Untitled Protocol

A lightweight, machine-readable standard for declaring the ontological status of web content — whether a page is radically present-tense, formally incomplete, intended to disappear, anonymously authored, collectively produced, or algorithmically generated. The protocol defines three signaling surfaces: an HTML <meta> element, an HTTP response header (X-Untitled), and a plain-text sidecar file (UNTITLED) for non-HTML assets.

→ untitled.now

Specification

The current specification is SPEC.md — also rendered at untitled.now/spec/.

Quick start

<!-- Present-tense content that is not a permanent record -->
<meta name="untitled" content="now">

<!-- Formally incomplete -->
<meta name="untitled" content="draft">

<!-- Creator intends to remove without notice -->
<meta name="untitled" content="ephemeral">

<!-- Authorship deliberately withheld -->
<meta name="untitled" content="anonymous">

<!-- Produced by a group of indeterminate membership -->
<meta name="untitled" content="collective">

<!-- Produced in whole or part by a generative process -->
<meta name="untitled" content="generative">

Or via HTTP header:

X-Untitled: now
X-Untitled: ephemeral, anonymous
X-Untitled: draft; version=0.3

npm package

untitled-meta — zero-dependency JS/TS package for setting the Untitled state programmatically. Works in any JS/TS project: React, Vue, Next.js, Astro, Express, and plain JavaScript.

npm install untitled-meta

import { setUntitled, header, headerObject } from 'untitled-meta'

// Client-side (sets <meta name="untitled">)
setUntitled('now')

// Server-side (HTTP header string)
res.setHeader(...header('draft').split(': '))

// Server-side (header object, spreads directly)
new Response(body, { headers: headerObject('ephemeral, anonymous') })

Source: plugins/untitled-meta/

Tools

• untitled-meta — npm package for JS/TS projects (see above)
• untitled.js — drop-in visual indicator (1 kb, no dependencies)
• Validator — check any URL for an Untitled declaration
• Suggest — AI-powered state recommendation
• Tools registry — implementations and integrations

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

CC0 1.0 Universal — public domain dedication.