RFC 5988 · PROPOSED STANDARD · 2010
SUN · 14 JUN 2026
Web Linking
Overview
RFC 5988, “Web Linking”, is a Proposed Standard document published in October 2010 by M. Nottingham. It updates RFC 4287. It has been obsoleted by RFC 8288 — refer to the newer document for the authoritative version. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.
Abstract
This document specifies relation types for Web links, and defines a registry for them. It also defines the use of such links in HTTP headers with the Link header field. [STANDARDS-TRACK]
What “Proposed Standard” means
An entry-level standards-track specification: stable, peer-reviewed and a solid basis for implementation, though it may still evolve before becoming an Internet Standard.
Read this RFC
The canonical text of RFC 5988 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.
Relationships to other RFCs
Other RFCs from 2010
- RFC 5987 Character Set and Language Encoding for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Header Field Parameters
- RFC 5989 A SIP Event Package for Subscribing to Changes to an HTTP Resource
- RFC 5986 Discovering the Local Location Information Server
- RFC 5990 Use of the RSA-KEM Key Transport Algorithm in the Cryptographic Message Syntax
- RFC 5985 HTTP-Enabled Location Delivery
- RFC 5991 Teredo Security Updates
- RFC 5992 Internationalized Domain Names Registration and Administration Guidelines for European Languages Using Cyrillic
- RFC 5983 Mailing Lists and Internationalized Email Addresses