feat(principal): export the base32Encode and base32Decode functions

[q-uint]

Description

ICRC1 account textual representations require both CRC32 (already exposed) and Base32 encoding. This PR exposes the existing internal Base32 implementation, allowing users to display ICRC1 accounts without adding any new dependencies.

Details:

• Exposes the internal Base32 encoder for external use.
• Avoids introducing additional third-party libraries.
• Complements the already-exposed CRC32 functionality needed for ICRC1 account representation.

Motivation

Library users can now generate and display ICRC1 account strings directly, using only @icp-sdk/core/principal.

Checklist:

• My changes follow the guidelines in CONTRIBUTING.md.
• The title of this PR complies with Conventional Commits.
• I have edited the CHANGELOG accordingly.
• I have made corresponding changes to the documentation.

---

@ilbertt 😉

[peterpeterparker]

For what it's worth, the functions encodeBase32 and decodeBase32 are available in @dfinity/utils.

Those are e.g. used in @dfinity/ledger-icrc for encoding and decoding textual representation of ICRC account.

[ilbertt]

@q-uint how often does it happen that your only dependency is @icp-sdk/core when dealing with ICRC? Isn't it the case that most of the projects already have @dfinity/ledger-icrc as dependency, and hence @dfinity/utils?
Can you provide an example of how you would use this fix?

I feel like the principal submodule is not the right place from where to export those utility functions. Who needs those functions shouldn't search for them into the principal submodule in my opinion.

[q-uint]

It seems like this is more of a personal preference. With bindgen, in my opinion, you don’t need all these dependencies, and it’s generally not a good practice, imo, to rely on them unnecessarily.

My current dependency list is:

"dependencies": {
  "@icp-sdk/core": "^4.0.1"
}

I prefer to keep it this way.

---

Feel free to close this.

[q-uint]

I feel like the principal submodule is not the right place from where to export those utility functions.

Why do we expose getCrc32?

[ilbertt]

Why do we expose getCrc32?

That's true, we added it upon request in #1077. So it makes sense to also re-export base32 utils.

Would you like to add a base32.test.ts file with some unit tests? So that we export functions that have some test coverage.

[ilbertt]

@q-uint I've opened #1160 to rename those functions. Let's merge that first

[ilbertt]

@q-uint you can update your branch now

[ilbertt]

@q-uint can you update the changelog as well?

## [Unreleased]

+ - feat(principal): export the `base32Encode` and `base32Decode` functions

## [4.0.5] - 2025-09-30

Review dismissed by automation script.

Review dismissed by automation script.

[ilbertt]

Merged! I'll release 4.1.0 soon.

Thanks a lot for the contribution!

[ilbertt]

@icp-sdk/core@4.1.0 is out with your contribution! Thanks again!