crypto-random-string · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. 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