The WebSocket Protocol
RFC 6455, “The WebSocket Protocol”, is a Proposed Standard document published in December 2011 by I. Fette, A. Melnikov. It has since been updated by RFC 7936, RFC 8307, RFC 8441. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.
Abstract
The WebSocket Protocol enables two-way communication between a client running untrusted code in a controlled environment to a remote host that has opted-in to communications from that code. The security model used for this is the origin-based security model commonly used by web browsers. The protocol consists of an opening handshake followed by basic message framing, layered over TCP. The goal of this technology is to provide a mechanism for browser-based applications that need two-way communication with servers that does not rely on opening multiple HTTP connections (e.g., using XMLHttpRequest or <iframe>s and long polling). [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.
The canonical text of RFC 6455 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.
- RFC 6454 The Web Origin Concept
- RFC 6456 Multi-Segment Pseudowires in Passive Optical Networks
- RFC 6453 A URN Namespace for the Open Grid Forum
- RFC 6457 PCC-PCE Communication and PCE Discovery Requirements for Inter-Layer Traffic Engineering
- RFC 6452 The Unicode Code Points and Internationalized Domain Names for Applications - Unicode 6.0
- RFC 6458 Sockets API Extensions for the Stream Control Transmission Protocol
- RFC 6451 Location-to-Service Translation Protocol Extensions
- RFC 6450 Multicast Ping Protocol