WTVP/Headers/List

List of known recorded WTVP headers. Most have been copied from http://web.archive.org/web/20041026232010/http://ubergeek03.mine.nu/WebTV/WebTVPHeaders.html, but we've contributed some previously unknown headers we've been able to observe, along with adding descriptions and command header classifications for all headers.

Got any information you'd like to contribute to this? Send it over to us and it might be added onto here.

Header Name	Description	Type	Command Header?	Server?	Client?
Accept-Language	Standard HTTP header	string	No		X
Cookie	Standard HTTP header	string	No		X
Connection	Standard HTTP header. WTVP was designed with persistent connections in mind, but official WNI servers have been seen sending a Keep-Alive Connection header in responses nonetheless	string	No	X
Content-length	Standard HTTP header	integer	No	X	X
Content-type	Standard HTTP header	string	No	X	X
Date	Standard HTTP header. Probably only present when connecting through Microsoft TV services	timestamp	No	X
Expires	Standard HTTP header	timestamp	No	X
Set-Cookie	Standard HTTP header	string	No	X
User-Agent	Standard HTTP header	string	No	X	X
Approx-Content-Length	Sent in some responses from the WebTV/MSN TV web proxies. Contains the length of the original data for the queried resource before being sent as multipart data	integer	No	X
mstv-checkurl-mode	Value currently observed as "1". Only seen when connecting through Microsoft TV services. Function unknown	???	?	X
mstv-client-caps	Only seen when connecting through Microsoft TV services. Function unknown	???	?		X
mstv-listing-id	Value currently observed as "C1020". Only seen when connecting through Microsoft TV services. Function unknown	string	?	X
smartcard-data	When connecting to the WebTV/MSN TV service with a compatible smart card inserted, a box will send this header in WTVP requests with the raw smart card data.	string	No		X
passport-domain	Domain name of the Passport account (now Microsoft account) linked to the current WebTV/MSN TV subscriber/user account	string	No	X
user-id	Appears to be a long string of numbers	integer	No	X
wtv-addresses-url	Contains a service URL for listing all the user's stored addresses. Addresses are sent with the name, followed by a null byte, then the address with another null byte at the end. This is used for the Address panel. Value currently observed as wtv-mail:/addresslist.	URL	No	X
wtv-ahuf	???	???	?	X
wtv-allow-dsc	Value currently observed as "true". Function unknown	boolean	No	X
wtv-backgroundmusic-add	Specifies sound files as selected by the subscriber/user to add to the background music queue	URL	Yes	X
wtv-backgroundmusic-clear	Apparently clears backlog of predefined background music to play. Value currently observed as "no_zits"	string	Yes	X
wtv-backgroundmusic-load-playlist	Sets a service URL for the client to query to get the list of background music for the user currently logged in. This header is known to be sent in the response for the settings service. Value currently observed as wtv-setup:/load-playlist	URL	No	X
wtv-backgroundmusic-remove	Probably similar to wtv-backgroundmusic-add but for removing queued background music	???	?	X
wtv-boot-message-led-state	Sets the state of the message light. Value currently observed as "blinkSlow". Need more documentation on this	string	?	X
wtv-boot-url	Value currently observed as wtv-head-waiter:/login?. Need more documentation on this	URL	No	X
wtv-bypass-proxy	???	boolean	No	X
wtv-capability-flags	A hexadecimal string that identifies the capabilities of a WebTV/MSN TV client, and affects how the service functions on it. Need more documentation on this	string	No		X
wtv-ccs	???	???	?	X
wtv-challenge	A structured BLOB value that's sent by the server during the headwaiter login stage. Starts the challenge/response process. When decrypted, it contains random "challenge data" that has to be sent back in the challenge response, along with two sessions keys needed to facilitate SECURE communication, among other data.	BLOB	No	X
wtv-challenge-response	Used during the headwaiter challenge/response process to respond to the challenge with another structured BLOB value that is verified by the server. Sends back the "challenge data" from the wtv-challenge encrypted with the initial key.	BLOB	No		X
wtv-check-url	???	???	?	X
wtv-clickthru-redirect	???	???	?	X
wtv-client-address	Has an IP address of sorts, presumably of the box connecting to the server	string	No		X
