RFC 2396 · DRAFT STANDARD · 1998

Uniform Resource Identifiers : Generic Syntax

Overview

RFC 2396, “Uniform Resource Identifiers : Generic Syntax”, is a Draft Standard document published in August 1998 by T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter. It updates RFC 1738, RFC 1808. It has since been updated by RFC 2732. It has been obsoleted by RFC 3986 — refer to the newer document for the authoritative version. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.

Abstract

This document defines a grammar that is a superset of all valid URI, such that an implementation can parse the common components of a URI reference without knowing the scheme-specific requirements of every possible identifier type. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

Abstract as published in the RFC, via rfc-editor.org.

What “Draft Standard” means

A historical maturity level (retired in 2011) that sat between Proposed Standard and Internet Standard and required multiple interoperable implementations.

Read this RFC

The canonical text of RFC 2396 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.

Relationships to other RFCs
Obsoleted by
RFC 3986
This RFC updates
RFC 1738 RFC 1808
Updated by
RFC 2732
Other RFCs from 1998

Who Is Online

In total there are 64 users online: 0 registered, 57 guests and 7 bots.

Most users ever online was 5,555 on 17 Jul 2026, 3:23 am.

Bots: AhrefsBot Applebot Baiduspider Other Bot Other Spider PetalBot SemrushBot

Users active in the past 15 minutes. Total registered members: 372