Hypertext Transfer Protocol version 2.0
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HTTPbis Working Group
M. Belshe
Internet-Draft
Twist
Intended status: Standards Track
R. Peon
Expires: December 26, 2013
Google, Inc
M. Thomson, Editor
Microsoft
A. Melnikov, Editor
Isode Ltd
June 24, 2013
Hypertext Transfer Protocol version 2.0
draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-latest
Abstract
This specification describes an optimized expression of the syntax of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The HTTP/2.0
encapsulation enables more efficient use of network resources and reduced perception of latency by allowing header field compression
and multiple concurrent messages on the same connection. It also introduces unsolicited push of representations from servers
to clients.
This document is an alternative to, but does not obsolete the HTTP/1.1 message format or protocol. HTTP's existing semantics
remain unchanged.
Editorial Note (To be removed by RFC Editor)
Discussion of this draft takes place on the HTTPBIS working group mailing list (ietf-http-wg@w3.org), which is archived at <
>.
Working Group information and related documents can be found at <
> (Wiki) and <
> (source code and issues tracker).
The changes in this draft are summarized in
Appendix A.1
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-Drafts is at
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other
documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as “work
in progress”.
This Internet-Draft will expire on December 26, 2013.
Copyright Notice
Copyright © 2013 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (
) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License
text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified
BSD License.
Table of Contents
1.
Introduction
1.1
Document Organization
1.2
Conventions and Terminology
2.
Starting HTTP/2.0
2.1
HTTP/2.0 Version Identification
2.2
Starting HTTP/2.0 for "http:" URIs
2.3
Starting HTTP/2.0 for "https:" URIs
2.4
Starting HTTP/2.0 with Prior Knowledge
3.
HTTP/2.0 Framing Layer
3.1
Connection
3.2
Connection Header
3.3
Framing
3.3.1
Frame Header
3.3.2
Frame Size
3.4
Streams
3.4.1
Stream Creation
3.4.2
Stream priority
3.4.3
Stream half-close
3.4.4
Stream close
3.5
Error Handling
3.5.1
Connection Error Handling
3.5.2
Stream Error Handling
3.5.3
Error Codes
3.6
Stream Flow Control
3.6.1
Flow Control Principles
3.6.2
Appropriate Use of Flow Control
3.7
Header Blocks
3.8
Frame Types
3.8.1
DATA Frames
3.8.2
HEADERS
3.8.3
PRIORITY
3.8.4
RST_STREAM
3.8.5
SETTINGS
3.8.5.1
Setting Format
3.8.5.2
Defined Settings
3.8.6
PUSH_PROMISE
3.8.7
PING
3.8.8
GOAWAY
3.8.9
WINDOW_UPDATE
3.8.9.1
The Flow Control Window
3.8.9.2
Initial Flow Control Window Size
3.8.9.3
Reducing the Stream Window Size
3.8.9.4
Ending Flow Control
4.
HTTP Message Exchanges
4.1
Connection Management
4.2
Frame Size Limits for HTTP
4.3
HTTP Request/Response
4.3.1
HTTP Header Fields and HTTP/2.0 Headers
4.3.2
Request
4.3.3
Response
4.3.4
Automatically Retrying Requests in HTTP/2.0
4.4
Server Push Transactions
4.4.1
Server implementation
4.4.2
Client implementation
5.
Design Rationale and Notes
5.1
Separation of Framing Layer and Application Layer
5.2
Error handling - Framing Layer
5.3
One Connection per Domain
5.4
Fixed vs Variable Length Fields
5.5
Server Push
6.
Security Considerations
6.1
Server Authority and Same-Origin
6.2
Cross-Protocol Attacks
6.3
Cacheability of Pushed Resources
7.
Privacy Considerations
7.1
Long Lived Connections
8.
IANA Considerations
8.1
Frame Type Registry
8.2
Error Code Registry
8.3
Settings Registry
8.4
New HTTP Header Fields Registry
8.4.1
HTTP2-Settings
9.
Acknowledgements
10.
References
10.1
Normative References
10.2
Informative References
Authors' Addresses
A.
Change Log (to be removed by RFC Editor before publication)
A.1
Since draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-03
A.2
Since draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-02
A.3
Since draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-01
A.4
Since draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-00
A.5
Since draft-mbelshe-httpbis-spdy-00
Figures
Figure 1: Frame Header
Figure 2: HEADERS Frame Payload
Figure 3: PRIORITY Frame Payload
Figure 4: RST_STREAM Frame Payload
Figure 5: Setting Format
Figure 6: PUSH_PROMISE Payload Format
Figure 7: GOAWAY Payload Format
Figure 8: WINDOW_UPDATE Payload Format
1.
Introduction
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a wildly successful protocol. However, the HTTP/1.1 message encapsulation (
[HTTP-p1]
Section 3
) is optimized for implementation simplicity and accessibility, not application performance. As such it has several characteristics
that have a negative overall effect on application performance.
In particular, HTTP/1.0 only allows one request to be delivered at a time on a given connection. HTTP/1.1 pipelining only
partially addressed request concurrency, and is not widely deployed. Therefore, clients that need to make many requests (as
is common on the Web) typically use multiple connections to a server in order to reduce perceived latency.
Furthermore, HTTP/1.1 header fields are often repetitive and verbose, which, in addition to generating more or larger network
packets, can cause the small initial TCP congestion window to quickly fill. This can result in excessive latency when multiple
requests are made on a single new TCP connection.
This document addresses these issues by defining an optimized mapping of HTTP's semantics to an underlying connection. Specifically,
it allows interleaving of request and response messages on the same connection and uses an efficient coding for HTTP header
fields. It also allows prioritization of requests, letting more important requests complete more quickly, further improving
perceived performance.
The resulting protocol is designed to have be more friendly to the network, because fewer TCP connections can be used, in
comparison to HTTP/1.x. This means less competition with other flows, and longer-lived connections, which in turn leads to
better utilization of available network capacity.
Finally, this encapsulation also enables more scalable processing of messages through use of binary message framing.
1.1
Document Organization
The HTTP/2.0 Specification is split into three parts: starting HTTP/2.0 (
Section 2
), which covers how a HTTP/2.0 connection is initiated; a framing layer (
Section 3
), which multiplexes a single TCP connection into independent frames of various types; and an HTTP layer (
Section 4
), which specifies the mechanism for expressing HTTP interactions using the framing layer. While some of the framing layer
concepts are isolated from HTTP, building a generic framing layer has not been a goal. The framing layer is tailored to the
needs of the HTTP protocol and server push.
1.2
Conventions and Terminology
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL"
in this document are to be interpreted as described in
RFC 2119
[RFC2119]
All numeric values are in network byte order. Values are unsigned unless otherwise indicated. Literal values are provided
in decimal or hexadecimal as appropriate. Hexadecimal literals are prefixed with
0x
to distinguish them from decimal literals.
The following terms are used:
base64url encoding:
The URL- and filename-safe Base64 encoding described in
Section 5
of
[RFC4648]
, with the (non URL- safe) '=' padding characters omitted, as permitted by
Section 3.2
of
[RFC4648]
client:
The endpoint initiating the HTTP connection.
connection:
A transport-level connection between two endpoints.
endpoint:
Either the client or server of the connection.
frame:
The smallest unit of communication within an HTTP/2.0 connection, consisting of a header and a variable-length sequence of
bytes structured according to the frame type.
peer:
An endpoint. When discussing a particular endpoint, "peer" refers to the endpoint that is remote to the primary subject of
discussion.
receiver:
An endpoint that is receiving frames.
sender:
An endpoint that is transmitting frames.
server:
The endpoint which did not initiate the HTTP connection.
connection error:
An error on the HTTP/2.0 connection.
stream:
A bi-directional flow of frames across a virtual channel within the HTTP/2.0 connection.
stream error:
An error on the individual HTTP/2.0 stream.
2.
Starting HTTP/2.0
HTTP/2.0 uses the same "http:" and "https:" URI schemes used by HTTP/1.1. HTTP/2.0 shares the same default port numbers: 80
for "http:" URIs and 443 for "https:" URIs. As a result, implementations processing requests for target resource URIs like
or
are required to first discover whether the upstream server (the immediate peer to which the client wishes to establish a connection)
supports HTTP/2.0.
The means by which support for HTTP/2.0 is determined is different for "http" and "https" URIs. Discovery for "https:" URIs
is described in
Section 2.3
. Discovery for "http" URIs is described in
Section 2.2
2.1
HTTP/2.0 Version Identification
The protocol defined in this document is identified using the string "HTTP/2.0". This identification is used in the HTTP/1.1
Upgrade header field, in the
TLS application layer protocol negotiation extension
[TLSALPN]
field, and other places where protocol identification is required.
Negotiating "HTTP/2.0" implies the use of the transport, security, framing and message semantics described in this document.
rfc.comment.1
: Editor's Note: please remove the following text prior to the publication of a final version of this document.]
Only implementations of the final, published RFC can identify themselves as "HTTP/2.0". Until such an RFC exists, implementations
MUST NOT identify themselves using "HTTP/2.0".
Examples and text throughout the rest of this document use "HTTP/2.0" as a matter of editorial convenience only. Implementations
of draft versions MUST NOT identify using this string.
Implementations of draft versions of the protocol MUST add the string "-draft-" and the corresponding draft number to the
identifier before the separator ('/'). For example, draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-03 is identified using the string "HTTP-draft-03/2.0".
