schemehostpathqueryfragment

The term “scheme host path” refers to three principal components of a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that together form the hierarchical part of a web address. These components are defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force in RFC 3986.

The scheme identifies the protocol or application layer protocol that should be used to access the resource. Common schemes include http, https, ftp, mailto, and file. The scheme is followed by a colon and optionally two slashes that introduce the authority.

The host specifies the location of the resource, usually an Internet domain name or IP address. In some URIs the host may include a user information segment or port number, which are still considered part of the host authority, but the basic “host” component is the domain or IP itself.

The path indicates the specific location of the resource on the host. It is a slash‐separated string that may represent directories, files, or other server‐defined navigation. The path is interpreted by the server’s application logic and may include URL-encoded characters.

Together a typical URL such as https://www.example.com/path/to/page is broken into the scheme (https), the host (www.example.com), and the path (/path/to/page). Other URI forms might omit the path or use a query string or fragment after it, but the core scheme/host/path structure remains essential for routing requests across the Internet. The separation of these components allows clients to correctly determine which protocol, server, and resource location to contact when requesting data.