Clipcode ID's key idea is the innovative use of category theory for naming (intro and details). All knowledge is based on mathematics and any modern mathematician will tell you all of mathematics is based on category theory.

Though Clipcode ID uses category theory for naming, this wonderful area of mathematics has much more widespread usage. One should consider naming as part of a much larger picture and using the same modern mathematics as the foundation everywhere is simply efficient.

New scheme

Clipcode ID uses Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI) to identify resources. The beginning of a URI is what is known as the scheme, which sets out the rules for the remainder of the URI. Many schemes exist and most people are familiar with the https: scheme. As an example showing how a new scheme can be created, see Section 6 of the IETF RFC 4227 standard.

Clipcode ID introduces the new "clipcode:" URI scheme, with the intention of identifying and interacting with all kinds of resources. Clipcode ID subdivides naming into realms. Each realm is managed by one organization. Realms are somewhat similar to Internet domains, but also different (e.g. a realm can represent physical resources and uses a multi-path non-hierarchical naming structure).

So a realm for a fictious company with a brand called Demo would be:
clipcode://Demo+

Where it is obvious a Clipcode ID is in use, the clipcode: scheme name can be removed. So this realm could also be written simply as:
Demo+

It is common these days to see Brand+ as an extended experience for Brand (e.g. Disney+, Paramount+, Walmart+, Ford+). What that experience is varies between companies. Some brands even have multiple (Apple TV+, Apple Fitness+). Every modern company should offer a "plus", which is exactly what Clipcode ID faciliates.

Here are details of the Clipcode: URI scheme.

Multiple arrows, any order

While https allows only a single naming path with a fixed order, because Clipcode ID uses category theory it allows multiple paths, in any order. So imagine our Demo company has realms dedicated to the public, external customers and internal (staff). Paths in a name are to end with a '+' symbol (think of it as the tip of an arrow - because that is what it is):
clipcode://Demo+Public
clipcode://Demo+External
clipcode://Demo+Internal

The use of '+' for the last arrow is optional - so these are the same as above:
clipcode://Demo+Public+
clipcode://Demo+External+
clipcode://Demo+Internal+

The arrows in a Clipcode ID can be in any order, so these are the same as above (though normally we recommend the branding path to come first):
clipcode://Public+Demo+
clipcode://External+Demo+
clipcode://Internal+Demo+


This is a significantly different approach compared to https:, where https://external.demo.org is a completely different URI to https://demo.external.org. Here we show just two parts, but imagine having 4-10, which clipcode: can easily handle but for https: the permutations gets very large.

Path Segments

In addition to being mutli-path, Clipcode IDs have paths that each can be multi-segment. Dashes connect additional path segments.
clipcode://SegmentA-SegmentB+

For example, the Demo company might have a distinct realm for its European, African and Middle East division (EMEA):
clipcode://Demo-Emea+

Path segments are always listed from more general to more specific. Each path segment should be written with capitalized names, with no spaces (sometimes called Pascal Casing).

Composite arrows

Category theory is built around the idea of composition and hence this is supported by Clipcode ID. As an example, the financial results for the Senior Management Team (SMT) for the European, Middle East And Africa region of our Demo fictious company might be available here:
clipcode://Internal-SMT+Financial-Quarterly+Demo-EMEA

This of course is the same as any of these:
clipcode://Internal-SMT+Demo-EMEA+Financial-Quarterly
clipcode://Financial-Quarterly+Internal-SMT+Demo-EMEA
clipcode://Financial-Quarterly+Demo-EMEA+Internal-SMT
clipcode://Demo-EMEA+Internal-SMT+Financial-Quarterly
clipcode://Demo-EMEA+Financial-Quarterly+Internal-SMT

So, unlike https:, with clipcode: a user does not have to remember sequencing of naming paths.

A path should contain at least one '+' symbol, unless used as a simple path combined with a domain name (see later).

Clipcode IDs are case-insensitive - but it is recommended to capitalize the initial letter of each path segment component.

Context

Sometimes a context exists where it is obvious certain selections are expected. So for example if browsing an online book store, it can be said your context already includes "+books" and so this does not need to be manually added to the URI, so these are the same:
clipcode://Books+Catalog+Public+Demo-Shop+
clipcode://Catalog+Public+Demo-Shop+

Co-existing with https

It is noted https: URIs are in widespread use today and Clipcode ID can also co-exist with them. To do this, use an existing https: URI and append the Clipcode URI (excluding "clipcode:").

Hence this:
clipcode://internal-smt+financial-quarterly+demo-emea+
becomes this:
https://demo.com/internal-smt+financial-quarterly+emea+
(Note there is a need to use a "canonical" naming sequence, since https: uses a fixed order of naming parts).

Avoiding Confusion With Domain Names

A domain name cannot contain a '+' symbol - pretty much all Clipcode IDs do. Clipcode IDs cannot contain a '.' symbol - pretty much all domain names do. In this simple way we ensure Clipcode IDs and traditional domain names are not confused.

Where there is a wish to add a Clipcode ID to an existing domain name (e.g. as a sub-domain), a single path realm can be used, without the '+' symbol.

Here is a selection of the types of Clipcode ID:

Clipcode Identity Platform is the software infrastructure that powers Clipcode ID. Contact us for more details.