The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a stateless application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypertext information systems. This document describes the overall architecture of HTTP, establishes common terminology, and defines aspects of the protocol that are shared by all versions. In this definition are core protocol elements, extensibility mechanisms, and the "http" and "https" Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) schemes. This document updates RFC 3864 and obsoletes RFCs 2818, 7231, 7232, 7233, 7235, 7538, 7615, 7694, and portions of 7230.
HTTP: The Protocol Every Web Developer Must Know—Part 1
Learning the fundamentals of the World Wide Web is crucial, especially if you are planning to build web apps. And HTTP is at the heart of any web application you could build. HTTP stands for...
The Web Needs a Context Layer Built on a Shared Protocol
Context is a new, developing layer of the internet, write Mallory Knodel, Evan Friedman and Brad Friedman.
Protocol Reader - Summer of Protocols
The Protocol Reader The Protocol Reader is an 358-page book (currently only available as an epub) comprising 26 foundational essays by 31 authors from the Summer of Protocols program, carefully edited and sequenced to introduce you to the fascinating new discipline of Protocol Studies. It can serve as
Some notes about HTTP/3
HTTP/3 is going to be standardized. As an old protocol guy, I thought I'd write up some comments. Google (pbuh) has both the most popular ...
Authenticated Transfer: Architecture Overview
Authenticated Transfer (AT) is a collection of protocol components that together provide a generic framework for interoperable social web applications, using global aggregations of interlinked, self-certifying data records. This informational document provides an overview of the entire system, as implemented in late 2025. Some of those components may be in scope as work for the IETF, while other components may not. Many components are general-purpose and may find use outside of the context of AT. The intent of this document is to provide context for how all the components can fit together for certain use cases.
Stanford Seminar - IPFS and the Permanent Web
User-Agent header - HTTP | MDN
The HTTP User-Agent request header is a characteristic string that lets servers and network peers identify the application, operating system, vendor, and/or version of the requesting user agent.
The 2026-07-28 Specification
The 2026-07-28 Model Context Protocol specification is out, bringing a stateless protocol core, Multi Round-Trip Requests, header-based routing, cacheable list results, authorization hardening, a formal extensions framework, and updated Tier 1 SDKs.
AT Protocol Primer
What is the AT Protocol and why does it matter in the grand scheme of the web
How to Read an RFC
Requests for Comments (RFCs) are how we specify many protocols on the Internet. These documents are alternatively treated as holy texts by developers who parse them for hidden meanings, then shunned as irrelevant because they can’t be understood. This often leads to frustration and – more significantly – interoperability and security issues. However, with some insight into how they’re constructed and published, it’s a bit easier to understand what you’re looking at.
Reorganizing Website Architecture for HTTP/2 and Beyond
This document discusses reorganizing website architecture for HTTP/2 and beyond. It summarizes some issues with HTTP/2 including errors in prioritization where some browsers fail to specify resource priority properly. It also discusses the problem of TCP head-of-line blocking where pending data in TCP buffers can delay higher priority resources. The document proposes solutions to these issues such as prioritizing resources on the server-side and writing only what can be sent immediately to avoid buffer blocking. It also examines the mixed success of HTTP/2 push and argues the server should not push already cached resources. - Download as a PDF or view online for free
WWW
Even though HTTP is a simple protocol and the basic HTML is a simple format, the current standards are bloated and only a few web browser engines are able to support them at the commonly required level.
Protocol Handler Registration via Browser Extensions – make everything intensely
Custom URL schemes have traditionally served as an integration bridge between the browser and external capabilities. Schemes such as mailto: and tel: allow navigation to trigger actions beyond ordinary HTTP resource retrieval. The HTML Standard formalizes this mechanism through the Custom Scheme Handlers API, which enables websites to register themselves as handlers for specific URL schemes.
HTTP gave us hypertext, atproto gives us "social hypertext"
Ronen Tamari
Needless to say, this is all very resonant with our work at @cosmik.network @semble.so - we’re passionate about developing hypertext systems that scaffold sensemaking and transformative learning journeys for individual and collectives. Excited to work on bridging theory and practice!
Paul's article prompted a long one from me: What is the purpose of protocols? connectedplaces.online/the-purpose-of-protocols/
The Purpose of Protocols
connectedplaces.online
P(aul) Frazee
New blogpost about atproto It's not federation, it's not a p2p mesh. It's a secret third thing: practical. pfrazee.com/blog/practical-decentralizati…
