Question 1

What is a MIME type?

Accepted Answer

A MIME type (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions type) is a label that identifies the nature and format of a file. It follows the format type/subtype — for example, text/html for web pages, application/json for JSON data, image/png for PNG images. Web servers include the Content-Type header with the MIME type so browsers know how to handle the response.

Question 2

What MIME type should I use for JSON API responses?

Accepted Answer

Use application/json. Some older APIs used text/plain or application/x-json, but application/json is the IANA-registered standard since RFC 4627 (2006). Set it as Content-Type: application/json in your HTTP response header.

Question 3

What is the MIME type for a PDF file?

Accepted Answer

application/pdf. This is the correct Content-Type when serving a PDF file over HTTP. If you also want the browser to prompt a download instead of displaying the PDF, add Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="file.pdf".

Question 4

What MIME type should I use for SVG images?

Accepted Answer

image/svg+xml. This is the correct Content-Type for SVG files. Using image/svg without the +xml is incorrect and may cause browsers to not render the SVG correctly. Also set the charset: Content-Type: image/svg+xml; charset=utf-8.

MIME Type Lookup

MIME type lookup

MIME Type Lookup

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MIME type lookup