wtv-client-bootrom-version	An integer that identifies... the boot ROM version?	integer	No		X
wtv-client-date	Human-readable timestamp in GMT, most likely the date of when the subscriber/user successfully logged on. Need more documentation on this	timestamp	No	X
wtv-client-rom-type	Identifies the ROM type a WebTV/MSN TV box is running	string	No		X
wtv-client-serial-number	SSID of the WebTV/MSN TV box - identifies who is sending a WTVP request	string	No		X
wtv-client-time-zone	Time zone that corresponds to the user's current location, in both name and offset (e.g., "PDT -0700"). It is speculated that this value is determined on the service side by using the user's ANI number when a box dials into the toll-free access number	string	No	X
wtv-connection-timeout	Value currently observed as "90". Function unknown	integer	No	X
wtv-connect-session-id	Some hexadecimal value we can't figure out the purpose of. Function unknown	string	No		X
wtv-country	Two-letter country code. Most of the time it's just set to "US" though. Need more documentation on this	string	No	X
wtv-datadownload-checktimeoffset	???	integer	No	X
wtv-datadownload-login-url	Contains the URL the box accesses when connecting for DataDownload. Value currently observed as wtv-head-waiter:/login?DataDownload=1. Also used to unlock TV Home on WebTV Plus boxes and change the offline home page on WebTV Dreamcast.	URL	No	X
wtv-datadownload-url	Contains a service URL. Value currently observed as wtv-disk:/download-list. Function unknown	URL	No	X
wtv-demo-mode	Value currently observed as "0". Function unknown	integer	No	X	X
wtv-doug	???	???	?	X
wtv-echostar-ca	Unknown function. Value observed as "0x0"	???	?		X
wtv-echostar-receiver	Unknown function. Value observed as "R0022040763-84"	???	?		X
wtv-echostar-rom	Unknown function. Value observed as "121PBWDA-F-100BBWDA"	???	?		X
wtv-echostar-smartcard	Unknown function. Value observed as "S0004596155-62-DNASP003 Rev381"	???	?		X
wtv-edit-addresses-url	Specifies the URL used for the "Edit Addresses" button in the Address panel.	???	?	X
wtv-element-logging	Sent in the post-login headwaiter response (for BPS/New Classic boxes at least). Unknown function. Value observed as 60 1	???	?	X
wtv-enable-jellyscript	???	???	?	X
wtv-encrypted	Sent by the server most likely to tell the WebTV/MSN TV box if a response is encrypted	boolean	No	X
wtv-encryption	Tells the server if the WebTV/MSN TV box can understand encrypted communication (SECURE method?). Resulting behavior unknown	boolean	No		X
wtv-execute-tellyscript-now	???	???	?	X
wtv-expire	Expires the specified page in the box's page cache.	???	?	X
wtv-expire-all	Similar to wtv-expire, but expires all assets for a page as well. Is also used to expire entire page types in some cases (e.g: wtv-expire-all: wtv-)	URL	Yes	X
wtv-explanation-url	Only observed in error responses. Contains a service URL that so far is only known to point to the wtv-guide service. Most likely used to give the subscriber/user a page describing the error they encountered	URL	No	X
wtv-explore-url	Contains a service URL. Value currently observed as wtv-explore2:/top. Function unknown	URL	No	X
wtv-fader-timeout	Value currently observed as "900". Function unknown	integer	No	X
wtv-favorite-index-url	Contains a service URL related to the wtv-favorite service. Used for the F keys on the keyboard. Value currently observed as wtv-favorite:/favorite-index?	URL	No	X
wtv-favorites-folders-url	Contains a service URL related to the wtv-favorite service. Used for the list of favorites on the save panel. Value currently observed as wtv-favorite:/list-folders	URL	No	X
wtv-favorite-url	Contains a service URL related to the wtv-favorite service. This is used to define the Favorites page that should be used for the "Favs" button on the keyboard. Value currently observed as wtv-favorite:/favorite	URL	No	X
wtv-field-name	Appears to contain the name of another WTVP header or variable sent in a POST request. Possibly used for detailing protocol errors. Need more documentation on this	string	?	X
wtv-filter	???	???	?	X
wtv-force-heavyweight-targets	???	???	?	X
wtv-force-lightweight-targets	Value currently observed as webtv.net:/. Function unknown	string	?	X
wtv-goto-url	???	???	?	X
wtv-home-url	Contains the service URL designated to be the service home page. Value currently observed as wtv-home:/home	URL	No	X
wtv-https-proxy	???	???	?	X
wtv-human-name	First and last name specified on a subscriber/user account	string	No	X
