URI scheme

In the field of computer networking, a URI scheme is the top level of the uniform resource identifier (URI) naming structure. All URIs and absolute URI references are formed with a scheme name, followed by a colon character (":"), and the remainder of the URI called (in the outdated RFCs 1738 and 2396, but not the current STD 66/RFC 3986) the scheme-specific part. The syntax and semantics of the scheme-specific part are left largely to the specifications, governing individual schemes, subject to certain constraints such as reserved characters and how to "escape" them.

URI schemes are frequently and incorrectly referred to as "protocols", or specifically as URI protocols or URL protocols, since most were originally designed to be used with a particular protocol, and often have the same name. The http scheme, for instance, is generally used for interacting with web resources using HyperText Transfer Protocol. Today, URIs with that scheme are also used for other purposes, such as RDF resource identifiers and XML namespaces, that are not related to the protocol. Furthermore, some URI schemes are not associated with any specific protocol (e.g. "file") and many others do not use the name of a protocol as their prefix (e.g. "news").

URI schemes should be registered with IANA, although non-registered schemes are used in practice. RFC 4395 describes the procedures for registering new URI schemes.

Generic syntax

Internet standard STD 66 (also RFC 3986) defines the generic syntax to be used in all URI schemes. Every URI is defined as consisting of four parts, as follows:

<scheme name> : <hierarchical part> [ ? <query> ] [ # <fragment> ]

The scheme name consists of a sequence of characters beginning with a letter and followed by any combination of letters, digits, plus ("+"), period ("."), or hyphen ("-"). Although schemes are case-insensitive, the canonical form is lowercase and documents that specify schemes must do so with lowercase letters. It is followed by a colon (":").

The hierarchical part of the URI is intended to hold identification information hierarchical in nature. If this part begins with a double forward slash ("//"), it is followed by an authority part and a path. If the hierarchical path doesn't begin with ("//") it contains only a path.

• The authority part holds an optional user-information part, terminated with "@" (e.g. username:password@); a hostname (e.g., domain name or IP address); and an optional port number, preceded by a colon ":".
• The path part, if present, must begin with a forward slash ("/"). The path is a sequence of segments (conceptually similar to directories, though not necessarily representing them) separated by a forward slash ("/"). Historically, each segment was specified to contain parameters separated from it using a semicolon (";"), though this was rarely used in practice and current specifications allow but no longer specify such semantics.

The query is an optional part, separated by a question mark ("?"), that contains additional identification information that is not hierarchical in nature. The query string syntax is not generically defined, but it is commonly organized as a sequence of <key>=<value> pairs, with the pairs separated by a semicolon or an ampersand. For example:

Semicolon: key1=value1;key2=value2;key3=value3
Ampersand: key1=value1&key2=value2&key3=value3

The fragment is an optional part separated from the front parts by a hash ("#"). It holds additional identifying information that provides direction to a secondary resource, e.g., a section heading (in an article) identified by the remainder of the URI. When the primary resource is an HTML document, the fragment is often an id attribute of a specific element and web browsers will make sure this element is visible.

Examples

The following figure displays two example URIs (foo://username:password@example.com:8042/over/there/index.dtb?type=animal&name=narwhal#nose and urn:example:animal:ferret:nose) and their component parts. (The examples are derived from RFC 3986 — STD 66, chapter 3).

  foo://username:password@example.com:8042/over/there/index.dtb?type=animal&name=narwhal#nose
  \_/   \_______________/ \_________/ \__/            \___/ \_/ \______________________/ \__/
   |           |               |       |                |    |            |                |
   |       userinfo         hostname  port              |    |          query          fragment
   |    \________________________________/\_____________|____|/ \__/        \__/
   |                    |                          |    |    |    |          |
   |                    |                          |    |    |    |          |
scheme              authority                    path   |    |    interpretable as keys
 name   \_______________________________________________|____|/       \____/     \_____/
   |                         |                          |    |          |           |
   |                 hierarchical part                  |    |    interpretable as values
   |                                                    |    |
   |            path               interpretable as filename |
   |   ___________|____________                              |
  / \ /                        \                             |
  urn:example:animal:ferret:nose               interpretable as extension

                path
         _________|________
 scheme /                  \
  name  userinfo  hostname       query
  _|__   ___|__   ____|____   _____|_____
 /    \ /      \ /         \ /           \
 mailto:username@example.com?subject=Topic

