def METHOD_NAME(entry: str) -> bool:
  """
  Checks if a string is a valid format for being a circuit identifier.
  :param entry: string to check
  :returns: **True** if the string could be a circuit id, **False** otherwise
  """
  if isinstance(entry, bytes):
    entry = stem.util.str_tools._to_unicode(entry)
  try:
    return bool(CIRC_ID_PATTERN.match(entry))
  except TypeError:
    return False