The file format for a portable web bundle, built to run everywhere. One .pweb file that runs on any device, fully offline — no server, no web origin, no app store.
PortableWeb is not an AI platform. It’s the open format for what you — and any AI tool — build with web technology.
AI-assisted tools have changed the economics of building interactive web content: a simulation, a small game, a 3D experience, or a data-rich report that used to take days of skilled work now takes minutes — and it’s being made by the million, with whichever tools people already use. None of it has a natural place to live.
Every existing option forces an unacceptable tradeoff:
| Option | The catch |
|---|---|
| Deploy to a server | Needs hosting and a live connection. Wrong tool for ephemeral or personal content — and it vanishes when the host goes dark. |
| Publish to an app store | Developer accounts, review cycles, maintenance. Absurd for the volume of artifacts being made today. |
| Portable and archival, but it flattens everything. A game loop or live simulation can't survive the trip. | |
| EPUB | Its scripting enhances a reading experience; it can't represent a game or a real-time simulation. |
| Web Bundles | A network transport optimization, never broadly implemented. No offline-first execution model. |
| Web App Manifest | Describes an already-deployed app. Tied to a web origin — it says nothing about content with no server at all. |
No existing format treats interactive web content as a portable, self-contained, immediately runnable unit.
A PortableWeb bundle (.pweb) packages the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and media of an interactive experience into one file. A compatible viewer opens it in its own sandboxed window — on desktop, mobile, or anywhere — entirely offline, with no deployment, no web origin, and no browser required.
It behaves like a document: save it, copy it, email it, archive it, or AirDrop it across the room. It works the first time and the thousandth, and it doesn't expire when a CDN goes dark. The format is content-model agnostic — a bundle can hold a game, a presentation, a simulation, a 3D experience, a scientific model, a report, or a book.
And the loop closes. Today you ask a model to build something, then pack the result as a .pweb. As models mature, they'll emit the .pweb directly — the finished, portable file, instantly usable everywhere.
A .pweb is just a ZIP. Rename it to .zip and unpack it with anything — no proprietary container, no DRM, no hidden state.
my-document.pweb
├── mimetype # required · first entry, uncompressed (application/vnd.portableweb+zip)
├── manifest.json # required · id, version, title, entry point, declared permissions
├── index.html # required · the entry the viewer loads first
├── assets/ media/ # images, fonts, audio, video
└── scripts/ styles/ # JS modules and stylesheets
| Self-contained | A bundle carries everything it needs. No CDN dependency, no broken script tags in five years. |
| Sandboxed | No filesystem access, network off by default, storage scoped per bundle. Permissions declared in the manifest, enforced by the viewer, deny-by-default. |
| Archival | Each spec version freezes a stable feature subset. A v1.0 bundle renders identically in any v1.0 viewer, indefinitely. |
| Owned | A bundle is a file. No host, no account, no platform. It belongs to whoever holds it. |
PortableWeb isn't a private format. It's being developed where the web is built:
- 🌐 W3C Community Group — the Portable Web Content Format CG. Container, manifest, viewer conformance, per-bundle storage, and a genuinely new permission-gated offline peer-to-peer channel (Bluetooth / Wi-Fi Direct) for multiplayer and collaboration without any server. Anyone may join; W3C membership not required.
- 📜 IETF Internet-Draft —
draft-selvaraj-portableweb-formatdefines the container, manifest schema, security considerations, and theapplication/vnd.portableweb+zipmedia type.
The PortableWeb web app runs entirely in your browser — open and render any .pweb, pack a project folder into a bundle, validate one against the spec, or scaffold a new project. No install, no account, nothing leaves your device. This is only to demonstrate .pweb.
Platform specific viewers are in making. These viewers will have full security controls inplace and enable storage options.
PortableWeb is a small project with large ambitions. The format is still in draft, which means early feedback shapes it most.
- 🌐 Join the W3C Community Group — help shape the spec where it's being standardized.
- 📖 Read & comment on the spec — open issues or PRs on
portableweb/spec. - 🧪 Build something — make a
.pweband share it. Real-world usage drives the spec far more than theory. - 🛠️ Contribute code — the CLI, viewer, and website all welcome PRs.
- 📣 Spread the word — tell anyone who works with documents, archival, AI-generated content, or interactive media.