Official IANA-registered schemes

The official URI schemes registered with the IANA are as follows (note that "IETF Draft" in no way is a finalized specification and must not be treated so; refer to Section 2.2 of RFC 2026 for more details):

Scheme	Purpose	Defined by	General format	Notes
aaa aaas	Diameter Protocol	RFC 3588 RFC 6733	aaa[s]://<host>[:<port>][;transport=<transport>][;protocol=<protocol>] example: aaa://host.example.com:1813;transport=udp;protocol=radius
about	Displaying product information and internal information	RFC 6694	See about URI scheme for more details.	Widely used by web browsers, sometimes even providing interactive resources. The Opera web browser forwards to their opera: scheme instead.
acap	Application Configuration Access Protocol	RFC 2244	acap://[<user>[;AUTH=<type>]@]<host>[:<port>]/<entry>	URL scheme used within the ACAP protocol for the "subdataset" attribute, referrals and inheritance
adiumxtra	Direct installation of Adium Xtras (plugins).	IANA registration template The Adium Team	adiumxtra://www.adiumxtras.com/download/0000	0000 refers to a specific Xtra
afp	Accessing Apple Filing Protocol shares	IANA registration template IETF Draft	over TCP/IP: afp://[<user>@]<host>[:<port>][/[<path>]] over AppleTalk: afp:/at/[<user>@]<host>[:<zone>][/]
aim	Controlling AOL Instant Messenger.	IANA registration template AOL	aim:<function>?<parameters>	Functions include goim, addbuddy, and buddyicon.
apt	Experimental method of installing software using APT.	IANA registration template	apt:<package name>	Commonly found on websites which contain Debian software repositories.
attachment	Attaching resources to MHTML pages	IANA registration template	attachment:/<resource number>/<filename>	Opera-specific
aw	Link to an Active Worlds world	IANA registration template Activeworlds Inc.	aw://<worldserver host>:<worldserver port>/<worldname>	Mostly found in HTTP referers when users open a website from within an Active Worlds world.
beshare	Open a search query on a BeShare server	IANA registration template BeShare source code	beshare://<servername>/<query>	Mostly used internally, with variants.
bitcoin	Send money to a Bitcoin address	IANA registration template Bitcoin URI Scheme	bitcoin:<address>[?[amount=<size>][&][label=<label>][&][message=<message>]]
bolo	Join an existing bolo game.	IANA registration template	bolo://<hostname>/	Mostly passed via IRC or via tracker servers.
callto	Launching Skype call (+And in Hungary the KLIP Software call too) (see also skype:)	IANA registration template old version of IETF Draft	callto:<screenname> or callto:<phonenumber> [1]	Introduced with Microsoft NetMeeting. Works with current version of Skype with Internet Explorer, Opera and Safari
cap	Calendar access protocol	RFC 4324	generic syntax	URL scheme used to designate both calendar stores and calendars accessible using the CAP protocol
chrome	Specifies user interfaces built using XUL in Mozilla-based browsers.	IANA registration template Mozilla	chrome://<package>/<section>/<path> (Where <section> is either "content", "skin" or "locale")	Works only in Mozilla-based browsers such as Firefox, SeaMonkey and Netscape. Not related to the Google Chrome browser.
chrome	Used for the management of Google Chrome's setting by its user. In difference from browsers appeared before Google Chrome, its management setting appears as web-pages and not as dialog boxes.	IANA registration template Google	chrome://<settings>/<path>/[<specificSetting>]	Works only in Google Chrome.
chrome-extension	Management of setting of extensions which have been installed.	IANA registration template Google	chrome-extension://<extensionID>/<pageName>.html (Where <extensionID> is the ID given to the extension by "Chrome Web Store" and <pageName> is the location of an HTML page)	Works only in Google Chrome.