Non-compatible experiments that are based on these draft versions MUST instead replace the string "draft" with a different
identifier. For example, an experimental implementation of packet mood-based encoding based on draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-07
might identify itself as "HTTP-emo-07/2.0". Note that any label MUST conform to the "token" syntax defined in
Section 3.2.6
of
[HTTP-p1]
. Experimenters are encouraged to coordinate their experiments on the ietf-http-wg@w3.org mailing list.
2.2
Starting HTTP/2.0 for "http:" URIs
A client that makes a request to an "http:" URI without prior knowledge about support for HTTP/2.0 uses the HTTP Upgrade mechanism
Section 6.7
of
[HTTP-p1]
). The client makes an HTTP/1.1 request that includes an Upgrade header field identifying HTTP/2.0.
Additional to the Upgrade request, anticipating that the server will likely respond with some HTTP/2.0 frames, the client
MUST send the payload of its SETTINGS frame within the HTTP/1.1 header. In particular, if the server does not know the client's
initial preferences (as expressed in a SETTINGS frame), it could send too much data in its response, or reserve multiple streams
via PUSH_PROMISE despite the client's preference to the contrary. To avoid this situation, these SETTINGS MUST be communicated
by the client to the server in advance of the first HTTP/2.0 message from the server: SETTINGS_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS, SETTINGS_INITIAL_WINDOW_SIZE
(Setting Format (
Section 3.8.5.1
)).
NOTE: There may be additional SETTINGS added later on, e.g., due to header compression (TBD).
The SETTINGS are conveyed in the following hop-by-hop HTTP/1.1 header:
HTTP2-Settings = "HTTP2-Settings" ":" token68
token68 is defined in
HTTP/1.1
[HTTP-p7]
. The value of HTTP2-Settings is set to the base64url encoding of the payload of the SETTINGS frame as defined in Setting Format (
Section 3.8.5.1
). Other than the fact that these SETTINGS are communicated by the client via an HTTP/1.1 header, they are otherwise indistinguishable
from SETTINGS and their handling as detailed in Setting Format (
Section 3.8.5.1
).
For example:
GET /default.htm HTTP/1.1
Host: server.example.com
Connection: Upgrade, HTTP2-Settings
Upgrade: HTTP/2.0
HTTP2-Settings:
Requests that contain a request entity body MUST be sent in their entirety before the client can send HTTP/2.0 frames. This
means that a large request entity can block the use of the connection until it is completely sent.
If concurrency of an initial request with subsequent tests is important, a small request can be used to perform the upgrade
to HTTP/2.0, at the cost of an additional round trip.
A server that does not support HTTP/2.0 can respond to the request as though the Upgrade header field were absent:
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-length: 243
Content-type: text/html
...
A server that supports HTTP/2.0 can accept the upgrade with a 101 (Switching Protocols) status code. After the empty line
that terminates the 101 response, the server can begin sending HTTP/2.0 frames. These frames MUST include a response to the
request that initiated the Upgrade.
HTTP/1.1 101 Switching Protocols
Connection: Upgrade
Upgrade: HTTP/2.0
[ HTTP/2.0 connection ...
The first HTTP/2.0 frame sent by the server is a SETTINGS frame (
Section 3.8.5
). Upon receiving the 101 response, the client sends a connection header (
Section 3.2
), which includes a SETTINGS frame.
The HTTP/1.1 request that is sent prior to upgrade is associated with stream 1 and is assigned the highest possible priority.
Stream 1 is implicitly half-closed from the client toward the server, since the request is completed as an HTTP/1.1 request.
After commencing the HTTP/2.0 connection, stream 1 is used for the response.
2.3
Starting HTTP/2.0 for "https:" URIs
A client that makes a request to an "https:" URI without prior knowledge about support for HTTP/2.0 uses
TLS
[RFC5246]
with the
application layer protocol negotiation extension
[TLSALPN]
Once TLS negotiation is complete, both the client and the server send a connection header (
Section 3.2
).
2.4
Starting HTTP/2.0 with Prior Knowledge
A client can learn that a particular server supports HTTP/2.0 by other means. A client MAY immediately send HTTP/2.0 frames
to a server that is known to support HTTP/2.0. This only affects the resolution of "http:" URIs, servers supporting HTTP/2.0
are required to support
protocol negotiation in TLS
[TLSALPN]
for "https:" URIs.
Prior support for HTTP/2.0 is not a strong signal that a given server will support HTTP/2.0 for future connections. It is
possible for server configurations to change or for configurations to differ between instances in clustered server. Interception
proxies (a.k.a. "transparent" proxies) are another source of variability.
3.
HTTP/2.0 Framing Layer
3.1
Connection
The HTTP/2.0 connection is an Application Level protocol running on top of a TCP connection (
[RFC0793]
). The client is the TCP connection initiator.
HTTP/2.0 connections are persistent. That is, for best performance, it is expected clients will not close connections until
it is determined that no further communication with a server is necessary (for example, when a user navigates away from a
particular web page), or until the server closes the connection.
Servers are encouraged to maintain open connections for as long as possible, but are permitted to terminate idle connections
if necessary. When either endpoint chooses to close the transport-level TCP connection, the terminating endpoint MUST first
send a GOAWAY (
Section 3.8.8
) frame so that both endpoints can reliably determine whether previously sent frames have been processed and gracefully complete
or terminate any necessary remaining tasks.
3.2
Connection Header
Upon establishment of a TCP connection and determination that HTTP/2.0 will be used by both peers to communicate, each endpoint
MUST send a connection header as a final confirmation and to establish the default parameters for the HTTP/2.0 connection.
The client connection header is a sequence of 24 octets (in hex notation)
505249202a20485454502f322e300d0a0d0a534d0d0a0d0a
(the string
PRI * HTTP/2.0\r\n\r\nSM\r\n\r\n
) followed by a SETTINGS frame (
Section 3.8.5
). The client sends the client connection header immediately upon receipt of a 101 Switching Protocols response (indicating
a successful upgrade), or after receiving a TLS Finished message from the server. If starting an HTTP/2.0 connection with
prior knowledge of server support for the protocol, the client connection header is sent upon connection establishment.
The client connection header is selected so that a large proportion of HTTP/1.1 or HTTP/1.0 servers and intermediaries do
not attempt to process further frames. Note that this does not address the concerns raised in
[TALKING]
The server connection header consists of just a SETTINGS frame (
Section 3.8.5
) that MUST be the first frame the server sends in the HTTP/2.0 connection.
To avoid unnecessary latency, clients are permitted to send additional frames to the server immediately after sending the
client connection header, without waiting to receive the server connection header. It is important to note, however, that
the server connection header SETTINGS frame might include parameters that necessarily alter how a client is expected to communicate
with the server. Upon receiving the SETTINGS frame, the client is expected to honor any parameters established.
Clients and servers MUST terminate the TCP connection if either peer does not begin with a valid connection header. A GOAWAY frame (
Section 3.8.8
) MAY be omitted if it is clear that the peer is not using HTTP/2.0.
3.3
Framing
Once the HTTP/2.0 connection is established, endpoints can begin exchanging frames.
3.3.1
Frame Header
All frames share a common base format consisting of an 8-byte header followed by 0 to 65,535 octets of payload data.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length (16) | Type (8) | Flags (8) |
+-+-------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
|R| Stream Identifier (31) |
+-+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Frame Data (0...) ...
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Figure 1: Frame Header
The fields of the frame header are defined as:
Length:
The length of the frame data expressed as an unsigned 16-bit integer. The 8 bytes of the frame header are not included in
this value.
Type:
The 8-bit type of the frame. The frame type determines how the remainder of the frame header and data are interpreted. Implementations
MUST ignore unsupported and unrecognized frame types.
Flags:
An 8-bit field reserved for frame-type specific boolean flags.
Flags are assigned semantics specific to the indicated frame type. Flags that have no defined semantics for a particular frame
type MUST be ignored, and MUST be left unset (0) when sending.
R:
A reserved 1-bit field. The semantics of this bit are undefined and the bit MUST remain unset (0) when sending and MUST be
ignored when receiving.
Stream Identifier:
A 31-bit stream identifier (see
Section 3.4.1
). A value 0 is reserved for frames that are associated with the connection as a whole as opposed to an individual stream.
The structure and content of the remaining frame data is dependent entirely on the frame type.
3.3.2
Frame Size
The maximum amount of payload data any frame can contain varies by frame type and use. The absolute maximum amount of payload
data any individual frame can contain is 65,535 octets. All implementations SHOULD be capable of receiving and minimally processing
frames up to this size.
Certain frame types, such as PING (see
Section 3.8.7
), impose strict limits on the amount of payload data allowed. Likewise, additional size limits can be set by specific application
uses. HTTP limits the frame size to 16,383 octets (see
Section 4
).
If a frame size exceeds any defined limit, or is too small to contain mandatory frame data, the endpoint MUST send a FRAME_TOO_LARGE
error. Frame size errors in frames that affect connection-level state MUST be treated as a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
).
3.4
Streams
A "stream" is an independent, bi-directional sequence of frames exchanged between the client and server within an HTTP/2.0
connection. Streams have several important characteristics:
Streams can be established and used unilaterally or shared by either the client or server.
Streams can be rejected or cancelled by either endpoint.
Multiple types of frames can be sent by either endpoint within a single stream.
The order in which frames are sent within a stream is significant. Recipients are required to process frames in the order
they are received.
Streams optionally carry a set of name-value header pairs that are expressed within the headers block of HEADERS or PUSH_PROMISE
frames.
A single HTTP/2.0 connection can contain multiple concurrently active streams, with either endpoint interleaving frames from
multiple streams.
