[Atp] Re: Opening the AT URI (at://) Syntax Discussion

[Ted Hardie <[e-mail]>]

Hi Robin,

I'm not quite sure if "Tee hee" indicates the same thing as "/s" at the
bottom of a post, so forgive me if I missed your intent.

First, the "+something" convention is just a convention, and each
individual URI scheme would have to be registered and the syntax and
semantics approved.  In the past, some uses of that convention have
resulted in folks believing that they can mint new schemes from a
registered base without further action.  That runs a risk of collision,
which the URI registration system is designed to avoid.

It's probably also not needed here in any case since the current DID
specification (https://www.w3.org/TR/did-1.0/) has the DID method as the
second element in the URI (see example 1 for more).  So I don't the we need
a separate +identifier in this instance.

Having the at URI syntax be a transform of the DID syntax might work,
though, something like

at://DID-method/did-identifier/record_type/record_id.

That would be distinguished from the current form by the lack of the did
string after the //.  So the original example in Bryan's email:

at://did:plc:44ybard66vv644n2/app.bsky.feed.post/3jwdwj2ctlk26

would become

at://plc/44ybard66vv644n2/app.bsky.feed.post/3jwdwj2ctlk26

It's a somewhat odd use of the authority field.  Technically we could see
the DID method as a regname, but not quite what's normally meant It might
work well enough, though.  Again, I suggest asking the current URI expert
(and the whole list) for input early.

regards,

Ted

On Wed, Jul 8, 2026 at 10:26 AM Robin Berjon <[e-mail]> wrote:

> On 08/07/2026 06:42, Emelia S. wrote:
> > Whilst most account ids are indeed did:plc today, there are at least
> > some portion, however small, which are did:web today. Maybe the "omit
> > the did:plc / did:web" prefix holds true still there, but I think it'd
> > make it much harder to adopt, say, did:webvh in the future or other did
> > methods.
>
> Indeed.
>
> That said, we could ride on the web+ precedent (along with all the +xml,
> +json, +ld amusement park) and have:
>
>
>    did+plc://izttpdp3l6vss5crelt5kcux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp4rxoodss2a
>
> That's a URL, it parses, and it has most of the information about the
> resource. If we wish to also convey that it's a resource that affords
> interactions through AT (which admittedly it should), we can rock up to:
>
>    at+did+plc://izttpdp3l6vss5crelt5kcux/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp4rxoodss2a
>
>
>
> Tee hee.
>
> --
> Robin Berjon (he/him)
> https://berjon.com/ - social: https://robin.berjon.com/
>
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