cid	Referencing individual parts of an SMTP/MIME message	RFC 2111 RFC 2392	cid:<content-id>	e.g. referencing an attached image within a formatted e-mail. (See also mid:)
content	Accessing an Android content provider.	IANA registration template Open Handset Alliance	content://provider/<path>	Performs a query on an Android Content Provider
crid	TV-Anytime Content Reference Identifier	RFC 4078	crid://<host>/<data>	Allow references to scheduled publications of broadcast media content.
cvs	Provides a link to a Concurrent Versions System (CVS) Repository	IANA registration template Concurrent Versions System	cvs://<method:logindetails>@<repository>/<modulepath>;[date=date to retrieve | tag=tag to retrieve]
data	Inclusion of small data items inline	RFC 2397	data:<mediatype>[;base64],<data>
dav	HTTP Extensions for Distributed Authoring (WebDAV)	RFC 2518 RFC 4918	dav:	Used for internal identifiers only; WebDAV itself addresses resources using the http: and https: schemes. [2]
dict	Dictionary service protocol	RFC 2229	dict://<user>;<auth>@<host>:<port>/d:<word>:<database>:<n> dict://<user>;<auth>@<host>:<port>/m:<word>:<database>:<strat>:<n>	refer to definitions or word lists available using the DICT protocol
dns	Domain Name System	RFC 4501	dns:[//<host>[:<port>]/]<dnsname>[?<dnsquery>] examples: dns:example?TYPE=A;CLASS=IN dns://192.168.1.1/ftp.example.org?type=A	designates a DNS resource record set, referenced by domain name, class, type, and, optionally, the authority
ed2k	Resources available using the eDonkey2000 network	IANA registration template eDonkey2000	ed2k://|file|<filename>|<size of file>|<hash of file>|/ or ed2k://|server|<host>|<port>|/	Links to servers are also possible, as are additional parameters. Official documentation from eDonkey2000 website at the Wayback Machine
facetime	FaceTime is a video conferencing software developed by Apple for iPhone 4, the fourth generation iPod Touch, and computers running Mac OS X.	IANA registration template Apple Inc.	facetime://<address>|<MSISDN>|<mobile number> example: facetime://+19995551234	Apple has not published documentation on this protocol yet.
fax	Used for telefacsimile numbers	RFC 2806 RFC 3966	fax:<phonenumber>	Deprecated in RFC 3966 in favour of tel:. Listed as "historical"
feed	web feed subscription	IANA registration template	feed:<absolute_uri> or feed://<hierarchical part> examples: feed://example.com/rss.xml feed:https://example.com/rss.xml	See Feed URI scheme for a detailed overview of common implementations, supported software, and critics.
file	Addressing files on local or network file systems	RFC 1738 RFC 3986	file://[host]/path or (RFC 3986) file:[//host]/path	Since this usually used for local files the host from RFC 1738 is often empty leading to a starting triple /. RFC 3986 allows an absolute path with no host part.
finger	Querying user information using the Finger protocol	IANA registration template IETF Draft	finger://host[:port][/<request>]
fish	Accessing another computer's files using the SSH protocol	IANA registration template fish KDE kioslave	fish://[<username>[:<password>]@]<hostname>[:<port>]	See Files transferred over shell protocol for details about the protocol.
ftp	FTP resources	RFC 1738 IETF Draft Old IETF Draft	generic syntax
geo	A Uniform Resource Identifier for Geographic Locations	RFC 5870	geo:<lat>,<lon>[,<alt>][;u=<uncertainty>] (for WGS-84)	Other coordinate reference systems (including those for non-terrestrial globes, such as The Moon and Mars) will be supported, once registered.
gg	Starting chat with Gadu-Gadu user	IANA registration template Gadu-Gadu	gg:<userid>
git	Provides a link to a GIT repository	IANA registration template Git	Github example: git://github.com/user/project-name.git
