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ObsoletedDRAFT STANDARDIETF stream

RFC 2616: Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1

This RFC has been replaced. Do not implement against it for new work — it was formally obsoleted by RFC 7230, RFC 7231, RFC 7232, RFC 7233, RFC 7234, RFC 7235.

Current document in this lineage: RFC 7616 — HTTP Digest Access Authentication; RFC 7617 — The 'Basic' HTTP Authentication Scheme; RFC 9110 — HTTP Semantics; RFC 9111 — HTTP Caching; RFC 9112 — HTTP/1.1

In plain English — editorial summary, not part of the RFC

RFC 2616 was the long-standing definition of HTTP/1.1 — methods, status codes, headers, caching and persistent connections — and it is the RFC most often cited in older code and documentation. It has been obsoleted: HTTP/1.1 was re-specified in 2014 as RFCs 7230–7235, and again in 2022 as RFCs 9110–9112. Cite the current documents for new work; RFC 2616 remains useful only as a historical reference.

Original abstract from the RFC

HTTP has been in use by the World-Wide Web global information initiative since 1990. This specification defines the protocol referred to as "HTTP/1.1", and is an update to RFC 2068. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

Document record

Document ID
RFC2616
Published
June 1999
Authors
R. Fielding; J. Gettys; J. Mogul; H. Frystyk; L. Masinter; P. Leach; T. Berners-Lee
Status
DRAFT STANDARD
Stream
IETF
Area
app
Pages
176
Also known as
—
Obsoletes:
RFC 2068
Obsoleted by:
RFC 7230, RFC 7231, RFC 7232, RFC 7233, RFC 7234, RFC 7235
Updated by:
RFC 2817, RFC 5785, RFC 6266, RFC 6585

Topics

Standards lineage

This document is one revision in a chain of 21 RFCs, each formally replacing the one before it.

  1. RFC 2068 (1997)
  2. RFC 2069 (1997)
  3. RFC 2145 (1997)
  4. RFC 2616 (1999)
  5. RFC 2617 (1999)
  6. RFC 2818 (2000)
  7. RFC 7230 (2014)
  8. RFC 7231 (2014)
  9. RFC 7232 (2014)
  10. RFC 7233 (2014)
  11. RFC 7234 (2014)
  12. RFC 7235 (2014)
  13. RFC 7238 (2014)
  14. RFC 7538 (2015)
  15. RFC 7615 (2015)
  16. RFC 7616 (2015)
  17. RFC 7617 (2015)
  18. RFC 7694 (2015)
  19. RFC 9110 (2022)
  20. RFC 9111 (2022)
  21. RFC 9112 (2022) ✓

Read the full history of HTTP/1.1 →

Referenced by

10 later RFCs formally update or obsolete part of this document.

Related documents

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About this page

The document record above — title, authors, date, status, stream, area, relationships, DOI and errata — is imported verbatim from the public RFC Editor index. The “in plain English” section is editorial: written by The metasystema editorial team, not part of the RFC. Where the two differ, the RFC text governs.

Last checked against the RFC Editor index on . RFCs are never revised after publication; changes are issued as new documents.

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canonical URL: /rfc/2616-hypertext-transfer-protocol-http-1-1