Applies to: Protocol and format interpretation for developers inspecting authorized media delivery.
The useful distinctions
- Location supplies a redirect target with an applicable redirect status.
- Its field value can be a URI reference.
- Relative references require a base URI.
Keep the complete base URL
When a redirect field begins with a parent-directory reference, the current path matters. In the example, the request URL includes a nested release directory. Resolving the target requires the directory containing the requested resource, not just the site's hostname. Write the base and relative reference on separate lines before combining them. This prevents an accidental jump to the root or retention of an obsolete path segment.
Record the redirect as its own observation
A useful request ledger contains the original URL, the redirect status, the raw Location value, and the resolved next URL. Each step answers a different question. The redirect itself does not show what the next server returns, whether that response is media, or whether a client will choose to follow it. If the resolved target changes origin, review that transition explicitly in the authorized client design. Do not copy credentials into a new request merely because a path resolution exercise produced a target. The worked example uses reserved invalid hostnames and contains no account information, so its output remains a safe text-only reference. Write the resolved result as a new ledger field and retain the original relative value. Keeping both makes a later base-path change visible instead of permanently baking one observed resolution into the source metadata.
Worked example · synthetic
The request-URL line is explanatory context, not a wire header. The resolved target is https://media.example.invalid/releases/r6/master.m3u8; r5 is replaced during relative-path resolution.
The response block is valid HTTP; the leading Request URL line is labelled explanatory context.
HTTP/MIME line endings are CRLF. Request URL context, where labelled, is commentary rather than a wire field. No message was transmitted.
Request URL: https://media.example.invalid/releases/r5/master.m3u8
HTTP/1.1 307 Temporary Redirect
Date: Sun, 08 Nov 2026 08:00:00 GMT
Location: ../r6/master.m3u8
Content-Length: 0
Check the interpretation
- Retain the full base URL.
- Store raw and resolved targets separately.
- Do not infer the next response from the redirect.