gizmoproject	Gizmo5 calling link.	IANA registration template	gizmoproject://call?id=<gizmo_id>	May use sip:// instead of gizmoproject:// in recent versions of Gizmo5.
go	Common Name Resolution Protocol	RFC 3368	go://[<host>]?[<common-name>]*[;<attribute>=[<type>,]<value>] or go:<common-name>*[;<attribute>=[<type>,]<value>]
gopher	Used with Gopher protocol	RFC 4266	gopher://<host>:<port>/<item type><path>
gtalk	Start a chat with a Google Talk user	IANA registration template Google Talk	gtalk:chat?jid=example@gmail.com	See Google Talk, XMPP, and http://juberti.blogspot.com/2006/11/gtalk-uri.html for more information
h323	Used with H.323 multimedia communications	RFC 3508	h323:[<user>@]<host>[:<port>][;<parameters>]
hcp	Displaying a help page on Microsoft Windows Help and Support Center.	IANA registration template Microsoft	hcp://system/<File>.htm (Where <File> is the file to load)	Works only on Windows XP. Later replaced by ms-help:.
http	HTTP resources	RFC 1738 RFC 2616 (makes RFC 2068 obsolete)	generic syntax
https	HTTP connections secured using SSL/TLS	RFC 2817	generic syntax
iax	Inter-Asterisk eXchange protocol version 2	RFC 5456	iax:[<username>@]<host>[:<port>][/<number>[?<context>]] examples iax:[2001:db8::1]:4569/alice?friends iax:johnQ@example.com/12022561414
icap	Internet Content Adaptation Protocol	RFC 3507
im	Instant messaging protocol	RFC 3860	im:<username>@<host>	Works as xmpp: URI for single user chat sessions.
imap	Accessing e-mail resources through IMAP	RFC 2192 RFC 5092	imap://[<user>[;AUTH=<type>]@]<host>[:<port>]/<command>
info	Information Assets with Identifiers in Public Namespaces	RFC 4452
ipp	Internet Printing Protocol	RFC 3510
irc	Connecting to an Internet Relay Chat server to join a channel.	IANA registration template IETF Draft Old IETF Draft	irc://<host>[:<port>]/[<channel>[?<password>]]	Assuming the client knows a server associated with the name, "host" may optionally be an IRC network name.
irc6	IPv6 equivalent of irc	IANA registration template	irc6://<host>[:<port>]/[<channel>[?<password>]]	See irc
ircs	Secure equivalent of irc	IANA registration template IETF Draft	ircs://<host>[:<port>]/[<channel>[?<password>]]	See irc
iris iris.beep iris.xpc iris.xpcs iris.lws	Internet Registry Information Service	RFC 3981 RFC 3983 RFC 4992 RFC 4992 RFC 4993
itms	Used for connecting to the iTunes Music Store	IANA registration template Apple Inc	itms:
jar	Compressed archive member	IANA registration template Java API	jar:<url>!/[<entry>]	Works for any ZIP based file.
keyparc	Keyparc encrypt/decrypt resource.	IANA registration template Bloombase	keyparc://encrypt/<username>/<uri> or keyparc://decrypt/<username>/<uri>
lastfm	Connecting to a radio stream from Last.fm.	IANA registration template Last.fm	lastfm://<radio_stream> or lastfm://globaltags/<genre> or lastfm://user/<username>/<stuff>
ldap	LDAP directory request	RFC 2255 RFC 4516	ldap://[<host>[:<port>]][/<dn> [?[<attributes>][?[<scope>][?[<filter>][?<extensions>]]]]] example: ldap://ldap1.example.net:6666/o=University%20of%20Michigan, c=US??sub?(cn=Babs%20Jensen)
ldaps	Secure equivalent of ldap	IANA registration template Old version of IETF Draft	ldaps://[<host>[:<port>]][/<dn> [?[<attributes>][?[<scope>][?[<filter>][?<extensions>]]]]]	Not an IETF standard, but commonly used in applications.
magnet	"magnet links"	IANA registration template Magnet-URI Project	magnet:?xt=urn:sha1:<hash of file>&dn=<display name> (other parameters are also possible)	Used by various peer-to-peer clients, usually providing the hash of a file to be located on the network.
mailto	SMTP e-mail addresses and default content	RFC 6068	mailto:<address>[?<header1>=<value1>[&<header2>=<value2>]] example: mailto:jsmith@example.com?subject=A%20Test&body=My%20idea%20is%3A%20%0A	Headers are optional, but often include subject=; body= can be used to pre-fill the body of the message.
