IPkood

IPkood is an open-source software project that provides a standardized framework for encoding, decoding, and validating IP-related identifiers. The project aims to simplify the representation of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, subnets, and other IP-derived data in compact, human-readable forms while preserving machine-parseability. The core library offers a set of encoders and decoders, a validator, and a command-line interface, along with language bindings for common platforms.

The architecture is modular, with a core, plug-in encoders for different schemes (for example base32 and base58 representations), and formatting utilities that normalize input and produce canonical outputs. It supports both numeric and textual forms of IP data and includes error detection features such as checksums or version indicators to reduce misinterpretation in data interchange.

IPkood originated in the early 2010s as an open project by a community of network engineers and software developers seeking portable IP data representations. Since its first release, it has seen ongoing maintenance, community contributions, and inclusion in some network tooling suites. The project is distributed under an open-source license and welcomes participation through public repositories and issue trackers.

Typical use cases include encoding IP addresses for compact storage in logs or databases, transferring IP identifiers in messaging systems, and standardizing IP-related data fields across heterogeneous networks. See also IP address, CIDR notation, and data encoding schemes.