URL Standard
Browsers parse URLs per this standard, not raw RFC 3986. Critical for client-side routing, form encoding, and cross-origin behavior.
What It Defines
WHATWG living standard defining URL parsing behavior as implemented by browsers and modern runtimes. Extends RFC 3986 with practical parsing rules, the URL API, and URLSearchParams.
Canonical (Normative)
Convenient (Practical)
Maintains the living standards for the web platform: HTML, DOM, Fetch, URL, Streams, and more. These are continuously updated living documents, not versioned snapshots.
Related Specs
Every URL in your app, API, auth redirect, webhook, or deep link is built on this grammar. Essential for routing, redirects, and OAuth callback validation.
The spec behind every HTML page, form, and browser API. The canonical reference for how browsers actually parse and process HTML.