maps	"map links"	IANA registration template	maps:q=<physical location>	Some mobile web browsers will launch a dedicated mapping application. See also "geo:" (RFC 5870)
market	Opens Google Play	IANA registration template Android [3]	market://details?id=Package_name or market://search?q=Search_Query or market://search?q=pub:Publisher_Name	Supported by Android devices
message	Direct link to specific email message	IANA registration template Apple Inc [4]	message:<MESSAGE-ID> message://<MESSAGE-ID>	Supported by Mail since OS X 10.5
mid	Referencing SMTP/MIME messages, or parts of messages.	RFC 2111 RFC 2392	mid:<message-id>[/<content-id>]	(See also cid:)
mms	Windows streaming media	IANA registration template Microsoft	mms://<host>:<port>/<path>	Used by Windows Media Player to stream audio and/or video.
modem	modem	RFC 2806 RFC 3966		Deprecated in RFC 3966 in favour of tel:. Listed as "historical"
ms-help	Displaying a help page on Microsoft Windows Help and Support Center. Used by Windows Vista and later.	IANA registration template Microsoft	ms-help://<section>/<path>/<file>.htm (Where <section> is a library of help files – the name of the library begins with "MS.", <path> is the sub-libraries, and <file> is the name of the file)	Works only on Windows Vista and later.
msnim	Adding a contact, or starting a conversation in Windows Live Messenger	IANA registration template Windows Live Messenger	Add a contact to the buddy list msnim:add?contact=nada@example.com Start a conversation with a contact msnim:chat?contact=nada@example.com Start a voice conversation with a contact msnim:voice?contact=nada@example.com Start a video conversation with a contact msnim:video?contact=nada@example.com	Can be invoked from a web page or via a run command or an Internet Explorer browser URL (won't work with Firefox 2.0.0.8). For web pages use this HTML: <a href="chat?contact=nada@example.com">Click to chat!</a>
msrp msrps	Message Session Relay Protocol	RFC 4975
mtqp	Message Tracking Query Protocol	RFC 3887
mumble	Joining a server.	IANA registration template Mumble	mumble://[username[:password]@]<address>[:port]/[channelpath]?version=<serverversion>[&title=<servername>][&url=<serverurl>]	Official documentation from Mumble website
mupdate	Mailbox Update Protocol	RFC 3656
mvn	Access Apache Maven repository artifacts	IANA registration template OPS4J	mvn:org.ops4j.pax.web.bundles/service/0.2.0-SNAPSHOT mvn:http://user:password@repository.ops4j.org/maven2!org.ops4j.pax.web.bundles/service/0.2.0
news	(Usenet) newsgroups and postings	RFC 1738 RFC 5538	news:<newsgroupname> or news:<message-id>	References a particular resource, regardless of location.
nfs	Network File System resources	RFC 2224	generic syntax
nntp	Usenet NNTP	RFC 1738 RFC 5538	nntp://<host>:<port>/<newsgroup-name>/<article-number>	Referencing a specific host is often less useful than referencing the resource generically, as NNTP servers are not always publicly accessible
notes	Open a Lotus Notes document or database	IANA registration template Lotus Notes	notes://<address>	Used by IBM Lotus Notes to refer to documents and databases stored within the Lotus Notes system. When clicked in a browser on a computer with Lotus Notes client installed, Notes will open the document link as if a Notes DocLink were clicked within Notes.
opaquelocktoken	opaquelocktoken	RFC 2518 RFC 4918
palm	Used to designate system services in HP webOS applications	IANA registration template HP webOS	palm:<servicename>[/<method>]]/	Official documentation from HP webOS Services Overview
paparazzi	Used to launch and automatically take a screen shot using the application "Paparazzi!" (Mac only)	IANA registration template Derailer	paparazzi:[<options>]http:[//<host>[:[<port>][<transport>]]/	Official documentation from the Paparazzi! website
