RFC 7540 · PROPOSED STANDARD · 2015

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Version 2

Overview

RFC 7540, “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Version 2”, is a Proposed Standard document published in May 2015 by M. Belshe, R. Peon, M. Thomson. It has since been updated by RFC 8740. It has been obsoleted by RFC 9113 — refer to the newer document for the authoritative version. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.

Abstract

This specification describes an optimized expression of the semantics of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), referred to as HTTP version 2 (HTTP/2). HTTP/2 enables a more efficient use of network resources and a reduced perception of latency by introducing header field compression and allowing multiple concurrent exchanges on the same connection. It also introduces unsolicited push of representations from servers to clients.

This specification is an alternative to, but does not obsolete, the HTTP/1.1 message syntax. HTTP's existing semantics remain unchanged.

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

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 7540 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.

Relationships to other RFCs
Obsoleted by
RFC 9113
Updated by
RFC 8740
Other RFCs from 2015

Who Is Online

In total there are 31 users online: 0 registered, 24 guests and 7 bots.

Most users ever online was 1,226 on 13 Jun 2026, 3:56 am.

Bots: AhrefsBot Applebot Bingbot Facebook Other Bot SemrushBot Sogou

Users active in the past 15 minutes. Total registered members: 354