Web & APIsIntermediate
Multipart Form Data
PronunciationMULL-tee-part FORM DAY-ta
Definition
A content type used in HTTP requests to send files and text data together in a single message. It splits the request body into multiple parts, each with its own headers.
Where you hear it
When building file upload features or working with HTML forms that contain file inputs.
Examples
The browser sets the Content-Type header to multipart/form-data when a user submits a file upload form.
You must configure your backend server to parse multipart/form-data to handle incoming image uploads.
Common mistake
Trying to send a file as a standard JSON object; JSON cannot handle binary data, so you must use multipart/form-data instead.