platform	Access to Eclipse platform resources.	IANA registration template Eclipse platform scheme documentation	platform:/(resource|plugin|fragment|meta|config|base)/...	Registered with java.net.URL when launching with the org.eclipse.core.filesystem bundle, and heavily leveraged by org.eclipse.emf.common.util.URI.
pop	Accessing mailbox through POP3	RFC 2384	pop://[<user>[;AUTH=<auth>]@]<host>[:<port>]
pres	Used in Common Profile for Presence (CPP) to identify presence	RFC 3859	pres:<address>[?<header1>=<value1>[&<header2>=<value2>]]	Similar to "mailto:"
prospero	Prospero Directory Service	RFC 1738 RFC 4157		Listed as "Historical" by IANA.
proxy	Alter proxy settings in the FoxyProxy application	IANA registration template FoxyProxy	proxy:<option>=<value>[&<option>=<value>[&...]]	Official documentation from FoxyProxy website
psyc	Used to identify or locate a person, group, place or a service and specify its ability to communicate	IANA registration template PSYC	psyc:[//<host>[:[<port>][<transport>]]/[<object-name>][#<channel-name>]	Official documentation from PSYC website
query	Opens a filesystem query	IANA registration template Haiku	query:<queryformula>	Implemented by the url_wrapper application
reload	REsource LOcation And Discovery Protocol	IETF Draft	reload://<destination>@<overlay>/[<specifier>]
res	Used by Internet Explorer to display error pages when the server doesn't have its own customized error pages, or when there is no response from the server (in case which the server wasn't found, like when the server is down or the domain isn't registered or when there is no Internet connection, or in case of a timeout).	IANA registration template Microsoft	res://ieframe.dll/<File> (Where <File> is the file to load)	Works only in Internet Explorer.
resource	Creating mapping for resource protocol aliases generted by the resource instruction. Used by FireFox.	IANA registration template Mozilla	resource://<aliasname>/ (Where <aliasname> is the name of the aliase)	Works only in FireFox.
rmi	Look up a Java object in an RMI registry.	IANA registration template Sun	rmi://<host>[:<port>]/<object-name>	URI scheme understood by JNDI. Can be used to lookup a remote Java object within an RMI registry (typically for the purposes of RMI on that object). Host/port in the URI are of the rmiregistry process, not the remote object.
rsync	rsync	RFC 5781	rsync://<host>[:<port>]/<path>
rtmp	Real Time Messaging Protocol	IANA registration template Adobe Systems	rtmp://<host>/<application>/<media>	URI schema used to connect to Adobe Flash Media Server.
rtsp	Real Time Streaming Protocol	RFC 2326
secondlife	Open the Map floater in Second Life application to teleport the resident to the location.	IANA registration template Linden Lab	secondlife://<region name>/<x position>/<y position>/<z position>	Used by SLurl.com. Knowledge base article.
service		RFC 2609
session	Media Resource Control Protocol	RFC 4463 RFC 6787	session:<content-id> example: session:help@root-level.store
sftp	SFTP file transfers (not be to confused with FTPS (FTP/SSL))	IANA registration template IETF Draft	sftp://[<user>[;fingerprint=<host-key fingerprint>]@]<host>[:<port>]/<path>/<file>
sgn	Social Graph Node Mapper	IANA registration template Google	example: sgn://social-network.example.com/?ident=bob	Official documentation from sgnodemapper project.
shttp	Secure HTTP	RFC 2660		Largely superseded by HTTPS.
sieve	ManageSieve protocol	RFC 5804
sip	Used with Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)	RFC 2543 RFC 3969 RFC 3261	sip:<user>[:<password>]@<host>[:<port>][;<uri-parameters>][?<headers>] examples: sip:alice@atlanta.com?subject=project%20x&priority=urgent sip:+1-212-555-1212:1234@gateway.com;user=phone
