Pattern · India 🇮🇳

Regex for ABHA address (handle)

Health handle — username@abdm or @sbx or @hdfc, etc.

The ABHA address (handle) regex is ^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-_]{2,}@(abdm|sbx|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+)$ — copy it below, or open it in the explainer for a token-by-token breakdown.

The pattern

^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-_]{2,}@(abdm|sbx|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+)$

Try in explainer → Download cheat sheet ↓

What it matches

alice@abdm
rahul.kumar@sbx
user_123@hdfc
9876543210@abdm

What it doesn't match

@abdm
alice@
alice abdm
alice@123

Notes & gotchas

ABHA addresses look like email — username@suffix — but the suffix identifies the health information user (HIU). @abdm and @sbx (sandbox) are common; private health apps register their own suffixes. Used in consent-based health data sharing.

Code in your language

Use the explainer's Code tab to generate ready-to-paste snippets in JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET, Go, Ruby, and PHP for this pattern.

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Token-by-token breakdown

Every part of the pattern, left to right:

Token	Meaning
`^`	start of string (or line in multiline mode)
`[a-zA-Z0-9.\-_]{2,}`	2 or more times: any of: lowercase letters, uppercase letters, digits, “.”, “-”, “_”
`@`	literal text “@”
`(`	start of a capturing group
`abdm`	literal text “abdm”
`\|`	OR — try the alternative
`sbx`	literal text “sbx”
`\|`	OR — try the alternative
`[a-zA-Z]`	any of: lowercase letters, uppercase letters
`[a-zA-Z0-9]+`	one or more: any of: lowercase letters, uppercase letters, digits
`)`	end of group
`$`	end of string (or line in multiline mode)

About this pattern

India-specific identifiers are governed by various authorities (UIDAI for Aadhaar, Income Tax Dept for PAN, RBI for IFSC, GSTN for GSTIN, etc.). Regex confirms format; for definitive validation, integrate with the issuing authority's verification API.

Quick usage in different languages

This exact pattern — with the correct escaping and idioms for each language:

JavaScript: /^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-_]{2,}@(abdm|sbx|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+)$/.test(value)
Python: re.match(r"^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-_]{2,}@(abdm|sbx|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+)$", value)
Java: Pattern.compile("^[a-zA-Z0-9.\\-_]{2,}@(abdm|sbx|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+)$").matcher(value).matches()
C# / .NET: Regex.IsMatch(value, @"^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-_]{2,}@(abdm|sbx|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+)$")
Go: regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-_]{2,}@(abdm|sbx|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+)$`).MatchString(value)
Ruby: /^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-_]{2,}@(abdm|sbx|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+)$/.match?(value)
PHP: preg_match('~^[a-zA-Z0-9.\-_]{2,}@(abdm|sbx|[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]+)$~', $value)

The explainer’s Code tab regenerates these for any pattern you paste, and the downloadable cheat sheet bundles the breakdown, all seven snippets, and the pitfalls below onto one printable page.

Common pitfalls

Anchored to the whole string. This pattern uses ^ and $, so it requires the entire input to match. To find it inside a longer text, drop the anchors and use the global (g) flag.
ASCII letters only. [a-zA-Z] excludes accented and non-Latin letters (é, ü, ß, ñ, and non-Latin scripts). For international input use Unicode properties like \p{L} with the u flag.
Escape it correctly per language. In Java and JavaScript strings each backslash must be doubled (\\d); in Python, Go, and C# use raw/verbatim strings so the backslashes survive.
Validate beyond format. Matching the format doesn't guarantee the value is real. Confirm the abha address (handle) against a source of truth (database, API, or checksum) where it matters.

Standards & sources

This pattern is based on the following authoritative specification(s) and issuing authorities. Formats can change — always confirm against the primary source.

National Health Authority — Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABHA)

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