UUID and key generation with Alfred

There are tasks that appear often enough to become irritating, but not often enough to become automatic. UUID and key generation sits in that category.

An Alfred workflow is a good fit because it keeps the task close to the keyboard and reduces the temptation to reach for a website, a scratch script, or a terminal detour every time.

Generating a UUID

The simplest version uses a keyword such as uuid and runs:

uuidgen | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'

That generates the UUID and normalises it to lowercase so the output is ready to paste straight into a config value, record, or code path.

Generating keys

For a 32-byte hex key:

openssl rand -hex 32

For a Base64 key:

openssl rand -base64 32

If you want one workflow to handle both formats, a simple argument switch works well:

case "$1" in
  hex|"")
    openssl rand -hex 32
    ;;
  base|base64)
    openssl rand -base64 32
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Unknown option: $1 (use 'hex' or 'base')"
    ;;
esac

That allows shortcuts like:

• key or key hex
• key base

Why this is useful

The value is not just speed. It is continuity. A tiny workflow like this removes just enough friction that repetitive utility tasks stop stealing attention from the real work.

This is the same reason shortcuts such as automating string encoding with Alfred become worth keeping around.