sips	Secure equivalent of sip	RFC 3969 RFC 3261	sips:<user>[:<password>]@<host>[:<port>][;<uri-parameters>][?<headers>]
skype	Launching Skype call (see also callto:)	IANA registration template Skype	skype:<username|phonenumber>[?[add|call|chat|sendfile|userinfo]]
smb	Accessing SMB/CIFS shares	IANA registration template IETF Draft	smb://[<user>@]<host>[:<port>][/[<path>]][?<param1>=<value1>[;<param2>=<value2>]] or smb://[<user>@]<workgroup>[:<port>][/] or smb://[[<domain>;]<username>[:<password>]@]<server>[:<port>][/[<share>[/[<path>]]][?[<param>=<value>[<param2>=<value2>[...]]]]] example: smb://workgroup;user:password@server/share/folder/file.txt
sms	Interact with SMS capable devices for composing and sending messages.	RFC 5724	sms:<phone number>?<action> examples: sms:+15105550101?body=hello%20there sms:+15105550101,+15105550102?body=hello%20there	Should be used as a subset to the tel: schema.[citation needed]
snmp	Simple Network Management Protocol	RFC 4088	snmp://[user@]host[:port][/[<context>[;<contextEngineID>]][/<oid>]] examples: snmp://example.com//1.3.6.1.2.1.1.3+ snmp://tester5@example.com:8161/bridge1;800002b804616263
soap.beep soap.beeps		RFC 3288 RFC 4227
soldat	Joining servers	IANA registration template Soldat	soldat://<host>:<port>/[password] example: soldat://127.0.0.1:23073/thatssecret!	Official note in Manual
spotify	Load a track, album, artist, search, or playlist in Spotify	IANA registration template Spotify	spotify:<artist|album|track>:<id> or spotify:search:<text> or spotify:user:<username>:playlist:<id> example: spotify:track:2jCnn1QPQ3E8ExtLe6INsx	Informally specified in Spotify official blog post by CTO Andreas Ehn.
ssh	SSH connections (like telnet:)	IANA registration template IETF Draft	ssh://[<user>[;fingerprint=<host-key fingerprint>]@]<host>[:<port>]
steam	Interact with Steam: install apps, purchase games, run games, etc.	IANA registration template Steam, Valve Corporation	steam:<command line arguments> or steam://<action>/<id, addon, IP, hostname, etc.>	Official documentation from Valve Developer Community website
svn	Provides a link to a Subversion (SVN) source control repository	IANA registration template Subversion	svn[+ssh]://<logindetails>@<repository><:port>/<modulepath>
tag	Tag URI	RFC 4151	tag:<email/domainname>,<date>:<Item>	Represented entities do not necessarily have to be accessible electronically.
teamspeak	Joining a server.	IANA registration template TeamSpeak	teamspeak://<server>[:<port>]/[?<parameter1>=<value1>[&<parameter2>=<value2>]]	Official documentation from TeamSpeak Website
tel	Used for telephone numbers	RFC 5341 RFC 3966 RFC 2806	tel:<phonenumber>
telnet	Used with telnet	RFC 1738 RFC 4248	telnet://<user>:<password>@<host>[:<port>/]
tftp	Trivial File Transfer Protocol	RFC 3617
things	Send a to-do to Things.	IANA registration template Cultured Code	things:add?title=Buy%20milk&notes=Low%20fat&dueDate=2011-12-24	This URI scheme works on Mac OS & iOS, providing Things by Cultured Code is installed.
thismessage	multipart/related relative reference resolution	RFC 2557
tip	Transaction Internet Protocol	RFC 2371
tv	TV Broadcasts	RFC 2838
udp	BitTorrent tracker protocol based on UDP.	IANA registration template BitTorrent	udp://<server>[:<port>]/	Documentation: UDP tracker protocol
udp	MPEG Transport Stream over UDP	IANA registration template MPEG-TS	udp://[<localaddress>@]<destination|multicastgroup>[:<port>]	Supported by FFmpeg, VLC and other common video streaming applications and appliances. Each UDP packet typically contains 1 to 7 188 byte TS packets with no additional headers or footers.
unreal	Joining servers	IANA registration template Unreal	unreal://<server>[:<port>]/	Unreal legacy "protocol"
