What is a MIME type?
January 13, 2022 (Updated January 13, 2022)
A MIME type (aka media type) is metadata that describes the type of a HTTP resource. Web browsers and clients usually specify the mime type of their request by including a Content-Type header (e.g., Content-Type: text/html). Web servers also add a Content-Type header to help web browsers and clients to render or manipulate the response correctly.
In short, here are some uses of a MIME type:
- Clients find out what sort of data it received and so how to render it.
- Servers can restrict the type of data that a client can send (e.g., only
json). - Clients request a specific type (amongst many possibilities) from the server (e.g.,
json,html,xml, etc).
Sources
Tagged:
HTTP