Hypertext Transfer Protocol : Semantics and Content
RFC 7231, “Hypertext Transfer Protocol : Semantics and Content”, is a Proposed Standard document published in June 2014 by R. Fielding, J. Reschke. It updates RFC 2817. It obsoletes RFC 2616. It has been obsoleted by RFC 9110 — refer to the newer document for the authoritative version. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.
Abstract
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a stateless \%application- level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypertext information systems. This document defines the semantics of HTTP/1.1 messages, as expressed by request methods, request header fields, response status codes, and response header fields, along with the payload of messages (metadata and body content) and mechanisms for content negotiation.
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 7231 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.
- RFC 7230 Hypertext Transfer Protocol : Message Syntax and Routing
- RFC 7232 Hypertext Transfer Protocol : Conditional Requests
- RFC 7229 Object Identifiers for Test Certificate Policies
- RFC 7233 Hypertext Transfer Protocol : Range Requests
- RFC 7228 Terminology for Constrained-Node Networks
- RFC 7234 Hypertext Transfer Protocol : Caching
- RFC 7227 Guidelines for Creating New DHCPv6 Options
- RFC 7235 Hypertext Transfer Protocol : Authentication