The WebSocket Protocol
Real-time features — chat, live dashboards, collaborative editing, notifications, trading UIs — run on WebSockets. Every serious app eventually needs them.
What It Defines
Defines the WebSocket protocol: HTTP upgrade handshake, framing (text/binary messages, ping/pong, close), masking, and the ws:// URI scheme. Enables full-duplex browser/server communication.
Canonical (Normative)
Convenient (Practical)
The canonical publication point for finalized RFCs. If a protocol is standardized as an RFC, the RFC Editor text is the normative final reference. Published by the IETF, IRTF, IAB, and independent stream.
Related Specs
This is the core contract of every web API, browser request, and server response. You can't design or debug HTTP without knowing this.
Every HTTPS connection, SMTP/IMAP over TLS, OAuth token exchange, and API call uses TLS. It is the foundational security layer.
For gaming, live collaboration, and real-time data where WebSocket's TCP head-of-line blocking matters. Runs over QUIC so multiple streams don't block each other.