MIME Type

ELI5 — The Vibe Check

A MIME type is a standardized label for what type of content something is. 'text/html' means HTML. 'image/jpeg' means a JPEG image. 'application/json' means JSON data. Browsers use MIME types to decide how to handle files — whether to display, download, or run them.

Real Talk

MIME types are standardized identifiers for content types using the format type/subtype (e.g., text/html, application/json). They originated for email attachments but are now used everywhere in HTTP via Content-Type headers. Registered by IANA.

Show Me The Code

// Common MIME types
text/html                    // HTML document
text/css                     // CSS stylesheet
text/javascript              // JavaScript
application/json             // JSON data
application/xml              // XML
application/pdf              // PDF
image/jpeg                   // JPEG image
image/png                    // PNG image
image/svg+xml                // SVG
audio/mpeg                   // MP3
video/mp4                    // MP4 video
multipart/form-data          // File uploads
application/octet-stream     // Binary / unknown

When You'll Hear This

"Set the correct MIME type so the browser handles the file properly." / "The server is sending SVG with the wrong MIME type."