AI-assisted tools can now generate high-quality interactive web content —games, presentations, simulations, educational materials— in minutes. This has created a massive and growing category of ephemeral Web applications that need to be shared and used immediately across devices and platforms, without a traditional server for distribution, without association with a Web origin, and without being confined to a web browser.
No existing format treats interactive web content as a portable, self-contained, immediately runnable unit. PDF loses interactivity. EPUB3 is constrained to a document and book model — its JavaScript support is an enhancement to a reading experience, not a general-purpose runtime. Web Bundles never achieved broad implementation and was designed as a network transport optimization, not a portable execution environment. The Web Application Manifest describes server-hosted apps and requires a live web origin. None of these addresses the need for content that has no server, no origin, and no installation —content that should exist, run, and be shared as a single portable file, across all platforms, entirely offline.
This mission of this group is to develop an open specification for a self-contained portable web content format that can be instantly shared and run on any platform —desktop, mobile, or offline— without a server, app store, or deployment pipeline. The format is content-model agnostic, equally supporting books, games, presentations, educational simulations, 3D experiences, scientific models, and collaborative applications.
The scope of work includes:
In addition to a Specification, this group expects to create a Viewer conformance test suite, and a non-normative implementation guide for content creators, AI tools, and viewer developers.
w3c-cg/portableweb
Note: Community Groups are proposed and run by the community. Although W3C hosts these conversations, the groups do not necessarily represent the views of the W3C Membership or staff.
| Date | Name |
|---|---|
| Draft Report (aligning to w3c style) | |
| Initial spec draft |
Chairs, when logged in, may publish draft and final reports. Please see report requirements.
Dear Community,
We have listed the planned action items as issues in the github repo.
Should you have any input, please leave a comment here or create a github issue.
https://github.com/w3c-cg/portableweb/issues
Thank you!
The Portable Web Content Format Community Group has defined the initial scope of work for the .pweb format.
The main goals within the Community Group scope are:
We are currently working on the first goal: the container and packaging format.
This phase focuses on defining the basic .pweb package structure, manifest and entry point discovery, and consistent loading behavior across viewers.
Beyond the Community Group specification work, the broader PortableWeb effort also aims to explore viewer implementations for major platforms, helping validate the format in real environments.
After the packaging foundation is stable, the group can move toward permissions, security, storage, inter-bundle communication, conformance testing, and implementation guidance.
Feedback and participation are welcome as we build PortableWeb step by step.
As part of this process, we will also consider early community feedback and use cases, including:
.pweb styling templates for documents, slides, apps, reports, and educational content, instead of relying on uncontrolled external style inheritance..pweb resources, including possible digital signing or integrity metadata.These inputs will help guide the packaging work and identify areas that may need to be addressed in future layers of the specification.
PortableWeb uses two GitHub spaces with complementary purposes:
This separation is intentional. The PortableWeb GitHub organization remains the primary home for the project and specification development, while the W3C Community Group repository provides a community-facing space for review, discussion, reporting, and W3C Community Group publication workflows.
Clear links should be maintained between both GitHub spaces so contributors understand which repository is the primary source for project development and how Community Group discussion and publication materials relate to it.
PortableWeb was initiated by Omprakash Selvaraj as a proposed open format for self-contained interactive web content. The Community Group is intended to review, refine, and advance the format through open participation. The Chair guides scope, process, and coordination, while technical decisions should be discussed transparently through issues, pull requests, and recorded group consensus.
The Portable Web Content Format (PortableWeb) Community Group has been launched:
AI-assisted tools can now generate high-quality interactive web content —games, presentations, simulations, educational materials— in minutes. This has created a massive and growing category of ephemeral Web applications that need to be shared and used immediately across devices and platforms, without a traditional server for distribution, without association with a Web origin, and without being confined to a web browser.
No existing format treats interactive web content as a portable, self-contained, immediately runnable unit. PDF loses interactivity. EPUB3 is constrained to a document and book model — its JavaScript support is an enhancement to a reading experience, not a general-purpose runtime. Web Bundles never achieved broad implementation and was designed as a network transport optimization, not a portable execution environment. The Web Application Manifest describes server-hosted apps and requires a live web origin. None of these addresses the need for content that has no server, no origin, and no installation —content that should exist, run, and be shared as a single portable file, across all platforms, entirely offline.
This mission of this group is to develop an open specification for a self-contained portable web content format that can be instantly shared and run on any platform —desktop, mobile, or offline— without a server, app store, or deployment pipeline. The format is content-model agnostic, equally supporting books, games, presentations, educational simulations, 3D experiences, scientific models, and collaborative applications.
The scope of work includes:
In addition to a Specification, this group expects to create a Viewer conformance test suite, and a non-normative implementation guide for content creators, AI tools, and viewer developers.
In order to join the group, you will need a W3C account. Please note, however, that W3C Membership is not required to join a Community Group.
This is a community initiative. This group was originally proposed on 2026-06-05 by Omprakash Selvaraj. The following people supported its creation: Omprakash Selvaraj, Shalini Induchoodan Meenakumari, Meenakumari Induchoodan, Harish Omprakash and Selvaraj Nanjappan. W3C’s hosting of this group does not imply endorsement of the activities.
The group must now choose a chair. Read more about how to get started in a new group and good practice for running a group.
We invite you to share news of this new group on social media and other channels.
If you believe that there is an issue with this group that requires the attention of the W3C staff, please email us at site-comments@w3.org
Thank you,
W3C Community Development Team
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Omprakash Selvaraj
