UUID in SQLite — Storage, Indexing, and UUID v7

SQLite is the most widely deployed database in the world — embedded in every iOS and Android device, every Python installation, and countless desktop and server applications. It has no native UUID column type, but UUIDs work well once you choose the right storage format.

Storage Options

SQLite’s type affinity system accepts any value in any column. Two practical choices for UUID storage:

For UUID v7, both formats preserve sort order correctly: the hyphenated TEXT string sorts lexicographically in the same order as the raw bytes. For UUID v4 (fully random), neither format gives ordered inserts — order is random regardless of column type.

UUID v7 in Python with sqlite3

Python 3.13’s uuid.uuid7() combined with the standard sqlite3 module:

import sqlite3
import uuid

conn = sqlite3.connect("app.db")
conn.execute("""
    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS orders (
        id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
        customer_id TEXT NOT NULL,
        status TEXT NOT NULL
    )
""")

# Insert with UUID v7 primary key
order_id = str(uuid.uuid7())
conn.execute(
    "INSERT INTO orders (id, customer_id, status) VALUES (?, ?, ?)",
    (order_id, str(uuid.uuid7()), "pending"),
)
conn.commit()

For BLOB storage, pass uuid.uuid7().bytes instead of str(uuid.uuid7()).

UUID v7 in Go with modernc.org/sqlite

The pure-Go modernc.org/sqlite driver (no CGo required):

import (
    "database/sql"
    "github.com/google/uuid"
    _ "modernc.org/sqlite"
)

db, _ := sql.Open("sqlite", "app.db")

id := uuid.Now_v7() // time-ordered v7
db.Exec(
    "INSERT INTO orders (id, status) VALUES (?, ?)",
    id.String(), "pending",
)

UUID v7 in Node.js with better-sqlite3

better-sqlite3 is the most common synchronous SQLite library for Node.js:

import Database from 'better-sqlite3';
import { v7 as uuidv7 } from 'uuid';

const db = new Database('app.db');
const insert = db.prepare('INSERT INTO orders (id, status) VALUES (?, ?)');
insert.run(uuidv7(), 'pending');

ROWID Tables and UUID Primary Keys

By default, SQLite creates a ROWID table — every row gets an implicit 64-bit integer rowid used as the actual B-tree key. Declaring a TEXT PRIMARY KEY creates a separate index on the UUID column, meaning the UUID index and the ROWID index coexist. To use the UUID as the true B-tree key (eliminating the duplicate index), declare it as WITHOUT ROWID:

CREATE TABLE orders (
    id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
    status TEXT NOT NULL
) WITHOUT ROWID;

With WITHOUT ROWID and UUID v7 values, inserts append to the right side of the B-tree exactly as they would with an autoincrement integer. This is the most storage-efficient setup for UUID v7 primary keys in SQLite.

Related Resources

• SQLite datatypes documentation — type affinity and storage classes
• SQLite WITHOUT ROWID tables — efficient UUID primary keys
• better-sqlite3 — synchronous SQLite for Node.js
• modernc.org/sqlite — pure-Go SQLite driver
• RFC 9562 — UUID v7 specification