3.4.1
Stream Creation
There is no coordination or shared action between the client and server required to create a stream. Rather, new streams are
established by sending a frame whose stream identifier field references a previously unused stream identifier.
All streams are identified by an unsigned 31-bit integer. Streams initiated by a client use odd numbered stream identifiers;
those initiated by the server use even numbered stream identifiers. A stream identifier of zero MUST NOT be used to establish
a new stream.
The identifier of a newly established stream MUST be numerically greater than all previously established streams from that
endpoint within the HTTP/2.0 connection, unless the identifier has been reserved using a PUSH_PROMISE (
Section 3.8.6
) frame. An endpoint that receives an unexpected stream identifier MUST respond with a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
A peer can limit the total number of concurrently active streams using the SETTINGS_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS parameters within
a SETTINGS frame. The maximum concurrent streams setting is specific to each endpoint and applies only to the peer. That is,
clients specify the maximum number of concurrent streams the server can initiate, and servers specify the maximum number of
concurrent streams the client can initiate. Peer endpoints MUST NOT exceed this limit. All concurrently active streams initiated
by an endpoint, including streams that are half-open (
Section 3.4.3
) in any direction, count toward that endpoint's limit.
Stream identifiers cannot be reused within a connection. Long-lived connections can cause an endpoint to exhaust the available
range of stream identifiers. A client that is unable to establish a new stream identifier can establish a new connection for
new streams.
Either endpoint can request the early termination of an unwanted stream by sending an RST_STREAM frame (
Section 3.5.2
) with an error code of either REFUSED_STREAM (if no frames have been processed) or CANCEL (if at least one frame has been processed).
Such termination might not take effect immediately as the peer might have sent additional frames on the stream prior to receiving
the termination request.
3.4.2
Stream priority
The endpoint establishing a new stream can assign a priority for the stream. Priority is represented as an unsigned 31-bit
integer. 0 represents the highest priority and 2
31
-1 represents the lowest priority.
The purpose of this value is to allow the initiating endpoint to request that frames for the stream be processed with higher
priority relative to any other concurrently active streams. That is, if an endpoint receives interleaved frames for multiple
streams, the endpoint ought to make a best-effort attempt at processing frames for higher priority streams before processing
those for lower priority streams.
Explicitly setting the priority for a stream does not guarantee any particular processing order for the stream relative to
any other stream. Nor is there is any mechanism provided by which the initiator of a stream can force or require a receiving
endpoint to process frames from one stream before processing frames from another.
3.4.3
Stream half-close
When an endpoint sends a frame for a stream with the END_STREAM flag set, the stream is considered to be half-closed for that
endpoint. Subsequent frames MUST NOT be sent by that endpoint for the half closed stream for the remaining duration of the
HTTP/2.0 connection. When both endpoints have sent frames with the END_STREAM flag set, the stream is considered to be fully
closed.
If an endpoint receives additional frames for a stream that was previously half-closed by the sending peer, the recipient
MUST respond with a stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) of type STREAM_CLOSED.
An endpoint that has not yet half-closed a stream by sending the END_STREAM flag can continue sending frames on the stream.
It is not necessary for an endpoint to half-close a stream for which it has not sent any frames. This allows endpoints to
use fully unidirectional streams that do not require explicit action or acknowledgement from the receiver.
3.4.4
Stream close
Streams can be terminated in the following ways:
Normal termination:
Normal stream termination occurs when both client and server have half-closed the stream by sending a frame containing a END_STREAM flag (
Section 3.3.1
).
Half-close on unidirectional stream:
A stream that only has frames sent in one direction can be tentatively considered to be closed once a frame containing a END_STREAM
flag is sent. The active sender on the stream MUST be prepared to receive frames after closing the stream.
Abrupt termination:
Either peer can send a RST_STREAM control frame at any time to terminate an active stream. RST_STREAM contains an error code
to indicate the reason for termination. A RST_STREAM indicates that the sender will transmit no further data on the stream
and that the receiver is advised to cease transmission on it.
The sender of a RST_STREAM frame MUST allow for frames that have already been sent by the peer prior to the RST_STREAM being
processed. If in-transit frames alter connection state, these frames cannot be safely discarded. See Stream Error Handling (
Section 3.5.2
) for more details.
TCP connection teardown:
If the TCP connection is torn down while un-closed streams exist, then the endpoint MUST assume that the stream was abnormally
interrupted and may be incomplete.
3.5
Error Handling
HTTP/2.0 framing permits two classes of error:
An error condition that renders the entire connection unusable is a connection error.
An error in an individual stream is a stream error.
3.5.1
Connection Error Handling
A connection error is any error which prevents further processing of the framing layer or which corrupts any connection state.
An endpoint that encounters a connection error SHOULD first send a GOAWAY (
Section 3.8.8
) frame with the stream identifier of the last stream that it successfully received from its peer. The GOAWAY frame includes
an error code that indicates why the connection is terminating. After sending the GOAWAY frame, the endpoint MUST close the
TCP connection.
It is possible that the GOAWAY will not be reliably received by the receiving endpoint. In the event of a connection error,
GOAWAY only provides a best-effort attempt to communicate with the peer about why the connection is being terminated.
An endpoint can end a connection at any time. In particular, an endpoint MAY choose to treat a stream error as a connection
error if the error is recurrent. Endpoints SHOULD send a GOAWAY frame when ending a connection, as long as circumstances permit
it.
3.5.2
Stream Error Handling
A stream error is an error related to a specific stream identifier that does not affect processing of other streams at the
framing layer.
An endpoint that detects a stream error sends a RST_STREAM (
Section 3.8.4
) frame that contains the stream identifier of the stream where the error occurred. The RST_STREAM frame includes an error code
that indicates the type of error.
A RST_STREAM is the last frame that an endpoint can send on a stream. The peer that sends the RST_STREAM frame MUST be prepared
to receive any frames that were sent or enqueued for sending by the remote peer. These frames can be ignored, except where
they modify connection state (such as the state maintained for header compression (
Section 3.7
)).
Normally, an endpoint SHOULD NOT send more than one RST_STREAM frame for any stream. However, an endpoint MAY send additional
RST_STREAM frames if it receives frames on a closed stream after more than a round trip time. This behavior is permitted to
deal with misbehaving implementations.
An endpoint MUST NOT send a RST_STREAM in response to an RST_STREAM frame, to avoid looping.
3.5.3
Error Codes
Error codes are 32-bit fields that are used in RST_STREAM and GOAWAY frames to convey the reasons for the stream or connection
error.
Error codes share a common code space. Some error codes only apply to specific conditions and have no defined semantics in
certain frame types.
The following error codes are defined:
NO_ERROR (0):
The associated condition is not as a result of an error. For example, a GOAWAY might include this code to indicate graceful
shutdown of a connection.
PROTOCOL_ERROR (1):
The endpoint detected an unspecific protocol error. This error is for use when a more specific error code is not available.
INTERNAL_ERROR (2):
The endpoint encountered an unexpected internal error.
FLOW_CONTROL_ERROR (3):
The endpoint detected that its peer violated the flow control protocol.
STREAM_CLOSED (5):
The endpoint received a frame after a stream was half-closed.
FRAME_TOO_LARGE (6):
The endpoint received a frame that was larger than the maximum size that it supports.
REFUSED_STREAM (7):
The endpoint refuses the stream prior to performing any application processing, see
Section 4.3.4
for details.
CANCEL (8):
Used by the endpoint to indicate that the stream is no longer needed.
COMPRESSION_ERROR (9):
The endpoint is unable to maintain the compression context for the connection.
3.6
Stream Flow Control
Using streams for multiplexing introduces contention over use of the TCP connection, resulting in blocked streams. A flow
control scheme ensures that streams on the same connection do not destructively interfere with each other.
HTTP/2.0 provides for flow control through use of the WINDOW_UPDATE (
Section 3.8.9
) frame type.
3.6.1
Flow Control Principles
Experience with TCP congestion control has shown that algorithms can evolve over time to become more sophisticated without
requiring protocol changes. TCP congestion control and its evolution is clearly different from HTTP/2.0 flow control, though
the evolution of TCP congestion control algorithms shows that a similar approach could be feasible for HTTP/2.0 flow control.
HTTP/2.0 stream flow control aims to allow for future improvements to flow control algorithms without requiring protocol changes.
Flow control in HTTP/2.0 has the following characteristics:
Flow control is hop-by-hop, not end-to-end.
Flow control is based on window update frames. Receivers advertise how many octets they are prepared to receive on a stream.
This is a credit-based scheme.
Flow control is directional with overall control provided by the receiver. A receiver MAY choose to set any window size that
it desires for each stream and for the entire connection. A sender MUST respect flow control limits imposed by a receiver.
Clients, servers and intermediaries all independently advertise their flow control preferences as a receiver and abide by
the flow control limits set by their peer when sending.
The initial value for the flow control window is 65536 bytes for both new streams and the overall connection.
The frame type determines whether flow control applies to a frame. Of the frames specified in this document, only data frames
are subject to flow control; all other frame types do not consume space in the advertised flow control window. This ensures
that important control frames are not blocked by flow control.
Flow control can be disabled by a receiver. A receiver can choose to either disable flow control for a stream or connection
by sending a window update frame with a specific flag. See Ending Flow Control (
Section 3.8.9.4
) for more details.
HTTP/2.0 standardizes only the format of the window update frame (
Section 3.8.9
). This does not stipulate how a receiver decides when to send this frame or the value that it sends. Nor does it specify how
a sender chooses to send packets. Implementations are able to select any algorithm that suits their needs.
