New Open Protocol Aims to Make Web Blocks Universal and Interchangeable

Breaking: Block Protocol Unveiled to Standardize Web Content Blocks

January 25, 2025 – A new open standard called the Block Protocol promises to revolutionize how web editors, note-taking apps, and content management systems handle reusable blocks of content. The protocol, released as an early draft, aims to make any block—from simple paragraphs to Kanban boards—fully interchangeable across platforms.

New Open Protocol Aims to Make Web Blocks Universal and Interchangeable — Source: www.joelonsoftware.com

“Until now, every app that wants blocks has had to implement them from scratch,” said a spokesperson for the protocol’s development team. “Our users suffer because they’re limited to whatever blocks developers had time to build. This protocol changes that.”

The Problem: Proprietary Block Systems

Most modern editors—WordPress, Notion, Medium—use block-based interfaces. Users insert content via a “+” button or the “/” key. However, each system uses its own proprietary code. A calendar block built for WordPress cannot be used in Notion, and vice versa.

“We’ve standardized on one thing: using the slash key to insert a block,” the spokesperson noted. “Everything else is completely proprietary. That has to change.”

The Solution: The Block Protocol

The Block Protocol is a free, open, non-proprietary standard. It defines how embedding applications can host blocks. Any block that conforms to the protocol can work in any compliant editor.

“It’s just a protocol that embedding applications can use to embed blocks,” the team explained. “Any block can be used in any embedding application if they all follow the protocol.”

Benefits for Developers and Users

Developers write block code once and it works everywhere—blog platforms, note-taking apps, CMS. Users gain access to an enormous library of blocks without waiting for their app to build them.

“This makes life much easier for app developers who can immediately support a huge variety of blocks,” the spokesperson said. “And anyone can develop a block once and have it work in any platform. It’s 100% free and open source.”

What Can Be a Block?

Almost anything: paragraphs, lists, tables, diagrams, Kanban boards, order forms, calendars, videos. Blocks can also handle structured data types, enabling rich interactive content.

“Anything that makes sense in a document or on the web,” the team stated. “We’re just getting started.”

Background

Block-based editing has become popular because it simplifies content creation. Users can insert, reorder, and customize discrete units. But the lack of standards has created silos. Developers spend time reinventing common blocks. Users are locked into one ecosystem.

Efforts like Gutenberg (WordPress) advanced the concept, but remained proprietary. The Block Protocol aims to be the universal translator.

What This Means

If adopted widely, the Block Protocol could end the fragmentation of web content blocks. An app developer can write the embedding code once and instantly offer a growing catalog of third-party blocks. Users will be able to use the same favorite block across different platforms.

“Our hope is that it fosters an open source community creating a huge library of amazing blocks,” the spokesperson concluded. “Think of it as the USB-C for web content.”

The early draft and sample code are available now. The team invites developers and editors to participate and help shape the future of web blocks.

Tags: