capability URL

A Capability URL (AKA magic link, hard to guess URL, or secret URL) is a URL that provides access to a resource to anyone who has the URL without an explicit login.

IndieWeb Examples

gRegor Morrill

gRegor Morrill uses capability URLs for passwordless sign-in to https://gregorlove.com/profile/ since 2023-01.

• See newsletter#gRegor_Morrill

Add yourself!

Add yourself here… (see this for more details)

Related Examples

See:

• unlisted#IndieWeb_Examples

Silo Examples

Flickr

Flickr provides the ability to create a special link to view otherwise private photo albums. (need link to docs / example)

Other uses of the term 'magic link'

As an authentication mechanism

• Slack, Glitch and other services will send you a link via email you need to click in order to login, sometimes instead of a traditional username/password setup.

W3C on Capability URLs

W3C has several links on this, all titled "Good Practices for Capability URLs"

• 2018-10-30 Draft TAG Finding: http://w3ctag.github.io/capability-urls/
• 2014-10-30 Tag Finding: https://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/capability-urls/
• 2014-02-18 First Public Working Draft: https://www.w3.org/TR/capability-urls/

See Also

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security seems similar or at least adjacent conceptually