Implementations are also responsible for managing how requests and responses are sent based on priority; choosing how to avoid
head of line blocking for requests; and managing the creation of new streams. Algorithm choices for these could interact with
any flow control algorithm.
3.6.2
Appropriate Use of Flow Control
Flow control is defined to protect endpoints (client, server or intermediary) that are operating under resource constraints.
For example, a proxy needs to share memory between many connections, and also might have a slow upstream connection and a
fast downstream one. Flow control addresses cases where the receiver is unable process data on one stream, yet wants to continue
to process other streams in the same connection.
Deployments that do not require this capability SHOULD disable flow control for data that is being received. Note that flow
control cannot be disabled for sending. Sending data is always subject to the flow control window advertised by the receiver.
Deployments with constrained resources (for example, memory) MAY employ flow control to limit the amount of memory a peer
can consume. Note, however, that this can lead to suboptimal use of available network resources if flow control is enabled
without knowledge of the bandwidth-delay product (see
[RFC1323]
).
Even with full awareness of the current bandwidth-delay product, implementation of flow control is difficult. However, it
can ensure that constrained resources are protected without any reduction in connection utilization.
3.7
Header Blocks
The header block is found in the HEADERS and PUSH_PROMISE frames. The header block consists of a set of header fields, which
are name-value pairs. Headers are compressed using black magic.
Compression of header fields is a work in progress, as is the format of this block.
The contents of header blocks MUST be processed by the compression context, even if stream has been reset or the frame is
discarded. If header blocks cannot be processed, the receiver MUST terminate the connection with a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type COMPRESSION_ERROR.
3.8
Frame Types
This specification defines a number of frame types, each identified by a unique 8-bit type code. Each frame type serves a
distinct purpose either in the establishment and management of the connection as a whole, or of individual streams.
The transmission of specific frame types can alter the state of a connection. If endpoints fail to maintain a synchronized
view of the connection state, successful communication within the connection will no longer be possible. Therefore, it is
important that endpoints have a shared comprehension of how the state is affected by the use any given frame. Accordingly,
while it is expected that new frame types will be introduced by extensions to this protocol, only frames defined by this document
are permitted to alter the connection state.
3.8.1
DATA Frames
DATA frames (type=0x0) convey arbitrary, variable-length sequences of octets associated with a stream. One or more DATA frames
are used, for instance, to carry HTTP request or response payloads.
The DATA frame defines the following flags:
END_STREAM (0x1):
Bit 1 being set indicates that this frame is the last that the endpoint will send for the identified stream. Setting this
flag causes the stream to enter the half-closed state (
Section 3.4.3
).
RESERVED (0x2):
Bit 2 is reserved for future use.
DATA frames MUST be associated with a stream. If a DATA frame is received whose stream identifier field is 0x0, the recipient
MUST respond with a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
3.8.2
HEADERS
The HEADERS frame (type=0x1) allows the sender to create a stream (
Section 3.4.1
). Any number of HEADERS frames may be sent on an existing stream at any time.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|X| (Optional) Priority (31) |
+-+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Header Block (*) ...
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Figure 2: HEADERS Frame Payload
The HEADERS frame defines the following flags:
END_STREAM (0x1):
Bit 1 being set indicates that this frame is the last that the endpoint will send for the identified stream. Setting this
flag causes the stream to enter the half-closed state (
Section 3.4.3
).
RESERVED (0x2):
Bit 2 is reserved for future use.
END_HEADERS (0x4):
The END_HEADERS bit indicates that this frame contains the entire payload necessary to provide a complete set of headers.
The payload for a complete set of headers is provided by a sequence of HEADERS frames, terminated by a HEADERS frame with
the END_HEADERS flag set. Once the sequence terminates, the payload of all HEADERS frames are concatenated and interpreted
as a single block.
A HEADERS frame without the END_HEADERS flag set MUST be followed by a HEADERS frame for the same stream. A receiver MUST
treat the receipt of any other type of frame or a frame on a different stream as a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
PRIORITY (0x8):
Bit 4 being set indicates that the first four octets of this frame contain a single reserved bit and a 31-bit priority; see
Section 3.4.2
The payload of a HEADERS frame contains a Headers Block (
Section 3.7
).
HEADERS frames MUST be associated with a stream. If a HEADERS frame is received whose stream identifier field is 0x0, the
recipient MUST respond with a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
The HEADERS frame changes the connection state as defined in
Section 3.7
3.8.3
PRIORITY
The PRIORITY frame (type=0x2) specifies the sender-advised priority of a stream. It can be sent at any time for an existing
stream. This enables reprioritisation of existing streams.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|X| Priority (31) |
+-+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Figure 3: PRIORITY Frame Payload
The payload of a PRIORITY frame contains a single reserved bit and a 31-bit priority.
The PRIORITY frame does not define any flags.
The PRIORITY frame is associated with an existing stream. If a PRIORITY frame is received with a stream identifier of 0x0,
the recipient MUST respond with a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
3.8.4
RST_STREAM
The RST_STREAM frame (type=0x3) allows for abnormal termination of a stream. When sent by the initiator of a stream, it indicates
that they wish to cancel the stream. When sent by the receiver of a stream, it indicates that either the receiver is rejecting
the stream, requesting that the stream be cancelled or that an error condition has occurred.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Error Code (32) |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Figure 4: RST_STREAM Frame Payload
The RST_STREAM frame contains a single unsigned, 32-bit integer identifying the error code (
Section 3.5.3
). The error code indicates why the stream is being terminated.
No type-flags are defined.
The RST_STREAM frame fully terminates the referenced stream and causes it to enter the closed state. After receiving a RST_STREAM
on a stream, the receiver MUST NOT send additional frames for that stream. However, after sending the RST_STREAM, the sending
endpoint MUST be prepared to receive and process additional frames sent on the stream that might have been sent by the peer
prior to the arrival of the RST_STREAM.
RST_STREAM frames MUST be associated with a stream. If a RST_STREAM frame is received whose stream identifier field is 0x0
the recipient MUST respond with a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
3.8.5
SETTINGS
The SETTINGS frame (type=0x4) conveys configuration parameters that affect how endpoints communicate. The parameters are either
constraints on peer behavior or preferences.
SETTINGS frames MUST be sent at the start of a connection, and MAY be sent at any other time by either endpoint over the lifetime
of the connection.
Implementations MUST support all of the settings defined by this specification and MAY support additional settings defined
by extensions. Unsupported or unrecognized settings MUST be ignored. New settings MUST NOT be defined or implemented in a
way that requires endpoints to understand them in order to communicate successfully.
A SETTINGS frame is not required to include every defined setting; senders can include only those parameters for which it
has accurate values and a need to convey. When multiple parameters are sent, they SHOULD be sent in order of numerically lowest
ID to highest ID. A single SETTINGS frame MUST NOT contain multiple values for the same ID. If the receiver of a SETTINGS
frame discovers multiple values for the same ID, it MUST ignore all values for that ID except the first one.
Over the lifetime of a connection, an endpoint MAY send multiple SETTINGS frames containing previously unspecified parameters
or new values for parameters whose values have already been established. Only the most recent value provided setting value
applies.
The SETTINGS frame does not define any flags.
SETTINGS frames always apply to a connection, never a single stream. The stream identifier for a settings frame MUST be zero.
If an endpoint receives a SETTINGS frame whose stream identifier field is anything other than 0x0, the endpoint MUST respond
with a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
The SETTINGS frame affects connection state. A badly formed or incomplete SETTINGS frame MUST be treated as a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
).
3.8.5.1
Setting Format
The payload of a SETTINGS frame consists of zero or more settings. Each setting consists of an 8-bit reserved field, an unsigned
24-bit setting identifier, and an unsigned 32-bit value.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Reserved(8) | Setting Identifier (24) |
+---------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Value (32) |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Figure 5: Setting Format
3.8.5.2
Defined Settings
The following settings are defined:
SETTINGS_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS (4):
indicates the maximum number of concurrent streams that the sender will allow. This limit is directional: it applies to the
number of streams that the sender permits the receiver to create. By default there is no limit. It is recommended that this
value be no smaller than 100, so as to not unnecessarily limit parallelism.
SETTINGS_INITIAL_WINDOW_SIZE (7):
indicates the sender's initial stream window size (in bytes) for new streams.
This settings affects the window size of all streams, including existing streams, see
Section 3.8.9.2
SETTINGS_FLOW_CONTROL_OPTIONS (10):
indicates that streams directed to the sender will not be subject to flow control. The least significant bit (0x1) is set
to indicate that new streams are not flow controlled. All other bits are reserved.
This setting applies to all streams, including existing streams.
These bits cannot be cleared once set, see
Section 3.8.9.4
3.8.6
PUSH_PROMISE
The PUSH_PROMISE frame (type=0x5) is used to notify the peer endpoint in advance of streams the sender intends to initiate.
The PUSH_PROMISE frame includes the unsigned 31-bit identifier of the stream the endpoint plans to create along with a minimal
set of headers that provide additional context for the stream.
Section 4.4
contains a thorough description of the use of PUSH_PROMISE frames.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|X| Promised-Stream-ID (31) |
+-+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Header Block (*) ...
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Figure 6: PUSH_PROMISE Payload Format
The payload of a PUSH_PROMISE includes a "Promised-Stream-ID". This unsigned 31-bit integer identifies the stream the endpoint
intends to start sending frames for. The promised stream identifier MUST be a valid choice for the next stream sent by the
sender (see new stream identifier (
Section 3.4.1
)).
PUSH_PROMISE frames MUST be associated with an existing stream. If the stream identifier field specifies the value 0x0, a
recipient MUST respond with a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
The state of promised streams is bound to the state of the original associated stream on which the PUSH_PROMISE frame were
sent. If the originating stream state changes to fully closed, all associated promised streams fully close as well.
rfc.comment.2
: Ed. Note: We need clarification on this point. How synchronized are the lifecycles of streams and associated promised streams?]
The PUSH_PROMISE frame defines the following flags:
END_PUSH_PROMISE (0x1):
The END_PUSH_PROMISE bit indicates that this frame contains the entire payload necessary to provide a complete set of headers.
The payload for a complete set of headers is provided by a sequence of PUSH_PROMISE frames, terminated by a PUSH_PROMISE frame
with the END_PUSH_PROMISE flag set. Once the sequence terminates, the payload of all PUSH_PROMISE frames are concatenated
and interpreted as a single block.
A PUSH_PROMISE frame without the END_PUSH_PROMISE flag set MUST be followed by a PUSH_PROMISE frame for the same stream. A
receiver MUST treat the receipt of any other type of frame or a frame on a different stream as a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
Promised streams are not required to be used in order promised. The PUSH_PROMISE only reserves stream identifiers for later
use.
Recipients of PUSH_PROMISE frames can choose to reject promised streams by returning a RST_STREAM referencing the promised
stream identifier back to the sender of the PUSH_PROMISE.
The PUSH_PROMISE frame modifies the connection state as defined in
Section 3.7
3.8.7
PING
The PING frame (type=0x6) is a mechanism for measuring a minimal round-trip time from the sender, as well as determining whether
an idle connection is still functional. PING frames can be sent from any endpoint.
In addition to the frame header, PING frames MUST contain 8 octets of data in the payload. A sender can include any value
it chooses and use those bytes in any fashion.
Receivers of a PING frame that does not include a PONG flag MUST send a PING frame with the PONG flag set in response, with
an identical payload. PING responses SHOULD given higher priority than any other frame.
The PING frame defines the following flags:
PONG (0x1):
Bit 1 being set indicates that this PING frame is a PING response. An endpoint MUST set this flag in PING responses. An endpoint
MUST NOT respond to PING frames containing this flag.
PING frames are not associated with any individual stream. If a PING frame is received with a stream identifier field value
other than 0x0, the recipient MUST respond with a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
Receipt of a PING frame with a length field value other than 8 MUST be treated as a connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
3.8.8
GOAWAY
The GOAWAY frame (type=0x7) informs the remote peer to stop creating streams on this connection. It can be sent from the client
or the server. Once sent, the sender will ignore frames sent on new streams for the remainder of the connection. Receivers
of a GOAWAY frame MUST NOT open additional streams on the connection, although a new connection can be established for new
streams. The purpose of this frame is to allow an endpoint to gracefully stop accepting new streams (perhaps for a reboot
or maintenance), while still finishing processing of previously established streams.
There is an inherent race condition between an endpoint starting new streams and the remote sending a GOAWAY frame. To deal
with this case, the GOAWAY contains the stream identifier of the last stream which was processed on the sending endpoint in
this connection. If the receiver of the GOAWAY used streams that are newer than the indicated stream identifier, they were
not processed by the sender and the receiver may treat the streams as though they had never been created at all (hence the
receiver may want to re-create the streams later on a new connection).
Endpoints SHOULD always send a GOAWAY frame before closing a connection so that the remote can know whether a stream has been
partially processed or not. For example, if an HTTP client sends a POST at the same time that a server closes a connection,
the client cannot know if the server started to process that POST request if the server does not send a GOAWAY frame to indicate
where it stopped working. An endpoint might choose to close a connection without sending GOAWAY for misbehaving peers.
After sending a GOAWAY frame, the sender can ignore frames for new streams.
rfc.comment.3
: Issue: connection state that is established by those "ignored" frames cannot be ignored without the state in the two peers
becoming unsynchronized.]
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|X| Last-Stream-ID (31) |
+-+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Error Code (32) |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Figure 7: GOAWAY Payload Format
The GOAWAY frame does not define any flags.
The GOAWAY frame applies to the connection, not a specific stream. The stream identifier MUST be zero.
The last stream identifier in the GOAWAY frame contains the highest numbered stream identifier for which the sender of the
GOAWAY frame has received frames on and might have taken some action on. All streams up to and including the identified stream
might have been processed in some way. The last stream identifier is set to 0 if no streams were processed.
Note: In this case, "processed" means that some data from the stream was passed to some higher layer of software that might
have taken some action as a result.
On streams with lower or equal numbered identifiers that do not close completely prior to the connection being closed, re-attempting
requests, transactions, or any protocol activity is not possible (with the exception of idempotent actions like HTTP GET,
PUT, or DELETE). Any protocol activity that uses higher numbered streams can be safely retried using a new connection.
Activity on streams numbered lower or equal to the last stream identifier might still complete successfully. The sender of
a GOAWAY frame gracefully shut down a connection by sending a GOAWAY frame, maintaining the connection in an open state until
all in-progress streams complete.
The last stream ID MUST be 0 if no streams were acted upon.
The GOAWAY frame also contains a 32-bit error code (
Section 3.5.3
) that contains the reason for closing the connection.
3.8.9
WINDOW_UPDATE
The WINDOW_UPDATE frame (type=0x9) is used to implement flow control.
Flow control operates at two levels: on each individual stream and on the entire connection.
Both types of flow control are hop by hop; that is, only between the two endpoints. Intermediaries do not forward WINDOW_UPDATE
frames between dependent connections. However, throttling of data transfer by any receiver can indirectly cause the propagation
of flow control information toward the original sender.
Flow control only applies to frames that are identified as being subject to flow control. Of the frame types defined in this
document, this includes only DATA frame. Frames that are exempt from flow control MUST be accepted and processed, unless the
receiver is unable to assign resources to handling the frame. A receiver MAY respond with a stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) or connection error (
Section 3.5.1
) of type FLOW_CONTROL_ERROR if it is unable accept a frame.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|X| Delta-Window-Size (31) |
+-+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Figure 8: WINDOW_UPDATE Payload Format
The payload of a WINDOW_UPDATE frame is one reserved bit, plus an unsigned 31-bit integer indicating the number of bytes that
the sender can transmit in addition to the existing flow control window. The legal range for the increment to the flow control
window is 1 to 2
31
- 1 (0x7fffffff) bytes.
The WINDOW_UPDATE frame defines the following flags:
END_FLOW_CONTROL (0x1):
Bit 1 being set indicates that flow control for the identified stream or connection has been ended; subsequent frames do not
need to be flow controlled.
The WINDOW_UPDATE frame can be specific to a stream or to the entire connection. In the former case, the frame's stream identifier
indicates the affected stream; in the latter, the value "0" indicates that the entire connection is the subject of the frame.
3.8.9.1
The Flow Control Window
Flow control in HTTP/2.0 is implemented using a window kept by each sender on every stream. The flow control window is a simple
integer value that indicates how many bytes of data the sender is permitted to transmit; as such, its size is a measure of
the buffering capability of the receiver.
Two flow control windows are applicable; the stream flow control window and the connection flow control window. The sender
MUST NOT send a flow controlled frame with a length that exceeds the space available in either of the flow control windows
advertised by the receiver. Frames with zero length with the END_STREAM flag set (for example, an empty data frame) MAY be
sent if there is no available space in either flow control window.
For flow control calculations, the 8 byte frame header is not counted.
After sending a flow controlled frame, the sender reduces the space available in both windows by the length of the transmitted
frame.
The receiver of a frame sends a WINDOW_UPDATE frame as it consumes data and frees up space in flow control windows. Separate
WINDOW_UPDATE frames are sent for the stream and connection level flow control windows.
A sender that receives a WINDOW_UPDATE frame updates the corresponding window by the amount specified in the frame.
A sender MUST NOT allow a flow control window to exceed 2
31
- 1 bytes. If a sender receives a WINDOW_UPDATE that causes a flow control window to exceed this maximum it MUST terminate
either the stream or the connection, as appropriate. For streams, the sender sends a RST_STREAM with the error code of FLOW_CONTROL_ERROR
code; for the connection, a GOAWAY frame with a FLOW_CONTROL_ERROR code.
Flow controlled frames from the sender and WINDOW_UPDATE frames from the receiver are completely asynchronous with respect
to each other. This property allows a receiver to aggressively update the window size kept by the sender to prevent streams
from stalling.
3.8.9.2
Initial Flow Control Window Size
When a HTTP/2.0 connection is first established, new streams are created with an initial flow control window size of 65535
bytes. The connection flow control window is 65535 bytes. Both endpoints can adjust the initial window size for new streams
by including a value for SETTINGS_INITIAL_WINDOW_SIZE in the SETTINGS frame that forms part of the connection header.
Prior to receiving a SETTINGS frame that sets a value for SETTINGS_INITIAL_WINDOW_SIZE, an endpoint can only use the default
initial window size when sending flow controlled frames. Similarly, the connection flow control window is set to the default
initial window size until a WINDOW_UPDATE frame is received.
A SETTINGS frame can alter the initial flow control window size for all current streams. When the value of SETTINGS_INITIAL_WINDOW_SIZE
changes, a receiver MUST adjust the size of all stream flow control windows that it maintains by the difference between the
new value and the old value. A SETTINGS frame cannot alter the connection flow control window.
A change to SETTINGS_INITIAL_WINDOW_SIZE could cause the available space in a flow control window to become negative. A sender
MUST track the negative flow control window, and MUST NOT send new flow controlled frames until it receives WINDOW_UPDATE
frames that cause the flow control window to become positive.
