SubtleCrypto: digest() method
Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.
The digest()
method of the SubtleCrypto
interface generates a digest of the given data. A digest is a short
fixed-length value derived from some variable-length input. Cryptographic digests should
exhibit collision-resistance, meaning that it's hard to come up with two different
inputs that have the same digest value.
It takes as its arguments an identifier for the digest algorithm to use and the data to
digest. It returns a Promise
which will be fulfilled with the digest.
Note that this API does not support streaming input: you must read the entire input into memory before passing it into the digest function.
Syntax
js
digest(algorithm, data)
Parameters
algorithm
-
This may be a string or an object with a single property
name
that is a string. The string names the hash function to use. Supported values are:"SHA-1"
(but don't use this in cryptographic applications)"SHA-256"
"SHA-384"
"SHA-512"
.
data
-
An
ArrayBuffer
, aTypedArray
or aDataView
object containing the data to be digested.
Return value
A Promise
that fulfills with an ArrayBuffer
containing the digest.
Supported algorithms
Digest algorithms, also known as cryptographic hash functions, transform an arbitrarily large block of data into a fixed-size output, usually much shorter than the input. They have a variety of applications in cryptography.
Algorithm | Output length (bits) | Block size (bits) | Specification |
---|---|---|---|
SHA-1 | 160 | 512 | FIPS 180-4, section 6.1 |
SHA-256 | 256 | 512 | FIPS 180-4, section 6.2 |
SHA-384 | 384 | 1024 | FIPS 180-4, section 6.5 |
SHA-512 | 512 | 1024 | FIPS 180-4, section 6.4 |
Warning: SHA-1 is now considered vulnerable and should not be used for cryptographic applications.
Note: If you are looking here for how to create a keyed-hash message authentication code (HMAC), you need to use the SubtleCrypto.sign() instead.
Examples
For more examples of using the digest()
API, see Non-cryptographic uses of SubtleCrypto.
Basic example
This example encodes a message, then calculates its SHA-256 digest and logs the digest length:
js
const text =
"An obscure body in the S-K System, your majesty. The inhabitants refer to it as the planet Earth.";
async function digestMessage(message) {
const encoder = new TextEncoder();
const data = encoder.encode(message);
const hash = await crypto.subtle.digest("SHA-256", data);
return hash;
}
digestMessage(text).then((digestBuffer) =>
console.log(digestBuffer.byteLength)
);
Converting a digest to a hex string
The digest is returned as an ArrayBuffer
, but for comparison and display
digests are often represented as hex strings. This example calculates a digest, then
converts the ArrayBuffer
to a hex string:
js
const text =
"An obscure body in the S-K System, your majesty. The inhabitants refer to it as the planet Earth.";
async function digestMessage(message) {
const msgUint8 = new TextEncoder().encode(message); // encode as (utf-8) Uint8Array
const hashBuffer = await crypto.subtle.digest("SHA-256", msgUint8); // hash the message
const hashArray = Array.from(new Uint8Array(hashBuffer)); // convert buffer to byte array
const hashHex = hashArray
.map((b) => b.toString(16).padStart(2, "0"))
.join(""); // convert bytes to hex string
return hashHex;
}
digestMessage(text).then((digestHex) => console.log(digestHex));
Specifications
Specification |
---|
Web Cryptography API # SubtleCrypto-method-digest |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
- Non-cryptographic uses of SubtleCrypto
- Chromium secure origins specification
- FIPS 180-4 specifies the SHA family of digest algorithms.