WHATWG URL

Elide implements the WHATWG [URL Standard][spec] URL global backed by the Servo [url][rs-url] crate — the reference Rust implementation of the spec. This means the parser, the host parsing (IDNA / IPv4 / IPv6), every percent-encoding code-point set, and the per-setter basic-URL-parser state overrides all match the spec by construction.

[spec]: https://url.spec.whatwg.org/ [rs-url]: https://crates.io/crates/url

Construction

new URL(input)             // absolute URL
new URL(input, base)       // input resolved against base

Both arguments are coerced to strings. Parsing failure raises TypeError. URL(input) called without new (as a plain function) is a constructor-call error per WebIDL — use URL.parse if you want a non-throwing variant.

Static methods

Method	Returns	Notes
`URL.parse(input, base?)`	`URL \	null`	Non-throwing — returns `null` instead of raising.
`URL.canParse(input, base?)`	`boolean`	Just the parseability check; no object allocated.

Component accessors

Every component is both a getter and a setter except origin, which is read-only. Setter semantics follow the WHATWG spec's basic URL parser with state overrides — invalid inputs are silently ignored (e.g. setting a non-numeric port) except for href which throws TypeError on parse failure.

Component	Getter returns	Setter notes
`href`	Full serialisation (same as `toString()`).	Reparses the URL — throws `TypeError` on failure.
`origin`	ASCII-serialised tuple origin (`scheme://host[:port]`) for tuple-origin schemes; the literal string `"null"` for opaque origins (`file:`, `data:`, etc.). Always a string.	Read-only.
`protocol`	Scheme plus trailing `:`.	Trailing `:` optional; silently ignored on forbidden transitions.
`username`	Raw username component.	Percent-encoded via the userinfo set.
`password`	Raw password component.	Empty string clears the password.
`host`	`hostname` + `:` + port if a port is present.	Accepts either `"host"` or `"host:port"`.
`hostname`	Host portion (bracketed for IPv6).	Empty string clears the host.
`port`	Stringified port or `""` for the default.	Non-numeric input silently ignored; `""` clears.
`pathname`	Path (always starts with `/` for authority URLs).	Normalised per the spec (dot segments resolved).
`search`	`"?" + query` or `""`.	Leading `?` optional; empty string clears the query.
`searchParams`	`URLSearchParams` — see below.	Read-only. Live-bound (see below).
`hash`	`"#" + fragment` or `""`.	Leading `#` optional; empty string clears the fragment.

`searchParams` live binding

URL.searchParams returns the same URLSearchParams object on every access for a given URL instance (WebIDL [SameObject]), and the two stay in sync in both directions:

const u = new URL("https:<<>>
u.searchParams.append("b", "2");
u.href;                 <<>>
u.search = "?c=3";      // replaces the query
u.searchParams.size;    // 1 — the previously-cached view reflects the new state

Every mutation on the returned URLSearchParams is re-serialised and fed into URL.search; reassigning URL.href or URL.search refreshes the cached view's pair list from the URL's current query.

Origin serialisation

URL.origin serialises per WHATWG spec:

http / https / ws / wss / ftp: "scheme://host[:port]".
file:: "null" (opaque origin).
Other non-special schemes: "null" (opaque origin).

Examples

const u = new URL("https:<<>>
u.protocol;          <<>>
u.host;              <<>>
u.origin;            <<>>
u.pathname;          <<>>

<<>>
new URL("https://日本.jp/").hostname;   // "xn--wgv71a.jp"

// IPv6 literal, brackets preserved.
new URL("http:<<>>

<<>>
URL.canParse("::::bad");               <<>>
URL.parse("https://x/").href;          // "https://x/"

Compatibility notes

URL is installed as a global on every JavaScript realm in Elide.
Implementation is backed by the url Rust crate, so behaviour matches Firefox / Servo and is broadly compatible with Node.js, Deno, and Chromium.
Native allocations backing each URL handle are released by a JVM Cleaner when the JS object becomes unreachable; no explicit .dispose() is required.