platformid

Platformid is a term used in software engineering to refer to an identifier that denotes a specific platform configuration—typically a combination of hardware architecture, operating system, and runtime environment. It is used by software installers, drivers, and services to tailor behavior, select resources, or enforce licensing and compatibility checks.

A platformid can be numeric, alphanumeric, or a hierarchical string. It may be assigned by the platform vendor, the operating system, or an application's own configuration. In some ecosystems it is exposed as part of a user agent or telemetry data. Platform identifiers may be stable across minor updates or may change with major revisions, depending on policy.

Common purposes include enabling feature flags, selecting optimized binaries or libraries, routing to appropriate service endpoints, and validating compatibility during installation or upgrade. The identifiers are often used in combination with other identifiers such as vendorId, productId, version, and edition to form a full platform profile.

Examples of platformid patterns include generic descriptors such as linux-x86_64, windows-amd64, or android-arm64, as well as vendor-specific codes like companyname-productname-v1.0. In cloud and container environments, platformid may reflect the container host, runtime, and OS.

Because platformid can influence security, licensing, and data collection, it is managed with considerations for privacy and stability. Developers should document platformid semantics and ensure backward compatibility where required.

See also: platform, identifier, environment, architecture, version control.