> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.namespace.ninja/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Name normalization

> How the SDK normalizes names and labels.

Every name and label you pass to the SDK is normalized per [ENSIP-15](https://docs.ens.domains/ensip/15) before it is hashed, sent to the API, or compared.

Viem's `namehash()` does not normalize. Skip this step and `Alice.eth` and `alice.eth` hash to different nodes, so an availability check can report a registered name as free.

```typescript theme={null}
// These refer to the same name, and both are accepted:
await mintClient.checkName('Alice.example.eth', { minterAddress });
await mintClient.checkName('alice.example.eth', { minterAddress });

// Rejected before any network call, with an explanation:
await mintClient.checkName('аlice.example.eth', { minterAddress });
// MintManagerError [INVALID_NAME]: illegal mixture: Cyrillic + Latin
```

The normalized form is returned to you on every `checkName` result as `name`, alongside its `label` and `parentName` parts.

## Normalize on your own side too

If your app stores, compares, or caches names, use the same helpers the SDK uses so your keys agree with its.

```typescript theme={null}
import {
  normalizeName,
  normalizeLabel,
  normalizeSubname,
} from '@thenamespace/mint-manager';

normalizeName('Alice.ETH'); // 'alice.eth'
normalizeLabel('Alice'); // 'alice'
normalizeSubname('Alice.example.eth'); // 'alice.example.eth'

normalizeLabel('alice.eth'); // throws INVALID_LABEL: a label has no dots
```

| Helper             | Input                                                | Throws          |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- | --------------- |
| `normalizeName`    | A full ENS name, with or without parents             | `INVALID_NAME`  |
| `normalizeLabel`   | A single label, the leftmost segment only            | `INVALID_LABEL` |
| `normalizeSubname` | A full name that must have at least one parent label | `INVALID_NAME`  |

The SDK also exports `MAX_NAME_BYTES` (255) and `MAX_LABEL_BYTES` (63), the length bounds it enforces after normalization.

<Note>
  Passing a full name where a label is expected is the most common mint bug, so `normalizeLabel` rejects any value containing a `.` outright rather than hashing it as one long label.
</Note>

## ENS v2

[ENS v2](https://docs.ens.domains/ensv2/migration) moves name ownership into per-name subregistries, so a v1 registry `owner()` lookup reports a migrated name as unowned. The contracts are not final and nothing is deployed to mainnet yet.

This is why [`checkName`](/developer-guide/sdks/mint-manager/check-name) treats the Namespace API as the primary source of truth and the registry as corroboration: the API can follow the migration without an SDK release. Normalization is unaffected, since ENSIP-15 does not change in v2.