Encoding Tools

Proquint

Pronounceable identifiers. Converts between bytes and consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant groups separated by hyphens. Each group encodes 16 bits.

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OUTPUT
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Input Bytes
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Proquint Groups
Hex Representation

How to use this tool

  1. Pick a direction with the Encode or Decode tab at the top of the tool.
  2. In Encode mode, type or paste text into the Input box — its proquint form appears below the OUTPUT divider instantly.
  3. In Decode mode, paste a hyphen-separated proquint string (for example babab-babab) and the tool recovers the original bytes as text.
  4. Watch the Input Bytes, Proquint Groups, and Hex Representation stats update as you type.
  5. Use Copy Output to grab the result, or Clear to reset the input and start over.

Why this tool is helpful

Make opaque IDs human-readable

Turn raw 16-bit values and byte sequences into words you can say, hear, and type without error. Proquint exists precisely to make identifiers pronounceable.

Name machines, files, or objects

Replace unmemorable hex like a7f2 with pronounceable labels such as babab that are far easier to recall, say, and share.

Transcribe IDs over the phone

The consonant-vowel alternation and limited alphabet make proquint strings safe to read aloud and write down without confusing similar characters.

Verify the proquint spec

See exactly how each group maps to 16 bits — the Hex Representation stat shows the bytes behind a group so you can confirm the encoding matches what you expect.

Debug identifiers

Paste a proquint string back in to recover the exact bytes behind it and check what a value really encodes.

Stay private

Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, logged, or sent to a server — safe for sensitive keys and payloads.

FAQ

What is a proquint?

Short for "pronounceable quintuplet," a proquint encodes 16 bits as five alternating letters — consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel, consonant — so binary data becomes words like babab. The scheme was proposed by Daniel Wilkerson to make identifiers readable, spellable, and pronounceable.

How many bits and bytes does each group encode?

Each group encodes 16 bits, or two bytes. The three consonants carry 4 bits each (16 choices) and the two vowels carry 2 bits each (4 choices), for 4 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 4 = 16 bits per group.

Why these particular letters?

The consonants bdfghjklmnprstvz and vowels aiou were chosen to be easy to pronounce and hard to confuse, avoiding letters that look or sound alike. That makes proquint strings safe to say and transcribe.

Is proquint encoding the same as encryption?

No. It's a lossless, fully reversible representation of the same bytes with no secrecy involved. Anyone who knows the alphabet can decode it back.

What happens if my input has an odd number of bytes?

The encoder treats the final byte as the high byte of a pair, so an odd-length input still produces a full 5-letter group rather than being dropped.

Why do I get "(invalid proquint input)" when decoding?

The decoder looks for 5-letter groups separated by spaces or hyphens. If it can't find any group of exactly five characters, there's nothing to decode. Note the alphabet is lowercase — uppercase letters won't map to the right values.

Does my data leave my browser?

Never. All encoding and decoding happens locally in JavaScript. Your input is not sent to, stored on, or logged by any server.