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3. Overview Of The Initial Top-Level Media Types

This document defines seven initial top-level media types. These types are divided into two categories: discrete types and composite types.

Discrete Types​

The content of discrete types is essentially opaque to MIME processing.

1. text​

  • Used for textual information
  • Subtypes: plain, html, css, javascript, etc.
  • Common parameter: charset

2. image​

  • Used for static image data
  • Subtypes: jpeg, png, gif, svg+xml, etc.
  • Does not include animation (use video)

3. audio​

  • Used for audio data
  • Subtypes: mpeg, wav, ogg, etc.
  • Audio only (no video)

4. video​

  • Used for video data (may include audio)
  • Subtypes: mp4, mpeg, ogg, etc.
  • Can include audio tracks

5. application​

  • Used for other types of data
  • Subtypes: pdf, zip, json, xml, octet-stream, etc.
  • Data requiring application processing

Composite Types​

Composite types require additional processing by MIME processors.

6. multipart​

  • Contains multiple independent body parts
  • Subtypes: mixed, alternative, related, form-data, etc.
  • Uses boundary parameter to separate parts

7. message​

  • Encapsulated messages
  • Subtypes: rfc822, partial, external-body, etc.
  • Can contain complete mail messages

Type Selection Guide:

  • Plain text document → text/plain
  • HTML page → text/html
  • JPEG image → image/jpeg
  • MP3 audio → audio/mpeg
  • MP4 video → video/mp4
  • PDF document → application/pdf
  • JSON data → application/json
  • Unknown binary → application/octet-stream
  • Text + attachments → multipart/mixed
  • Plain text + HTML → multipart/alternative
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