For example, if the server sets the initial window size to be 16KB, and the client sends 64KB immediately on connection establishment,
the client will recalculate the available flow control window to be -48KB on receipt of the SETTINGS frame. The client retains
a negative flow control window until WINDOW_UPDATE frames restore the window to being positive, after which the client can
resume sending.
3.8.9.3
Reducing the Stream Window Size
A receiver that wishes to use a smaller flow control window than the current size can send a new SETTINGS frame. However,
the receiver MUST be prepared to receive data that exceeds this window size, since the sender might send data that exceeds
the lower limit prior to processing the SETTINGS frame.
A receiver has two options for handling streams that exceed flow control limits:
The receiver can immediately send RST_STREAM with FLOW_CONTROL_ERROR error code for the affected streams.
The receiver can accept the streams and tolerate the resulting head of line blocking, sending WINDOW_UPDATE frames as it consumes
data.
If a receiver decides to accept streams, both sides MUST recompute the available flow control window based on the initial
window size sent in the SETTINGS.
3.8.9.4
Ending Flow Control
After a receiver reads in a frame that marks the end of a stream (for example, a data stream with a END_STREAM flag set),
it MUST cease transmission of WINDOW_UPDATE frames for that stream. A sender is not obligated to maintain the available flow
control window for streams that it is no longer sending on.
Flow control can be disabled for all streams on the connection using the SETTINGS_FLOW_CONTROL_OPTIONS setting. An implementation
that does not wish to perform stream flow control can use this in the initial SETTINGS exchange.
Flow control can be disabled for an individual stream or the overall connection by sending a WINDOW_UPDATE with the END_FLOW_CONTROL
flag set. The payload of a WINDOW_UPDATE frame that has the END_FLOW_CONTROL flag set is ignored.
Flow control cannot be enabled again once disabled. Any attempt to re-enable flow control - by sending a WINDOW_UPDATE or
by clearing the bits on the SETTINGS_FLOW_CONTROL_OPTIONS setting - MUST be rejected with a FLOW_CONTROL_ERROR error code.
4.
HTTP Message Exchanges
HTTP/2.0 is intended to be as compatible as possible with current web-based applications. This means that, from the perspective
of the server business logic or application API, the features of HTTP are unchanged. To achieve this, all of the application
request and response header semantics are preserved, although the syntax of conveying those semantics has changed. Thus, the
rules from HTTP/1.1 (
[HTTP-p1]
[HTTP-p2]
[HTTP-p4]
[HTTP-p5]
[HTTP-p6]
, and
[HTTP-p7]
) apply with the changes in the sections below.
4.1
Connection Management
Clients SHOULD NOT open more than one HTTP/2.0 connection to a given origin (
[RFC6454]
) concurrently.
Note that it is possible for one HTTP/2.0 connection to be finishing (e.g. a GOAWAY frame has been sent, but not all streams
have finished), while another HTTP/2.0 connection is starting.
4.2
Frame Size Limits for HTTP
Frames used for HTTP messages MUST NOT exceed 16,383 bytes in length. An endpoint MUST treat the receipt of a larger frame
as a FRAME_TOO_LARGE error (see
Section 3.3.2
).
4.3
HTTP Request/Response
4.3.1
HTTP Header Fields and HTTP/2.0 Headers
At the application level, HTTP uses name-value pairs in its header fields. Because HTTP/2.0 merges the existing HTTP header
fields with HTTP/2.0 headers, there is a possibility that some HTTP applications already use a particular header field name.
To avoid any conflicts, all header fields introduced for layering HTTP over HTTP/2.0 are prefixed with ":". ":" is not a valid
sequence in HTTP/1.* header field naming, preventing any possible conflict.
4.3.2
Request
The client initiates a request by sending a HEADERS frame. Requests that do not contain a body MUST set the END_STREAM flag,
indicating that the client intends to send no further data on this stream, unless the server intends to push resources (see
Section 4.4
). The HEADERS frame does not contain the END_STREAM flag for requests that contain a body. The body of a request follows
as a series of DATA frames. The last DATA frame sets the END_STREAM flag to indicate the end of the body.
The header fields included in the HEADERS frame contain all of the HTTP header fields associated with an HTTP request. The
definitions of these headers are largely unchanged relative to HTTP/1.1, with a few notable exceptions:
The HTTP/1.1 request-line has been split into two separate header fields named :method and :path, whose values specify the
HTTP method for the request and the request-target, respectively. The HTTP-version component of the request-line is removed
entirely from the headers.
The host and optional port portions of the request URI (see
[RFC3986]
Section 3.2
), is specified using the new :host header field.
rfc.comment.4
: Ed. Note: it needs to be clarified whether or not this replaces the existing HTTP/1.1 Host header.]
A new :scheme header field has been added to specify the scheme portion of the request-target (e.g. "https")
All header field names MUST be lowercased, and the definitions of all header field names defined by HTTP/1.1 are updated to
be all lowercase.
The Connection, Host, Keep-Alive, Proxy-Connection, and Transfer-Encoding header fields are no longer valid and MUST NOT be
sent.
All HTTP Requests MUST include the ":method", ":path", ":host", and ":scheme" header fields.
Header fields whose names begin with ":" (whether defined in this document or future extensions to this document) MUST appear
before any other header fields.
If a client sends a HEADERS frame that omits a mandatory header, the server MUST reply with a HTTP 400 Bad Request reply.
rfc.comment.5
: Ed: why PROTOCOL_ERROR on missing ":status" in the response, but HTTP 400 here?]
If a server receives a request where the sum of the data frame payload lengths does not equal the size of the Content-Length
header field, the server MUST return a 400 (Bad Request) error.
Although POSTs are inherently chunked, POST requests SHOULD also be accompanied by a Content-Length header field. First, it
informs the server of how much data to expect, which the server can use to track overall progress and provide appropriate
user feedback. More importantly, some HTTP server implementations fail to correctly process requests that omit the Content-Length
header field. Many existing clients send a Content-Length header field, and some server implementations have come to depend
upon its presence.
A client provides priority in requests as a hint to the server. A server SHOULD attempt to provide responses to higher priority
requests before lower priority requests. A server could send lower priority responses during periods that higher priority
responses are unavailable to ensure better utilization of a connection.
If the server receives a data frame prior to a HEADERS frame the server MUST treat this as a stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
4.3.3
Response
The server responds to a client request using the same stream identifier that was used by the request. An HTTP response begins
with a HEADERS frame. An HTTP response body consists of a series of DATA frames. The last data frame contains a END_STREAM
flag to indicate the end of the response. A response that contains no body (such as a 204 or 304 response) consists only of
a HEADERS frame that contains the END_STREAM flag to indicate no further data will be sent on the stream.
The response status line is unfolded into name-value pairs like other HTTP header fields and must be present:
":status":
The HTTP response status code (e.g. "200" or "200 OK")
All header field names starting with ":" (whether defined in this document or future extensions to this document) MUST appear
before any other header fields.
All header field names MUST be all lowercase.
The Connection, Keep-Alive, Proxy-Connection, and Transfer-Encoding header fields are not valid and MUST NOT be sent.
Responses MAY be accompanied by a Content-Length header field for advisory purposes. This allows clients to learn the full
size of an entity prior to receiving all the data frames. This can help in, for example, reporting progress.
If a client receives a response where the sum of the data frame payload length does not equal the size of the Content-Length
header field, the client MUST ignore the content length header field.
rfc.comment.6
: Ed: See
issue 46
.]
If a client receives a response with an absent or duplicated status header, the client MUST treat this as a stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
If the client receives a data frame prior to a HEADERS frame the client MUST treat this as a stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
Clients MUST support gzip compression. Regardless of the value of the Accept-Encoding header field, a server MAY send responses
with gzip or deflate encoding. A compressed response MUST still bear an appropriate Content-Encoding header field.
4.3.4
Automatically Retrying Requests in HTTP/2.0
In HTTP/1.1, an HTTP client is unable to retry a non-idempotent request when an error occurs, because there is no means to
determine the nature of the error. It is possible that some server processing occurred prior to the error, which could result
in undesirable effects if the request were reattempted.
HTTP/2.0 provides two mechanisms for providing a guarantee to a client that a request has not been processed:
The GOAWAY frame indicates the highest stream number that might have been processed. Requests on streams with higher numbers
are therefore guaranteed to be safe to retry.
The REFUSED_STREAM error code can be included in a RST_STREAM frame to indicate that the stream is being closed prior to any
processing having occurred. Any request that was sent on the reset stream can be safely retried.
In both cases, clients MAY automatically retry all requests, including those with non-idempotent methods.
In addition to these mechanisms, the PING frame provides a way for a client to easily test a connection. Connections that
remain idle can become broken as some middleboxes (for instance, network address translators, or load balancers) silently
discard connection bindings. The PING frame allows a client to safely test whether a connection is still active without sending
a request.
4.4
Server Push Transactions
HTTP/2.0 enables a server to send multiple replies to a client for a single request. The rationale for this feature is that
sometimes a server knows that it will need to send multiple resources in response to a single request. Without server push
features, the client must first download the primary resource, then discover the secondary resource(s), and request them.
Server push is an optional feature. The SETTINGS_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS setting from the client limits the number of resources
that can be concurrently pushed by a server. Server push can be disabled by clients that do not wish to receive pushed resources
by advertising a SETTINGS_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS SETTING (
Section 3.8.5
) of zero. This prevents servers from creating the streams necessary to push resources.
