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Comment by reflectiv | Hacker News Reader

If it is a truly empty file then no, because that wouldn't validate as a valid html file.

The bare minimum I believe is <HTML></HTML> ...which on its own wouldn't be a HTML quine.

AFAIK in HTML5 you need a doctype and and a non-empty title, but the <html> etc tags are optional:

    <!DOCTYPE html>
    <title>x</title>

Title is actually optional “if the document is an iframe srcdoc document or if title information is available from a higher-level protocol” (such as email). So the minimal valid HTML document is actually just <!doctype html>.

But you don't even need that if you're happy with quirks mode, right?

Right data:text/html,

Sure it is, just serve it with Content-Type: 'plain/text'.

That has nothing to do with HTML. That's an HTTP header.

This thread has a surprising amount of not knowing the difference between HTML and HTTP. The original post is entirely about HTML and does not involve HTTP transmission at all.

HTML <meta> tags are a thing, to invoke browser behavior typically associated with HTTP headers. I'm not sure if that can get you there; I would guess that to visually output the meta tag would require the same * { display:block } shenanigan that the original post is about.

Declaring that it’s not an HTML file is a weird way to claim the smallest valid HTML file.

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