QR Redirect Protocol (QRP)

An open specification for portable QR code redirects. Own your codes, zero vendor lock-in.

The problem

Dynamic QR codes route scans through a provider's server (provider.com/r/abc123 -> your destination). When you cancel your subscription, the redirect dies. Your printed materials — flyers, packaging, business cards, signage — become useless.

A single commercial print run costs $5,000-$40,000. The industry calls this a feature. We call it a trap.

The solution

QR Redirect Protocol (QRP) defines a simple, portable format for QR code redirect mappings. Export from any compliant provider, self-host on your own infrastructure, and your codes keep working.

Your QR codes should outlive your vendor relationship.

Specification

Export format

A QRP-compliant export is a JSON file containing all data needed to reconstruct redirects independently:

{
  "qrp_version": "1.0",
  "exported_at": "2026-04-13T10:00:00Z",
  "provider": {
    "name": "QR Nova",
    "domain": "qrcodenova.com"
  },
  "redirects": [
    {
      "short_code": "a1b2c3d4",
      "destination": "https://example.com/menu",
      "name": "Restaurant Menu",
      "type": "URL",
      "mode": "DYNAMIC",
      "created_at": "2026-01-15T08:30:00Z",
      "total_scans": 1234,
      "style": {
        "fg_color": "#000000",
        "bg_color": "#FFFFFF",
        "pattern": "square"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Required fields

Field	Type	Description
qrp_version	string	Protocol version (currently "1.0")
exported_at	string	ISO 8601 timestamp
redirects	array	Array of redirect objects
redirects[].short_code	string	The short code encoded in the QR (the path segment after /r/)
redirects[].destination	string	The target URL

Optional fields

Field	Type	Description
provider	object	Source provider info
redirects[].name	string	Human-readable label
redirects[].type	string	QR type (URL, vCard, WiFi, etc.)
redirects[].mode	string	STATIC or DYNAMIC
redirects[].created_at	string	ISO 8601 creation timestamp
redirects[].total_scans	integer	Lifetime scan count at export time
redirects[].style	object	Visual style metadata

Self-hosting

Once you have a QRP export, you can reconstruct the redirects on your own infrastructure. Here are minimal configurations for common platforms:

Nginx

# Generated from QRP export
location /r/a1b2c3d4 { return 302 https://example.com/menu; }
location /r/x9y8z7w6 { return 302 https://example.com/contact; }

Cloudflare Workers

const redirects = {
  "a1b2c3d4": "https://example.com/menu",
  "x9y8z7w6": "https://example.com/contact",
};

export default {
  fetch(request) {
    const url = new URL(request.url);
    const code = url.pathname.replace("/r/", "");
    const destination = redirects[code];
    if (destination) {
      return Response.redirect(destination, 302);
    }
    return new Response("Not found", { status: 404 });
  },
};

Vercel (vercel.json)

{
  "redirects": [
    { "source": "/r/a1b2c3d4", "destination": "https://example.com/menu" },
    { "source": "/r/x9y8z7w6", "destination": "https://example.com/contact" }
  ]
}

Netlify (_redirects)

/r/a1b2c3d4  https://example.com/menu  302
/r/x9y8z7w6  https://example.com/contact  302

Tools

Tool	Description	Status
qrp-export	CLI to export from QRP-compliant providers	Planned
qrp-serve	Minimal redirect server from a QRP file	Planned
qrp-migrate	Generate platform configs (nginx, Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify) from QRP export	Planned

Compliant providers

Provider	Export endpoint	Status
QR Nova	GET /api/v1/qr/export	In development

We encourage all QR code platforms to adopt QRP. If your platform supports QRP export, open a PR to add it to this list.

FAQ

Why 302 and not 301? 302 (temporary redirect) allows destination changes without cache invalidation issues. 301 (permanent) gets cached by browsers and CDNs, making updates unreliable.

Does self-hosting lose analytics? Yes. Self-hosted redirects are plain HTTP redirects with no tracking. Analytics require a server-side layer that logs scan metadata before redirecting. The qrp-serve tool (planned) will include optional basic analytics.

Can I use my own domain with my current provider? QRP is about portability after leaving a provider. For custom domains while using a provider, check your provider's custom domain feature.

Design principles

1. Simplicity. A redirect is a short code mapped to a URL. The spec should be trivially implementable.
2. Portability. Export once, host anywhere. No proprietary formats.
3. Permanence. QR codes printed on physical materials should outlive any single vendor.
4. Transparency. The spec is open. Implementations are open. No lock-in by design.

Contributing

This is a draft specification. We welcome feedback via issues and pull requests.

License

This specification is released under CC0 1.0 Universal — public domain. Implement it freely.

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Created by QR Nova — QR codes that never expire.