wtv-inactive-timeout	Value currently observed as "0". Function unknown	integer	No	X
wtv-incarnation	A counter sent and incremented on each first connection to a frontend server. This is needed to create the encryption key for SECURE communication.	integer	No		X
wtv-initial-key	A small opaque, 8-byte BLOB sent during pre-registration. Facilitates challenge/response on the headwaiter.	BLOB	No	X
wtv-input-timeout	Values currently observed are "86400" and "14400". Function unknown	integer	?	X
wtv-irc-nick	IRC nickname defined on subscriber/user account for usage with WebTV/MSN TV IRC services	string	No	X
wtv-language-header	Value currently observed as "en-US,en". Function unknown	string	No	X
wtv-link-transition-enabled	???	???	?	X
wtv-location	???	???	?	X
wtv-lockpage-override	???	???	?	X
wtv-login-timeout	Value currently observed as "7200". Function unknown	integer	No	X
wtv-logo-duration	???	???	?	X
wtv-logo-input-interval	???	???	?	X
wtv-logo-interval	???	???	?	X
wtv-logon	???	???	?	X
wtv-logout-url	Contains a service URL designated for logout probably. Value currently observed as wtv-logon:/logout. Only seen when connecting through Microsoft TV services	URL	No	X
wtv-log-url	Contains a service URL designated for usage logging services	URL	No	X
wtv-lzpf	Observed in headers of encrypted/compressed responses. Usually has a value of 0. If present, the client uses the Huffman-based "LZPF" algorithm to decompress response data.	integer	No	X
wtv-mail-count	Stores how many unread messages the user has. If a client accesses a headwaiter service without selecting an account to log into, this header contains the total of all unread mail for all users, otherwise it only has unread mail for the currently signed in user. This also controls the message light.	integer	No	X
wtv-mail-url	Contains a service URL designated for mail service. Value currently observed as wtv-mail:/listmail	URL	No	X
wtv-messagewatch-checktimeoffset	Offset in seconds since midnight for MessageWatch activation.	integer	?	X
wtv-messagewatch-url	Contains a service URL for the client to log in to on MessageWatch connections. Value currently observed as wtv-head-waiter:/login?MessageWatch=1	URL	No	X
wtv-messenger-authorized	Tells the box if the subscriber/user is authorized to use the Messenger feature. 1 - authorized; 0 - not authorized	integer	No	X
wtv-messenger-connect-timeout	Value currently observed as "240". Function unknown	integer	No	X
wtv-messenger-enable	Tells the box if the subscriber/user has the Messenger feature enabled. 1 - enabled; 0 - disabled	integer	No	X
wtv-messenger-login-url	Defines what service URL should be accessed for Messenger login. Value currently observed as wtv-passport:/messengerlogin	URL	No	X
wtv-messenger-open-conversation-timeout	Value currently observed as "240". Function unknown	integer	No	X
wtv-messenger-passportd-timeout	Value currently observed as "240". Function unknown	integer	No	X
wtv-messenger-retry-timeout	Value currently observed as "20". Function unknown	integer	No	X
wtv-messenger-server	Defines what hostname the client should use for accessing the Messenger service. The servers this would point to were a part of the MSN/Windows Live Messenger service, a completely different service that happened to be owned by Microsoft, and is completely separate from WebTV/MSN TV	string	No	X
wtv-metering-pricing	Enables or disables metering services for a supported WebTV/MSN TV build	boolean	No	X
wtv-metering-pricing-interval	Sets the time interval in seconds that WebTV/MSN TV should wait in between contacting the Metering server	integer	No	X
wtv-metering-pricing-sessionID	A 30-byte session ID WebTV/MSN TV should use when contacting the Metering server	string	No	X
wtv-metering-pricing-track-as-free	Related to metering. Function unknown	boolean	No	X
wtv-moviesearch-url	Contains a service URL designated for "moviesearch" - probably some ancillary and completely useless feature. Value currently observed as wtv-content:/redirect?req-id=find-movie	URL	No	X
wtv-msnchat-nick	The nickname used for accessing MSN Chat services within WebTV/MSN TV. It appears to be similar to the value of the wtv-irc-nick header but with a ">" tacked onto the beginning of it (e.g., ">wtv-nick")	string	No	X
wtv-name-server	Defines an IP to use for DNS lookup. Probably not a command header, but multiple instances of this header can exist to define multiple DNS servers	string	No	X
wtv-next-reconnect-url	???	???	?	X
