Media types and subtypes
A media type (formerly known as MIME type) describes the kind of document that is transmitted from server to client.
A media type consists of a type and a subtype and optional parameters:
type "/" [tree "."] subtype ["+" suffix]* [";" parameter]
Examples for media types are application/pdf or image/jpeg.
Registered types are:
-
application
-
audio
-
example
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font
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image
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message
-
model
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multipart
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text
-
video
chemical is an unofficial top-level name in common use.
.vnd, .x and .prs types
In theory, all mime types are registered with IANA (»Internet Assigned Numbers Authority«).
However, some vendors choose to use unofficial types and prepend them with x- (or more modernly x.?).
Vendor specific media sub-types start with vnd. (for example application/vnd.github.mercy-preview+json).
Personal (vanity) specific media sub-types start with prs..