Clients receiving a pushed response MUST validate that the server is authorized to push the resource using the same-origin
policy (
[RFC6454]
Section 3
). For example, a HTTP/2.0 connection to
example.com
is generally
rfc.comment.7
: Ed: weaselly use of "generally", needs better definition]
not permitted to push a response for
www.example.org
A client that accepts pushed resources caches those resources as though they were responses to GET requests.
Pushing of resources avoids the round-trip delay, but also creates a potential race where a server can be pushing content
which a client is in the process of requesting. The PUSH_PROMISE frame reduces the chances of this condition occurring, while
retaining the performance benefit.
Pushed responses are associated with a request at the HTTP/2.0 framing layer. The PUSH_PROMISE is sent on the stream for the
associated request, which allows a receiver to correlate the pushed resource with a request. The pushed stream inherits all
of the request header fields from the associated stream with the exception of resource identification header fields (
:host
:scheme
, and
:path
), which are provided as part of the PUSH_PROMISE frame.
Pushed resources always have an associated
:method
of
GET
. A cache MUST store these inherited and implied request header fields with the cached resource.
4.4.1
Server implementation
A server pushes resources in association with a request from the client. Prior to closing the response stream, the server
sends a PUSH_PROMISE for each resource that it intends to push. The PUSH_PROMISE includes header fields that allow the client
to identify the resource (
:scheme
:host
, and
:path
).
A server can push multiple resources in response to a request, but all pushed resources MUST be promised on the response stream
for the associated request. A server cannot send a PUSH_PROMISE on a new stream or a half-closed stream.
The server SHOULD include any header fields in a PUSH_PROMISE that would allow a cache to determine if the resource is already
cached (see
[HTTP-p6]
Section 4
).
After sending a PUSH_PROMISE, the server commences transmission of a pushed resource. A pushed resource uses a server-initiated
stream. The server sends frames on this stream in the same order as an HTTP response (
Section 4.3.3
): a HEADERS frame followed by DATA frames.
Many uses of server push are to send content that a client is likely to discover a need for based on the content of a response
representation. To minimize the chances that a client will make a request for resources that are being pushed - causing duplicate
copies of a resource to be sent by the server - a PUSH_PROMISE frame SHOULD be sent prior to any content in the response representation
that might allow a client to discover the pushed resource and request it.
The server MUST only push resources that could have been returned from a GET request.
Note: A server does not need to have all response header fields available at the time it issues a PUSH_PROMISE frame. All
remaining header fields are included in the HEADERS frame. The HEADERS frame MUST NOT duplicate header fields from the PUSH_PROMISE
frames.
4.4.2
Client implementation
When fetching a resource the client has 3 possibilities:
the resource is not being pushed
the resource is being pushed, but the data has not yet arrived
the resource is being pushed, and the data has started to arrive
A client SHOULD NOT issue GET requests for a resource that has been promised. A client is instead advised to wait for the
pushed resource to arrive.
When a client receives a PUSH_PROMISE frame from the server without the
:host
:scheme
, and
:path
header fields, it MUST treat this as a stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
To cancel individual server push streams, the client can issue a stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) of type CANCEL. After receiving a PUSH_PROMISE frame, the client is able to cancel the pushed resource before receiving any
frames on the promised stream. The server ceases transmission of the pushed resource; if the server has not commenced transmission,
it does not start.
To cancel all server push streams related to a request, the client may issue a stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) of type CANCEL on the associated-stream-id. By cancelling that stream, the server MUST immediately stop sending frames for
any streams with in-association-to for the original stream.
rfc.comment.8
: Ed: Triggering side-effects on stream reset is going to be problematic for the framing layer. Purely from a design perspective,
it's a layering violation. More practically speaking, the base request stream might already be removed. Special handling logic
would be required.]
A client can choose to time out pushed streams if the server does not provide the resource in a timely fashion. A stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) of type CANCEL can be used to stop a timed out push.
If the server sends a HEADERS frame containing header fields that duplicate values on a previous HEADERS or PUSH_PROMISE frames
on the same stream, the client MUST treat this as a stream error (
Section 3.5.2
) of type PROTOCOL_ERROR.
If the server sends a HEADERS frame after sending a data frame for the same stream, the client MAY ignore the HEADERS frame.
Ignoring the HEADERS frame after a data frame prevents handling of HTTP's trailing header fields (
Section 4.1.1
of
[HTTP-p1]
).
5.
Design Rationale and Notes
Authors' notes: The notes in this section have no bearing on the HTTP/2.0 protocol as specified within this document, and
none of these notes should be considered authoritative about how the protocol works. However, these notes may prove useful
in future debates about how to resolve protocol ambiguities or how to evolve the protocol going forward. They may be removed
before the final draft.
5.1
Separation of Framing Layer and Application Layer
Readers may note that this specification sometimes blends the framing layer (
Section 3
) with requirements of a specific application - HTTP (
Section 4
). This is reflected in the request/response nature of the streams and the definition of the HEADERS which are very similar
to HTTP, and other areas as well.
This blending is intentional - the primary goal of this protocol is to create a low-latency protocol for use with HTTP. Isolating
the two layers is convenient for description of the protocol and how it relates to existing HTTP implementations. However,
the ability to reuse the HTTP/2.0 framing layer is a non goal.
5.2
Error handling - Framing Layer
Error handling at the HTTP/2.0 layer splits errors into two groups: Those that affect an individual HTTP/2.0 stream, and those
that do not.
When an error is confined to a single stream, but general framing is intact, HTTP/2.0 attempts to use the RST_STREAM as a
mechanism to invalidate the stream but move forward without aborting the connection altogether.
For errors occurring outside of a single stream context, HTTP/2.0 assumes the entire connection is hosed. In this case, the
endpoint detecting the error should initiate a connection close.
5.3
One Connection per Domain
HTTP/2.0 attempts to use fewer connections than other protocols have traditionally used. The rationale for this behavior is
because it is very difficult to provide a consistent level of service (e.g. TCP slow-start), prioritization, or optimal compression
when the client is connecting to the server through multiple channels.
Through lab measurements, we have seen consistent latency benefits by using fewer connections from the client. The overall
number of packets sent by HTTP/2.0 can be as much as 40% less than HTTP. Handling large numbers of concurrent connections
on the server also does become a scalability problem, and HTTP/2.0 reduces this load.
The use of multiple connections is not without benefit, however. Because HTTP/2.0 multiplexes multiple, independent streams
onto a single stream, it creates a potential for head-of-line blocking problems at the transport level. In tests so far, the
negative effects of head-of-line blocking (especially in the presence of packet loss) is outweighed by the benefits of compression
and prioritization.
5.4
Fixed vs Variable Length Fields
HTTP/2.0 favors use of fixed length 32bit fields in cases where smaller, variable length encodings could have been used. To
some, this seems like a tragic waste of bandwidth. HTTP/2.0 chooses the simple encoding for speed and simplicity.
The goal of HTTP/2.0 is to reduce latency on the network. The overhead of HTTP/2.0 frames is generally quite low. Each data
frame is only an 8 byte overhead for a 1452 byte payload (~0.6%). At the time of this writing, bandwidth is already plentiful,
and there is a strong trend indicating that bandwidth will continue to increase. With an average worldwide bandwidth of 1Mbps,
and assuming that a variable length encoding could reduce the overhead by 50%, the latency saved by using a variable length
encoding would be less than 100 nanoseconds. More interesting are the effects when the larger encodings force a packet boundary,
in which case a round-trip could be induced. However, by addressing other aspects of HTTP/2.0 and TCP interactions, we believe
this is completely mitigated.
5.5
Server Push
A subtle but important point is that server push streams must be declared before the associated stream is closed. The reason
for this is so that proxies have a lifetime for which they can discard information about previous streams. If a pushed stream
could associate itself with an already-closed stream, then endpoints would not have a specific lifecycle for when they could
disavow knowledge of the streams which went before.
6.
Security Considerations
6.1
Server Authority and Same-Origin
This specification uses the same-origin policy (
[RFC6454]
Section 3
) to determine whether an origin server is permitted to provide content.
A server that is contacted using TLS is authenticated based on the certificate that it offers in the TLS handshake (see
[RFC2818]
Section 3
). A server is considered authoritative for an "https:" resource if it has been successfully authenticated for the domain
part of the origin of the resource that it is providing.
A server is considered authoritative for an "http:" resource if the connection is established to a resolved IP address for
the domain in the origin of the resource.
A client MUST NOT use, in any way, resources provided by a server that is not authoritative for those resources.
6.2
Cross-Protocol Attacks
When using TLS, we believe that HTTP/2.0 introduces no new cross-protocol attacks. TLS encrypts the contents of all transmission
(except the handshake itself), making it difficult for attackers to control the data which could be used in a cross-protocol
attack.
rfc.comment.9
: Issue: This is no longer true]
6.3
Cacheability of Pushed Resources
Pushed resources are responses without an explicit request; the request for a pushed resource is synthesized from the request
that triggered the push, plus resource identification information provided by the server. Request header fields are necessary
for HTTP cache control validations (such as the Vary header field) to work. For this reason, caches MUST inherit request header
fields from the associated stream for the push. This includes the Cookie header field.
Caching resources that are pushed is possible, based on the guidance provided by the origin server in the Cache-Control header
field. However, this can cause issues if a single server hosts more than one tenant. For example, a server might offer multiple
users each a small portion of its URI space.
Where multiple tenants share space on the same server, that server MUST ensure that tenants are not able to push representations
of resources that they do not have authority over. Failure to enforce this would allow a tenant to provide a representation
that would be served out of cache, overriding the actual representation that the authoritative tenant provides.
Pushed resources for which an origin server is not authoritative are never cached or used.
