Hypertext Application Language

HAL (Hypertext Application Language) is a hypermedia format for representing links in JSON or XML. Introduced in 2012 for JSON, it now supports both JSON and XML via the application/hal+json and application/hal+xml media types. The specification remains an Internet-Draft; the latest edition is version 11 from October 10, 2023.

The JSON Hypertext Application Language (HAL) is a standard which establishes conventions for expressing hypermedia controls, such as links, with JSON [RFC4627]. HAL is a generic media type with which Web APIs can be developed and exposed as series of links. Clients of these APIs can select links by their link relation type and traverse them in order to progress through the application.

HAL’s conventions result in a uniform interface for serving and consuming hypermedia, enabling the creation of general-purpose libraries that can be re-used on any API utilising HAL. The primary design goals of HAL are generality and simplicity. HAL can be applied to many different domains, and imposes the minimal amount of structure necessary to cover the key requirements of a hypermedia Web API.

**License: BSD License

Tags: Hypermedia

Properties: Resources, Links, Link Relations, Discovery, and Curies

Website: - https://stateless.group/hal_specification.html

Internet Draft: - https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-kelly-json-hal-11.html