HTTP/2

HTTP/2 is the second major version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, defined by the IETF in RFC 7540 and standardized in 2015. It optimizes use of network resources and reduces perceived latency by introducing a binary framing layer over a single TCP connection, with full request and response multiplexing across independent bidirectional streams. HTTP/2 uses HPACK header compression to eliminate redundant header data, credit-based flow control via WINDOW_UPDATE frames, stream prioritization through dependencies and weights, and server push via PUSH_PROMISE frames to proactively deliver anticipated resources. Core frame types include DATA, HEADERS, PRIORITY, RST_STREAM, SETTINGS, PUSH_PROMISE, PING, and GOAWAY, with the protocol preserving the existing HTTP semantics of methods, status codes, and headers while transforming how they are transported on the wire.

HTTP/2 is profiled on the APIs.io network. Tagged areas include Binary Framing, HPACK, HTTP, HTTP/2, and IETF.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub

8.7/100 minimal ▬ flat Agent 0/100 human only Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-07-23 · rubric v0.5

0 APIs

Binary FramingHPACKHTTPHTTP/2IETFMultiplexingNetworkingPerformanceProtocolRFC 7540Server Push

Kin Score

Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-07-23 · rubric v0.5

Composite quality — 8.7/100 · minimal

Contract Quality 0.0 / 25

Developer Ergonomics 1.3 / 20

Commercial Clarity 0.0 / 20

Operational Transparency 0.7 / 13

Governance 0.0 / 12

Discoverability 6.8 / 10

Agent readiness — 0/100 · human only

Machine-Readable Contract 0 / 18

Agentic Access Contract 0 / 15

MCP Server 0 / 12

Machine-Readable Auth 0 / 10

Idempotency 0 / 9

Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8

Request/Response Examples 0 / 7

Rate-Limit Signaling 0 / 7

Typed Event Surface 0 / 6

Agent Skills 0 / 5

Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4

Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3

Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/http-2: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Want it done for you? Prioritized profiling — $2,500 →

Resources

Documentation 2

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Reference

Reference

HPACK Specification

HPACK Specification

Build 1

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

GitHubOrganization

GitHubOrganization

Company 1

The organization behind the API

Website

Website

Other 1

Properties that don't map to a standard resource type

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Source (apis.yml)

aid: http-2
name: HTTP/2
description: HTTP/2 is the second major version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, defined by the IETF in RFC 7540 and standardized
  in 2015. It optimizes use of network resources and reduces perceived latency by introducing a binary framing layer over
  a single TCP connection, with full request and response multiplexing across independent bidirectional streams. HTTP/2 uses
  HPACK header compression to eliminate redundant header data, credit-based flow control via WINDOW_UPDATE frames, stream
  prioritization through dependencies and weights, and server push via PUSH_PROMISE frames to proactively deliver anticipated
  resources. Core frame types include DATA, HEADERS, PRIORITY, RST_STREAM, SETTINGS, PUSH_PROMISE, PING, and GOAWAY, with
  the protocol preserving the existing HTTP semantics of methods, status codes, and headers while transforming how they are
  transported on the wire.
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/http-2/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
type: Index
accessModel:
  pricing: unknown
  onboarding: unknown
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  label: Unknown
  confidence: low
  source: []
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/http-2.png
tags:
- Binary Framing
- HPACK
- HTTP
- HTTP/2
- IETF
- Multiplexing
- Networking
- Performance
- Protocol
- RFC 7540
- Server Push
created: '2025'
modified: '2026-04-28'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis: []
common:
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/http2
- type: Reference
  url: https://httpwg.org/specs/rfc7540.html
- type: Website
  url: https://http2.github.io/
- type: HPACK Specification
  url: https://httpwg.org/specs/rfc7541.html
- type: Wikipedia
  url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP/2
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com