wtv-noads-targets	???	???	?	X
wtv-noback	???	???	?	X
wtv-noback-all	Similar to wtv-noback, but can be used to disallow all of one page type (e.g: wtv-noback-all: wtv-). Value currently observed as "wtv-"	string	?	X
wtv-notifications-url	The URL that a box should contact when it receives a UDP notification from Mail Notify. Value currently observed as wtv-notices:/notices	URL	No	X
wtv-nvstorage-dump	URL to a WTVP service that saves a box's NVRAM (flash memory) data. When this header is present in a WTVP server response, the box will immediately POST to the service URL set in the header with a portion of data from NVRAM, which includes TellyScript data stored by the box. This header will only work on builds for Old Classic (bf0app) boxes. Original URL was likely wtv-1800:/post-nvstorage-dump	URL	No	X
wtv-offline-user-list	Base64-encoded string. When decoded, it reveals an XML string containing a list of users a WebTV/MSN TV subscriber currently has, including their user ID, username, first/last name, password, and if they have access to mail services. Need more documentation on this	string	No	X
wtv-open-access	???	???	?	X
wtv-open-isp-disabled	Value currently observed as "false". Function unknown	boolean	No	X
wtv-phone-log-url	Contains a service URL. Values currently observed are wtv-log:/phone-log on successful login, and a URL along the lines of wtv-1800:/post-phone-log?t-baggage-parms=ani-950000000000,ethernet-ani-4156145500,subscriber-id-14331444. It's been observed when the header is present in a response, on a WebTV Viewer at least, it will immediately query said service. Most likely used for usage logging	URL	No	X
wtv-preregistration-number	???	???	?	X
wtv-printer-model	Value currently observed as "-1,-1". Function unknown	string	?	X
wtv-printer-pen	Value currently observed as "0,0,1,0". Function unknown	string	?	X
wtv-printer-setup	Value currently observed as "0,0,1,0". Function unknown	string	?	X
wtv-print-log-url	Contains a service URL. Value currently observed as wtv-log:/log. Most likely used for usage logging	URL	No	X
wtv-reconnect-url	Specifies the URL the box should access when reconnecting with the Reconnect panel.	URL	?	X
wtv-reload	???	???	?	X
wtv-reload-all	???	???	?	X
wtv-relogin-url	???	URL	No	X
wtv-rename-url	???	???	?	X
wtv-request-rom-upgrade	???	???	?		X
wtv-request-type	Known values observed are "primary" and "prefetch". Function unknown	string	No	X	X
wtv-script-id	Carries the "hash1" value from an installed TellyScript on the WebTV/MSN TV client, or defaults to 0 if one isn't present	integer	No		X
wtv-script-mod	Carries the creation time (UNIX epoch) from an installed TellyScript on the WebTV/MSN TV client, or defaults to 0 if one isn't present	integer	No		X
wtv-search-url	Contains a service URL most likely designated for the search page. Value currently observed as wtv-center:/search-page	URL	No	X
wtv-send-thumbnail-from	???	???	?	X
wtv-send-thumbnail-size	???	???	?	X
wtv-send-thumbnail-to	???	???	?	X
wtv-service	Defines the services supported by the WebTV/MSN TV service, the IP addresses and corresponding ports they resided on, property flags, and the maximum connections that can be made from a service	string	Yes	X
wtv-service-cookie	Sent by server on successful login. Also possibly sent by the client. Need more documentation on this	BLOB	No	X	X
wtv-service-data	Appears to be an XML string with information on the user currently logged in. Only observed when logging on through Microsoft TV services	string	No	X
wtv-service-message	???	???	?	X
wtv-service-timeout	???	???	?	X
wtv-settings-url	Contains a service URL to the settings service, which sends the client the server-side settings for the currently logged-in user. Value currently observed as wtv-setup:/get-settings. Need more documentation on this	URL	No	X
wtv-show-time	Values observed are "0" and "3". Function unknown. Contrary to eMac's write-up, this header doesn't seem to appear in server responses, and so far has only been observed in service requests.	???	No		X
wtv-show-time-enabled	Value currently observed as "true". Function unknown.	boolean	No	X
wtv-show-time-record	???	???	?	X
wtv-smartcard-inserted-message	Related to the (rarely utilized) WebTV/MSN TV smartcard feature. Value currently observed as "Contacting service". Need more documentation on this	string	No	X
