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RDF resource HTTP describes how resources identified by URIs in the Resource Description Framework (RDF) are retrieved and described over the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). In RDF, every thing is identified by a URI, and HTTP URIs are commonly used to identify concepts, agents, and data entities on the Web. Dereferencing an RDF URI via HTTP enables clients to fetch representations of the resource or related data in machine-readable form.

HTTP supports content negotiation, allowing servers to serve different RDF serializations depending on the client’s request. Typical formats include Turtle, RDF/XML, N-Triples, RDFa, and JSON-LD. If the resource is an information resource, a 200 OK response may directly convey the data. If the resource is a non-information resource (for example, a person or concept), a common practice uses a 303 See Other redirect to a separate information resource that documents the resource.

Best practices emphasize dereferenceable HTTP URIs and stable identifiers, enabling data interlinking across datasets. Providing multiple representations and links to related resources supports data integration and discovery consistent with Linked Data principles.

Implications for developers include handling content negotiation, caching, and error conditions, as well as being mindful of consistency between IDs and their representations. RDF resource HTTP underpins many knowledge graphs, vocabularies, and data catalogs on the Web.