bytecodec

Typed JavaScript and TypeScript byte utilities for base64, base64url, hex, Z85, UTF-8 strings, JSON, gzip, concatenation, comparison, and byte-source normalization. The package ships tree-shakeable ESM plus CommonJS entry points and keeps the same API across Node, Bun, Deno, browsers, and edge runtimes.

Compatibility

• Runtimes: Node, Bun, Deno, browsers, and edge runtimes.
• Module formats: ESM by default, with CommonJS exports for require() consumers in Node and Bun.
• Node and Bun runtime behavior: uses Buffer for base64 helpers and node:zlib for gzip.
• Browser and edge gzip support requires CompressionStream and DecompressionStream.
• TypeScript: bundled types.

Goals

• Developer-friendly API for base64, base64url, hex, Z85, UTF-8, JSON, gzip, concat, equality, and byte normalization.
• No runtime dependencies or bundler shims.
• Tree-shakeable ESM by default with CommonJS compatibility and no side effects.
• Returns copies for safety when normalizing inputs.
• Consistent behavior across Node, browsers, and edge runtimes.

Installation

npm install @sovereignbase/bytecodec
# or
pnpm add @sovereignbase/bytecodec
# or
yarn add @sovereignbase/bytecodec
# or
bun add @sovereignbase/bytecodec
# or
deno add jsr:@sovereignbase/bytecodec
# or
vlt install jsr:@sovereignbase/bytecodec

Usage

Bytes wrapper

import { Bytes } from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

// The `Bytes` convenience class wraps the same functions as static methods.
const encoded = Bytes.toBase64String(new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3])) // base64 string

Base64

import { toBase64String, fromBase64String } from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const bytes = new Uint8Array([104, 101, 108, 108, 111])
const encoded = toBase64String(bytes) // string of base64 chars
const decoded = fromBase64String(encoded) // Uint8Array

CommonJS

const { toBase64String, fromBase64String } = require('@sovereignbase/bytecodec')

const encoded = toBase64String([104, 101, 108, 108, 111]) // string of base64 chars
const decoded = fromBase64String(encoded) // Uint8Array

Base64URL

import {
  toBase64UrlString,
  fromBase64UrlString,
} from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const bytes = new Uint8Array([104, 101, 108, 108, 111])
const encoded = toBase64UrlString(bytes) // string of base64url chars
const decoded = fromBase64UrlString(encoded) // Uint8Array

Hex

import { toHex, fromHex } from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const bytes = new Uint8Array([222, 173, 190, 239])
const encoded = toHex(bytes) // "deadbeef"
const decoded = fromHex(encoded) // Uint8Array

Z85

import { toZ85String, fromZ85String } from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const bytes = new Uint8Array([0x86, 0x4f, 0xd2, 0x6f, 0xb5, 0x59, 0xf7, 0x5b])
const encoded = toZ85String(bytes) // "HelloWorld"
const decoded = fromZ85String(encoded) // Uint8Array

Z85 encodes 4 input bytes into 5 output characters, so toZ85String() requires a byte length divisible by 4 and fromZ85String() requires a string length divisible by 5.

UTF-8 strings

import { fromString, toString } from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const textBytes = fromString('caffe and rockets') // Uint8Array
const text = toString(textBytes) // "caffe and rockets"

JSON

import { fromJSON, toJSON } from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const jsonBytes = fromJSON({ ok: true, count: 3 }) // Uint8Array
const obj = toJSON(jsonBytes) // { ok: true, count: 3 }

Compression

import { toCompressed, fromCompressed } from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const compressed = await toCompressed(new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3])) // Uint8Array
const restored = await fromCompressed(compressed) // Uint8Array

Normalization

import {
  toUint8Array,
  toArrayBuffer,
  toBufferSource,
} from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const normalized = toUint8Array([1, 2, 3]) // Uint8Array
const copied = toArrayBuffer(normalized) // ArrayBuffer
const bufferSource = toBufferSource(normalized) // Uint8Array as BufferSource

Accepted byte inputs (ByteSource) are:

• Uint8Array
• ArrayBuffer
• ArrayBufferView
• number[]

Equality

import { equals } from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const isSame = equals(new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3]), new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3])) // true | false

Concatenating

import { concat } from '@sovereignbase/bytecodec'

const joined = concat([new Uint8Array([1, 2]), new Uint8Array([3, 4]), [5, 6]]) // Uint8Array

Runtime behavior

Node

Uses Buffer.from for base64 helpers, TextEncoder and TextDecoder when available with Buffer fallback for UTF-8, and node:zlib for gzip.

Bun

Uses the same API shape as Node. ESM and CommonJS entry points are both exported.

Browsers / Edge runtimes

Uses TextEncoder, TextDecoder, btoa, and atob. Gzip uses CompressionStream and DecompressionStream when available.

Validation & errors

Validation failures throw BytecodecError instances with a code string, for example BASE64URL_INVALID_LENGTH, HEX_INVALID_CHARACTER, Z85_INVALID_BLOCK, BASE64_DECODER_UNAVAILABLE, UTF8_DECODER_UNAVAILABLE, and GZIP_COMPRESSION_UNAVAILABLE. Messages are prefixed with {@sovereignbase/bytecodec}.

Safety / copying semantics

toUint8Array, toArrayBuffer, and toBufferSource always return copies. concat normalizes each input to a fresh Uint8Array before joining.

Tests

npm test covers:

• 68 unit tests
• 6 integration tests
• Node E2E: ESM and CommonJS
• Bun E2E: ESM and CommonJS
• Deno E2E: ESM
• Edge Runtime E2E: ESM
• Browser E2E: Chromium, Firefox, WebKit, mobile-chrome, and mobile-safari
• Coverage gate: 100% statements, branches, functions, and lines

Benchmarks

Latest local npm run bench run on 2026-03-23 with Node v22.14.0 (win32 x64):

Benchmark	Result
base64 encode	1,391,126 ops/s (35.9 ms)
base64 decode	2,089,279 ops/s (23.9 ms)
base64url encode	697,088 ops/s (71.7 ms)
base64url decode	1,095,554 ops/s (45.6 ms)
hex encode	1,053,832 ops/s (47.4 ms)
hex decode	1,027,413 ops/s (48.7 ms)
z85 encode	244,928 ops/s (204.1 ms)
z85 decode	1,596,730 ops/s (31.3 ms)
utf8 encode	1,537,199 ops/s (32.5 ms)
utf8 decode	3,481,143 ops/s (14.4 ms)
json encode	681,747 ops/s (29.3 ms)
json decode	989,746 ops/s (20.2 ms)
concat 3 buffers	846,612 ops/s (59.1 ms)
toUint8Array	9,396,818 ops/s (21.3 ms)
toArrayBuffer	884,096 ops/s (226.2 ms)
toBufferSource	9,279,881 ops/s (21.6 ms)
equals same	3,932,572 ops/s (50.9 ms)
equals diff	4,060,534 ops/s (49.3 ms)
gzip compress	4,126 ops/s (96.9 ms)
gzip decompress	5,550 ops/s (72.1 ms)

Command: npm run bench

Results vary by machine and Node version.

License

Apache-2.0