wtv-smartcard-inserted-url	Related to the (rarely utilized) WebTV/MSN TV smartcard feature. Value currently observed as wtv-smartcard:/insert. WebTV Classic boxes require this header for inserted smartcards to function. Need more documentation on this	URL	No	X
wtv-smartcard-removed-url	Related to the (rarely utilized) WebTV/MSN TV smartcard feature. Value currently observed as wtv-smartcard:/remove. Need more documentation on this	URL	No	X
wtv-spot	???	???	?	X
wtv-spotad-url	Contains a service URL. Value currently observed as wtv-spot:/get-ad. Function unknown	URL	No	X
wtv-spot-clickthru-url	Contains a service URL. Values observed are wtv-spot:/ad-clickthrough?ad-click-ref=%s and wtv-spot:/clkURL/%s. Function unknown	URL	?	X
wtv-spot-directive	???	???	?	X
wtv-spot-doze	???	???	?	X
wtv-spot-duty-cycle	???	???	?	X
wtv-spot-impression-time	???	integer	No	X
wtv-spot-minimum-time	???	integer	No	X
wtv-spot-purge-queue	Probably does something with the WebTV/MSN TV box cache. Need more documentation on this	integer	Yes	X
wtv-spot-queue-add	Value currently observed as queue=1&adID=0000001102cbda8500000000&creative=[xxxxx]. Function unknown	string	?	X
wtv-spot-url	Contains a service URL. Value currently observed as wtv-spot:/spot. Function unknown	URL	No	X
wtv-ssl-certs-checksum	Contains a checksum possibly related to the certificate download defined by the wtv-ssl-certs-download-url header. Judging from the checksum length it's probably meant to be MD5. Need more documentation on this	string	No	X
wtv-ssl-certs-download-url	Contains a service URL. Possibly used to allow the client to download new SSL root certificates. Value currently observed as wtv-head-waiter:/download-ssl-certs	URL	No	X
wtv-ssl-log-url	Contains a service URL. Value currently observed as wtv-log:/log. Most likely used for usage logging	URL	No	X
wtv-ssl-timeout	Value currently observed as "240". Function unknown	integer	No	X
wtv-start-at-tourist-page	???	???	?	X
wtv-system-chipversion	???	integer	No		X
wtv-system-cpuspeed	Probably has to do with CPU speed but if that's the case, it's not known how it's measured	integer	No		X
wtv-system-sysconfig	???	integer	No		X
wtv-system-version	???	integer	No	X	X
wtv-tcp-log-url	Possibly related to the other "log-url" headers, but no known documentation of this header in particular is out in the wild	???	?	X
wtv-ticket	An opaque blob value sent in WebTV/MSN TV service requests to verify sessions after login. Also known to be sent to a box during headwaiter login	BLOB	No	X	X
wtv-title	Used to specify the title in files that don't normally have them. Can be used in the headers of a service response or as a query for a file (e.g: http://somesite.com/midi.mid?wtv-title=sometitle)	???	?	X
wtv-tmp-filesystem	Used to specify a location for a new ROMFS container to be downloaded by the client. This will be provided by the server when the client knows its ROMFS is damaged.	URL	Yes	X
wtv-tourist-active	???	???	?	X
wtv-tourist-enabled	???	boolean	No	X
wtv-transition	Only observed in packet captures when browsing between service pages. Currently observed values are "light" and "none". Function unknown	string	?	X
wtv-transition-override	Values currently observed are "normal" and "off". Function unknown	string	?	X
wtv-transition-page	Value currently observed as wtv-home:/shared/transition/en-US/pageWithAd.html. Function unknown	URL	?	X
wtv-transition-page-noad	???	???	?	X
wtv-trusted	Used to set trust on pages. For some reason, this header will distrust any page it gets sent with, regardless of if it's set to true or false.	boolean	?	X
wtv-tvconnection-timeout	Value currently observed as "600". Function unknown	integer	?	X
wtv-tv-vbidisable	VBI = Vertical Blanking Interval? Function unknown	???	?	X
wtv-tv-zipcode	Contains user's ZIP code, but probably isn't used by the service itself. Need more documentation on this	integer	No	X
wtv-user-id	Probably similar to the user-id header. Need more documentation on this	???	No	X
wtv-user-inactive-warning-time	???	???	?	X
wtv-user-name	Username associated with WebTV/MSN TV account	string	No	X
wtv-user-requested-upgrade	???	???	?	X
wtv-videoad-path	???	???	?	X
wtv-videoad-playid	Value currently observed as a hexadecimal string. Function unknown	string	?	X
wtv-videoad-playname	Value currently observed as a file name ending in ".mpg". Function unknown	string	?	X
wtv-visit	WTVP's own version of the HTTP Location header used mainly to route the WebTV/MSN TV box to other service URLs on non-3xx responses	URL	Yes	X
wtv-zipcode	ZIP code of WebTV/MSN TV account	integer	No	X