7.
Privacy Considerations
7.1
Long Lived Connections
HTTP/2.0 aims to keep connections open longer between clients and servers in order to reduce the latency when a user makes
a request. The maintenance of these connections over time could be used to expose private information. For example, a user
using a browser hours after the previous user stopped using that browser may be able to learn about what the previous user
was doing. This is a problem with HTTP in its current form as well, however the short lived connections make it less of a
risk.
8.
IANA Considerations
This document establishes registries for frame types, error codes and settings.
8.1
Frame Type Registry
This document establishes a registry for HTTP/2.0 frame types. The "HTTP/2.0 Frame Type" registry operates under the
"IETF Review" policy
[RFC5226]
Frame types are an 8-bit value. When reviewing new frame type registrations, special attention is advised for any frame type-specific
flags that are defined. Frame flags can interact with existing flags and could prevent the creation of globally applicable
flags.
Initial values for the "HTTP/2.0 Frame Type" registry are shown in
Table 1
Table 1
Frame Type
Name
Flags
DATA
END_STREAM(1)
HEADERS
END_STREAM(1), END_HEADERS(4), PRIORITY(8)
PRIORITY
RST_STREAM
SETTINGS
PUSH_PROMISE
END_PUSH_PROMISE(1)
PING
PONG(1)
GOAWAY
WINDOW_UPDATE
END_FLOW_CONTROL(1)
8.2
Error Code Registry
This document establishes a registry for HTTP/2.0 error codes. The "HTTP/2.0 Error Code" registry manages a 32-bit space.
The "HTTP/2.0 Error Code" registry operates under the
"Expert Review" policy
[RFC5226]
Registrations for error codes are required to include a description of the error code. An expert reviewer is advised to examine
new registrations for possible duplication with existing error codes. Use of existing registrations is to be encouraged, but
not mandated.
New registrations are advised to provide the following information:
Error Code:
The 32-bit error code value.
Name:
A name for the error code. Specifying an error code name is optional.
Description:
A description of the conditions where the error code is applicable.
Specification:
An optional reference for a specification that defines the error code.
An initial set of error code registrations can be found in
Section 3.5.3
8.3
Settings Registry
This document establishes a registry for HTTP/2.0 settings. The "HTTP/2.0 Settings" registry manages a 24-bit space. The "HTTP/2.0
Settings" registry operates under the
"Expert Review" policy
[RFC5226]
Registrations for settings are required to include a description of the setting. An expert reviewer is advised to examine
new registrations for possible duplication with existing settings. Use of existing registrations is to be encouraged, but
not mandated.
New registrations are advised to provide the following information:
Setting:
The 24-bit setting value.
Name:
A name for the setting. Specifying a name is optional.
Flags:
Any setting-specific flags that apply, including their value and semantics.
Description:
A description of the setting. This might include the range of values, any applicable units and how to act upon a value when
it is provided.
Specification:
An optional reference for a specification that defines the setting.
An initial set of settings registrations can be found in
Section 3.8.5.2
8.4
New HTTP Header Fields Registry
8.4.1
HTTP2-Settings
This section describes a header field for registration in the Permanent Message Header Field Registry
[BCP90]
Header field name
HTTP2-Settings
Applicable protocol
http
Status
standard
Author/Change controller
IETF
Specification document(s)
RFC XXXX (this document)
Related information
This header field is only used by the client in the Upgrade-based negotiation.
The HTTP2-Settings header field is used in the Upgrade-based negotiation by the client. It is sent from the client to the
server to provide the payload for its SETTINGS frame in anticipation of the server responding with HTTP/2.0 frames.
The HTTP2-Settings header field MUST NOT appear more than once in an HTTP request and MUST NOT appear at all in an HTTP response.
9.
Acknowledgements
This document includes substantial input from the following individuals:
Adam Langley, Wan-Teh Chang, Jim Morrison, Mark Nottingham, Alyssa Wilk, Costin Manolache, William Chan, Vitaliy Lvin, Joe
Chan, Adam Barth, Ryan Hamilton, Gavin Peters, Kent Alstad, Kevin Lindsay, Paul Amer, Fan Yang, Jonathan Leighton (SPDY contributors).
Gabriel Montenegro and Willy Tarreau (Upgrade mechanism)
William Chan, Salvatore Loreto, Osama Mazahir, Gabriel Montenegro, Jitu Padhye, Roberto Peon, Rob Trace (Flow control)
Mark Nottingham, Julian Reschke, James Snell, Jeff Pinner (Substantial editorial contributions)
10.
References
10.1
Normative References
[HTTP-p1]
Fielding, R. and J. Reschke, “
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Message Syntax and Routing
”, Internet-Draft draft-ietf-httpbis-p1-messaging-22 (work in progress), February 2013.
[HTTP-p2]
Fielding, R. and J. Reschke, “
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content
”, Internet-Draft draft-ietf-httpbis-p2-semantics-22 (work in progress), February 2013.
[HTTP-p4]
Fielding, R., Ed.
and
J. Reschke, Ed.
, “
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Conditional Requests
”, Internet-Draft draft-ietf-httpbis-p4-conditional-22 (work in progress), February 2013.
[HTTP-p5]
Fielding, R., Ed.
Lafon, Y., Ed.
, and
J. Reschke, Ed.
, “
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Range Requests
”, Internet-Draft draft-ietf-httpbis-p5-range-22 (work in progress), February 2013.
[HTTP-p6]
Fielding, R., Ed.
Nottingham, M., Ed.
, and
J. Reschke, Ed.
, “
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Caching
”, Internet-Draft draft-ietf-httpbis-p6-cache-22 (work in progress), February 2013.
[HTTP-p7]
Fielding, R., Ed.
and
J. Reschke, Ed.
, “
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Authentication
”, Internet-Draft draft-ietf-httpbis-p7-auth-22 (work in progress), February 2013.
[RFC0793]
Postel, J., “
Transmission Control Protocol
”, STD 7, RFC 793, September 1981.
[RFC2119]
Bradner, S.
, “
Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels
”, BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC2818]
Rescorla, E., “
HTTP Over TLS
”, RFC 2818, May 2000.
[RFC3986]
Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, “
Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax
”, STD 66, RFC 3986, January 2005.
[RFC4648]
Josefsson, S., “
The Base16, Base32, and Base64 Data Encodings
”, RFC 4648, October 2006.
[RFC5226]
Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, “
Guidelines for Writing an IANA Considerations Section in RFCs
”, BCP 26, RFC 5226, May 2008.
[RFC5246]
Dierks, T. and E. Rescorla, “
The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.2
”, RFC 5246, August 2008.
[RFC6454]
Barth, A., “
The Web Origin Concept
”, RFC 6454, December 2011.
[TLSALPN]
Friedl, S., Popov, A., Langley, A., and E. Stephan, “
Transport Layer Security (TLS) Application Layer Protocol Negotiation Extension
”, Internet-Draft draft-ietf-tls-applayerprotoneg-01 (work in progress), April 2013.
10.2
Informative References
[BCP90]
Klyne, G.
Nottingham, M.
, and
J. Mogul
, “
Registration Procedures for Message Header Fields
”, BCP 90, RFC 3864, September 2004.
[RFC1323]
Jacobson, V., Braden, B., and D. Borman, “
TCP Extensions for High Performance
”, RFC 1323, May 1992.
[TALKING]
Huang, L-S., Chen, E., Barth, A., Rescorla, E., and C. Jackson, “
Talking to Yourself for Fun and Profit
”, 2011, <
>.
Authors' Addresses
Mike Belshe
Belshe
Mike
Twist
Email:
mbelshe@chromium.org
Roberto Peon
Peon
Roberto
Google, Inc
Email:
fenix@google.com
Martin Thomson
(editor)
Thomson
Martin
Microsoft
3210 Porter Drive
Palo Alto
94304
US
Email:
martin.thomson@skype.net
Alexey Melnikov
(editor)
Melnikov
Alexey
Isode Ltd
5 Castle Business Village
36 Station Road
Hampton
Middlesex
TW12 2BX
UK
Email:
Alexey.Melnikov@isode.com
A.
Change Log (to be removed by RFC Editor before publication)
A.1
Since draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-03
Added PRIORITY frame.
A.2
Since draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-02
Added continuations to frames carrying header blocks.
Replaced use of "session" with "connection" to avoid confusion with other HTTP stateful concepts, like cookies.
Removed "message".
Switched to TLS ALPN from NPN.
Editorial changes.
A.3
Since draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-01
Added IANA considerations section for frame types, error codes and settings.
Removed data frame compression.
Added PUSH_PROMISE.
Added globally applicable flags to framing.
Removed zlib-based header compression mechanism.
Updated references.
Clarified stream identifier reuse.
Removed CREDENTIALS frame and associated mechanisms.
Added advice against naive implementation of flow control.
Added session header section.
Restructured frame header. Removed distinction between data and control frames.
Altered flow control properties to include session-level limits.
Added note on cacheability of pushed resources and multiple tenant servers.
Changed protocol label form based on discussions.
A.4
Since draft-ietf-httpbis-http2-00
Changed title throughout.
Removed section on Incompatibilities with SPDY draft#2.
Changed INTERNAL_ERROR on GOAWAY to have a value of 2 <
>.
Replaced abstract and introduction.
Added section on starting HTTP/2.0, including upgrade mechanism.
Removed unused references.
Added flow control principles (
Section 3.6.1
) based on <
>.
A.5
Since draft-mbelshe-httpbis-spdy-00
Adopted as base for draft-ietf-httpbis-http2.
Updated authors/editors list.
Added status note.