urn	Uniform Resource Names	RFC 2141	urn:<namespace>:<specificpart>	Commonly used with namespace 'uuid' (see next row below)
ut2004	Joining servers	IANA registration template Unreal Tournament 2004	ut2004://<server>[:<port>][/<map>?<options>]	Documentation from Unreal Developer Network
uuid	Universally unique identifier	RFC 4122	uuid:<specificpart> or urn:uuid:<namespace>:<specificpart>
vemmi	Versatile Multimedia Interface	RFC 2122
ventrilo	Joining a server.	IANA registration template Ventrilo	ventrilo://<server>[:<port>]/[?<parameter1>=<value1>[&<parameter2>=<value2>]]	Official documentation from Ventrilo Website
view-source	Shows a web page as code 'in the raw'.	IANA registration template IETF Draft	view-source:<absolute-URI> where <absolute-URI> is specified in RFC 3986. Example: view-source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URI_scheme	See view-source URI scheme for details.
wais	Used with Wide area information server (WAIS)	RFC 1738 RFC 4156	wais://<host>:<port>/<database>[?<search>] or wais://<host>:<port>/<database>/<wtype>/<wpath>	Listed as "Historical" by IANA.
webcal	Subscribing to calendars in iCalendar format	IANA registration template iCalendar	webcal://<hierarchical part> example: webcal://example.com/calendar.ics	HTTP as a transport protocol is assumed. See Webcal for details.
ws wss	WebSocket protocol	RFC 6455	ws:<hierarchical part>
wtai	Wireless Telephony Application Interface	IANA registration template WAP Forum	wtai://wp/mc/+18165551212	See Application Protocol Wireless Application Environment Specification Version 1.1 for details.
wyciwyg	What You Cache Is What You Get WYCIWYG	IANA registration template Mozilla	wyciwyg://<URI>	See WYCIWYG for details.
xfire	Adding friends and servers, joining servers, changing status text.	IANA registration template Xfire	xfire:<function>[?<parameter1>=<value1>[&<parameter2>=<value2>]]	Official documentation from Xfire website
xmlrpc.beep xmlrpc.beeps		RFC 3529
xmpp	XMPP	RFC 4622 RFC 5122	xmpp:[<user>]@<host>[:<port>]/[<resource>][?<query>]
xri	eXtensible Resource Identifier (XRI)	IANA registration template OASIS XRI Technical Committee	xri://<authority>[/[<path>]][?<query>][#fragment]	Official documentation from OASIS XRI Technical Committee
ymsgr	Sending an instant message to a Yahoo! Contact.	IANA registration template Yahoo! Messenger	ymsgr:sendIM?<screenname>
z39.50r	Z39.50 retrieval	RFC 2056	z39.50r://<host>[:<port>]/<database>?<docid>[;esn=<elementset>][;rs=<recordsyntax>]
z39.50s	Z39.50 session	RFC 2056	z39.50s://<host>[:<port>]/[<database>][?<docid>][;esn=<elementset>][;rs=<recordsyntax>]
Scheme	Purpose	Defined by	General format	Notes

Unofficial but common URI schemes

Scheme	Purpose	Defined by	General format	Notes
coap	Accessing Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) resources.	IETF Draft	coap://<host>[:<port>]/<path>[?<query>]	Identify CoAP resources and provide a means of locating the resource.
doi	Digital object identifier, a digital identifier for any object of intellectual property.	IETF Draft	doi:10.<publisher number>/<suffix> Example: doi:10.1000/182	Used e.g. for most scientific publications. Can be resolved via HTTP (transormed into an URL) by prepending http://dx.doi.org/ or http://hdl.handle.net/ in front.
javascript	Execute JavaScript code	IETF Draft	javascript:<javascript to execute>
jdbc	Connect a database with Java Database Connectivity technology.	Database vendor dependent	jdbc:somejdbcvendor:other_data... jdbc:oracle:oci:@host:port(sid or [/service])?params... jdbc:sqlserver://serverName\instanceName:portNumber;params... jdbc:mysql://host:port/database?params...	Requires a vendor provided connector (jar archive) to be included in the client library.

External links

• Official IANA Registry of URI Schemes
• More information, including many more schemes