Webcal is a
uniform resource identifier (URI) scheme for accessing
iCalendar
The Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) is a media type which allows users to store and exchange calendaring and scheduling information such as events, to-dos, journal entries, and free/busy information, ...
files. WebCal allows you to create and maintain an interactive events calendar or scheduling system on a Web site or app.
The
webcal scheme was devised for use with the
Apple iCal application and has become a common
de facto standard for accessing
iCalendar
The Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) is a media type which allows users to store and exchange calendaring and scheduling information such as events, to-dos, journal entries, and free/busy information, ...
formatted files via
WebDAV
WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) is a set of extensions to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which allows user agents to collaboratively author contents ''directly'' in an HTTP web server by providing facilities for conc ...
, usually using GET method. It is not an official URI scheme, such as
http and
ftp, as registered with
IANA
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System (DNS), media types, and other Internet P ...
. , the webcal scheme has provisional status with IANA. The Webcal protocol prefix is used to trigger an external protocol handler which is passed the
URL
A uniform resource locator (URL), colloquially known as an address on the Web, is a reference to a resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identi ...
of the
.ics
The Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) is a media type which allows users to store and exchange calendaring and scheduling information such as events, to-dos, journal entries, and free/busy information, a ...
file rather than being passed the downloaded contents of the file, in much the same way
feed is sometimes used to trigger external
RSS
RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many ...
readers. The idea is that with this protocol prefix the target file should be subscribed to rather than imported into the calendar application as would happen with a simple download.
Handlers
Notable software packages and web applications supporting the webcal protocol include:
*
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a time-management and scheduling calendar service developed by Google. It was created by Mike Samuel as part of his 20% project at Google. It became available in Software release life cycle#Beta, beta release April 13, 2006, ...
*
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft 365 software suites. Primarily popular as an email client for businesses, Outlook also includes functions such as Calendari ...
*
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a free and open-source email client that also functions as a personal information manager with a Digital calendar, calendar and contactbook, as well as an RSS feed reader, chat client (IRC/XMPP/Matrix (protocol), Matrix), ...
*
Nextcloud
Nextcloud is a suite of Client–server model, client-server software for creating and using file hosting services. It can integrate with the Collabora Online and OnlyOffice office suites. It can be hosted in the Cloud computing, cloud or On-pre ...
Alternative protocols
CalDAV
Calendaring Extensions to WebDAV, or CalDAV, is an Internet standard allowing a client to access and manage calendar data along with the ability to schedule meetings with users on the same or on remote servers. It lets multiple users in differe ...
and GroupDAV are both efforts to provide WebDAV-based access to calendar stores with finer granularity. The CalDAV Access protocol has been standardized by the IETF and published as RFC 4791. Extensions to CalDAV for automated scheduling are also standardized, as RFC 6638.
Neither of those protocols call for using
DAV style URIs. Instead, both drafts call for using the
HTTP
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, wher ...
OPTIONS feature to return that the server supports calendaring extensions.
See also
*
List of URI schemes
This article lists common URI schemes. A Uniform Resource Identifier helps identify a source without ambiguity. Many URI schemes are registered with the IANA; however, there exist many unofficial URI schemes as well. Mobile deep links are one ex ...
References
External links
* : Calendar Access Protocol (CAP)
* : Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) (replaces )
Webcal description and rationalearchived at the Wayback Machine.
{{URI scheme
URI schemes