ID

The autogen setting can be used on the ID field to automatically generate IDs from other field values. When used on the ID field, the generated value is automatically slugified (lowercased, spaces replaced with hyphens, special characters removed).

For using autogen on non-ID fields (text, textarea, etc.), see the All Field Settings documentation.

{
  "autogen" : "${title}-${now}"
}

Special Autogen Variables

• now - Current timestamp in milliseconds (e.g., 1692123456789)
• timestamp - Current date/time in ISO format without colons/dashes (e.g., 20230815T143056)
• uuid - Real UUID v4 format (e.g., 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000)
• uid - Short random alphanumeric string (e.g., a4k7m2x)
• oid - Object ID counter (increments with each new object in collection)
• oid-00000 - Zero-padded Object ID (e.g., oid-00001, oid-12345)
• currentyear - Full 4-digit year (e.g., 2025)
• currentyear2 - 2-digit year (e.g., 25)
• currentmonth - Zero-padded month 01-12 (e.g., 01, 12)
• currentday - Zero-padded day 01-31 (e.g., 01, 31)

Autogen Special Variables Examples

Using timestamp for date-based IDs:

{
  "autogen" : "${title}-${timestamp}"
}

Generates: my-post-20230815T143056

Using now for unique numeric IDs:

{
  "autogen" : "item-${now}"
}

Generates: item-1692123456789

Using uuid for unique IDs:

{
  "autogen" : "${title}-${uuid}"
}

Generates: my-post-550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

Using uid for short random IDs:

{
  "autogen" : "${title}-${uid}"
}

Generates: my-post-a4k7m2x

OID (Object ID) Examples

The oid placeholder provides automatic sequential numbering based on the collection’s object count:

{
  "autogen" : "item-${oid}"
}

Generates: item-1, item-2, item-3, etc.

Zero-padded OID:

{
  "autogen" : "product-${oid-00000}"
}

Generates: product-00001, product-00002, product-00003, etc.

Different padding lengths:

{
  "autogen" : "${oid-000}"
}

Generates: 001, 002, 003, etc.

Combined with other placeholders:

{
  "autogen" : "${title}-${oid-00}"
}

Generates: my-title-01, another-title-02, etc.

The OID counter automatically increments each time a new object is created in the collection, ensuring unique sequential IDs.

Note: ${oid} is only supported for collection object IDs. It is not available for deck item IDs. Use ${uuid} or ${uid} for auto-generated deck item IDs instead.

Date-Based ID Examples

The date variables are useful for creating time-based IDs that sort chronologically:

Year-based membership IDs:

{
  "autogen" : "${currentyear}-${oid-000000}"
}

Generates: 2025-000001, 2025-000002, etc.

Short date format:

{
  "autogen" : "${currentyear2}${currentmonth}${currentday}-${oid-000}"
}

Generates: 251107-001, 251107-002, etc. (YY-MM-DD-ID format)

Invoice-style IDs:

{
  "autogen" : "INV-${currentyear}${currentmonth}-${oid-0000}"
}

Generates: INV-202511-0001, INV-202511-0002, etc.

Membership cards:

{
  "autogen" : "26-${currentyear2}-${oid-000000}"
}

Generates: 26-25-000001, 26-25-000002, etc.