How to use UUIDv7 in Python, Django and PostgreSQL

"In this article I walk through a practical example showing how UUIDv7 works in Python first and then in PostgreSQL using Django ORM and migrations only. No manual SQL is needed and every step shows real code and migration output. What is a UUID A UUID is a 128 bit identifier that aims to be globally unique without coordination. It works well in distributed systems because it removes the need for a central sequence generator. This makes UUIDs ideal for many modern architectures."

"The most common version is UUIDv4 which is fully random. UUIDv7 improves on this by adding a timestamp prefix that makes identifiers sort in creation order. This helps index locality and makes inserts more efficient. UUIDv4 vs UUIDv7 UUIDv4 Fully random Very good uniqueness Poor index locality in large tables Inserts become random writes Hard to infer creation time UUIDv7 Timestamp based and time ordered Better index locality and more predictable writes Creation time can be extracted directly"

UUIDv7 provides a timestamp prefix that enables time-ordered identifiers, improving index locality and making inserts more efficient compared to UUIDv4. Python 3.14, Django 5.2 and PostgreSQL 18 support UUIDv7 in stable releases and can be used without custom extensions. UUIDs are 128-bit globally unique identifiers useful for distributed systems by removing central sequence generators. A practical workflow generates UUIDv7 in Python, stores them in Django models, uses PostgreSQL native functions and builds time-ordered primary keys using Django ORM and migrations only. UUIDv4 is fully random and causes random writes and poor index locality, while UUIDv7's timestamp makes creation time extractable and suitable for high-write environments.

Read at Paolo Melchiorre