Popular content and URI schemes

A brief summary of popular use cases for QR codes.

URL https

Perhaps the most common use for QR Codes is to share URLs: simply encode the (URL-encoded) string value and make sure to include the scheme http(s):// so that it can be properly identified by the reader application:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL

Some URLs may open a vendor specific application, for example the following URL may open the YouTube app:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

See also:

E-Mail mailto

E-Mail links are encoded similar to URLs, preceded by the mailto: scheme to ensure they are properly identified and the default mail application can be opened. Parameters may be added as a URL query string:

mailto:<ADDR>[,...?to=<ADDR>,...&cc=<ADDR>,...&bcc=<ADDR>,...&subject=<SUBJECT>&body=<BODY>]

Query parameter

Description

to

Alternative to add a recipient address: mailto:<ADDR>?to=<ADDR> is equivalent to
mailto:<ADDR>,<ADDR> and mailto:?to=<ADDR>,<ADDR>

subject

Subject text: mailto:<ADDR>?subject=Hello%20World%21 would open the e-mail app
and create a messagewith the subject Hello World!

body

Message body: mailto:<ADDR>?body=This%20is%20the%20message%20body.
creates a message with the contents This is the message body.

cc

“Carbon copy” to add one or more cc recipients

bcc

“Blind carbon copy” to add one or more bcc recipients

The fields for recipient adresses (mailto:, to, cc, bcc) may contain one or more elements separated by a comma ,; the values of all fields shall be URL-encoded according to RFC 3986.

Examples:

  • mailto:?to=addr1@example.com

  • mailto:addr1@example.com,addr2@example.com

  • mailto:addr1@example.com?cc=addr2@example.com&subject=Hello%21

See also:

Phone numbers tel

A phone number should be prefixed with the tel: scheme so that a device’s dialer can be invoked properly:

tel:+999-123-456-7890

Generally, the most complete version of a telephone number possible should be used, e.g. +<country code><area code><number>, spaces or hyphens may be used to separate blocks. Some devices may also support the sms and fax schemes, which are deprecated in favor of tel.

See also:

Geo Coordinates geo

A geographical coordinate, including altitude can be encoded using the geo: URI scheme so that it can be opened with a map application.

geo:<latitude>,<longitude>[,<altitude>;crs=<crs>;u=<num>]

The default coordinate system is WGS-84, for which latitude and longitude should be supplied as decimal degrees, the optional altitude in meters. The parameter u can be used to specify an uncertainty value (in meters), a different coordinate reference system may be supplied with crs.

Some applications support an additional query string with values of z for zoom level and q for a local search query (URL-encoded):

geo:<latitude>,<longitude>?z=<zoom>&q=<search>

Examples:

  • geo:47.620521,-122.349293

  • geo:27.988056,86.925278,8848

  • geo:11.373333,142.591667,-10920;u=10

  • geo:37.786971,-122.399677;crs=Moon-2011;u=35

See also:

Mobile Authenticators otpauth

Mobile authenticators can be added with the otpauth scheme:

otpauth://<MODE>/<LABEL>?secret=<SECRET>[&issuer=<ISSUER>&params...]

The path elemets MODE and LABEL as well as the query parameter secret are mandatory, other query parameters are optional, however, it is strongy advised to add the issuer parameter to ease identification. The LABEL, as well as the issuer values shall be URL-encoded according to RFC 3986.

Path element

Description

MODE

Authenticator mode, either totp (time based) or hotp (counter based)

LABEL

The label is used to identify which account a key is associated with.
It may be prefixed with the issuer name, separated by a colon: <issuer>:<account>

Query parameter

Description

secret

Secret key (required), a cryptographically random string, encoded in Base32
according to RFC 3548 (without padding).
Some authenticators may support Base64 and hexadecimal values as well.

issuer

A string value indicating the provider or service this account is associated with.

algorithm

Hash algorithm, may be one of SHA1 (default), SHA256 or SHA512

digits

Length of the OTP code: 6 or 8

counter

(hotp only, required) The initial counter value

period

(totp only) The period of time in seconds a code will be valid for (default: 30)

The parameters algorithm, digits and period may not be supported by some devices/apps.

Examples:

  • otpauth://hotp/example.com:counter-based?secret=JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP&counter=42

  • otpauth://hotp/counter-based?secret=JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP&issuer=example.com&digits=6&algorithm=SHA256&counter=42

  • otpauth://totp/example.com%3Atime-based?secret=JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP

  • otpauth://totp/time-based?secret=JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP&issuer=example.com&digits=8&algorithm=SHA512&period=60

See also:

Wireless Network configuration

Wi-Fi configuration general syntax looks as follows:

WIFI:S:<SSID>[;T:<TYPE>;P:<PASSWORD>;H:<HIDDEN>;];

Parameter

Description

S*

Network SSID (required)

T

Authentication type: can be one of WEP, WPA, WPA2-EAP
or nopass for no password (in which case you can omit the parameter)

P*

Password, ignored if parameter T is set to nopass

H

Set to true the network SSID is hidden.

* the value shall be enclosed in double quotes " if it is an ASCII string that can be interpreted as hex, e.g. "ABCD1234", special characters \ ; , " : shall be escaped with a backslash \.

Additional parameters for WPA2 and WPA3 (please note that these parameters may not be supported by some devices):

Parameter

Description

A

WPA2-EAP: Anonymous identity

E

WPA2-EAP: EAP method, like TTLS or PWD

PH2

WPA2-EAP: Phase 2 method, like MSCHAPV2

I

WPA2-EAP, WPA3: UTF-8 encoded password identifier, present if
the password has an SAE password identifier

K

WPA3: DER of ASN.1 SubjectPublicKeyInfo in compressed form
and encoded in “base64”, present when the network supports SAE-PK

R

WPA3: Transition Disable value

Examples:

  • WIFI:S:MyNetworkWihoutPassword;;

  • WIFI:S:MyNetworkWihoutPassword;T:nopass;P:;;

  • WIFI:S:MyHiddenWpaNetwork;T:WPA;P:"PASSWORD123";H:true;;

  • WIFI:S:MyHiddenWpa2Network;T:WPA2-EAP;P:"PASSWORD123";H:true;;

See also:

Contact information: vCard

The vCard is the most commonly used format to exchange contact details. It’s too complex to fully explain here, instead just a bare minimum example:

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
N:<NAME>
FN:<FULL NAME>
GENDER:O
EMAIL;type=(WORK|HOME):<EMAIL>
TEL;type=(WORK|CELL|HOME):<PHONE>
ADR;type=WORK:<LINE1>;<LINE2>;<STREET>;<CITY>;<STATE>;<ZIP>;<COUNTRY>
TZ:<CITY/COUNTRY>
URL:<URL>
PHOTO;JPEG:<LINK>
LOGO;JPEG:<LINK>
NOTE:<TEXT>
CATEGORIES:<LIST>
END:VCARD

See also:

Calendar Events: vCalendar and iCalendar

Calendar events can be shared via the iCalendar (formerly vCalendar) object (example from icalendar-generator):

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:spatie/icalendar-generator
NAME:Laracon online
X-WR-CALNAME:Laracon online
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:5ef5c3f64cb2c
DTSTAMP;TZID=UTC:20200626T094630
SUMMARY:Creating calendar feeds
DTSTART:20190306T150000Z
DTEND:20190306T160000Z
DTSTAMP:20190419T135034Z
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

See also:

SEPA Credit Transfer

See also