vCard

vCard (RFC 6350) is the standard format for representing and exchanging contact information. It is the contact data counterpart to iCalendar — where iCalendar handles events and scheduling, vCard handles names, addresses, phone numbers, and other personal data.

What vCard Provides

A vCard object (typically stored in .vcf files) represents a single contact or entity. It uses a text-based property format similar to iCalendar:

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
FN:Alice Smith
N:Smith;Alice;;;
EMAIL;TYPE=work:alice@example.com
TEL;TYPE=cell:+1-555-0100
ORG:Example Corp
END:VCARD

vCard Versions

Relationship to CardDAV

vCard is the data format that CardDAV servers store and serve. When a CardDAV client syncs contacts, it exchanges vCard objects with the server. The CardDAV protocol handles the synchronization, access control, and collection management, while vCard defines the contact data itself.

Common Properties

• FN (Formatted Name) — The display name. Required in vCard 4.0.
• N (Structured Name) — Family, given, additional, prefix, suffix components.
• EMAIL — Email address with optional TYPE parameter (home, work).
• TEL — Telephone number with optional TYPE parameter.
• ADR — Structured delivery address (PO box, extended, street, locality, region, postal code, country).
• ORG — Organization name and organizational unit.
• URL — Website or profile URL.
• PHOTO — Contact photo, either inline (base64) or by reference (URI).
• BDAY — Birthday date.

Extensibility

vCard supports custom properties with the X- prefix (e.g., X-SOCIALPROFILE, X-ASSISTANT). vCard 4.0 also supports grouping properties with a prefix (e.g., ITEM1.EMAIL, ITEM1.TEL) to associate related properties.

What vCard Provides

A vCard object (often stored in .vcf files) represents a single contact or entity. It contains properties organized into groups, with support for:

• Identity — Formatted name (FN), structured name (N), nickname, and photo.
• Contact details — Email (EMAIL), telephone (TEL), and instant messaging addresses.
• Addresses — Structured delivery addresses (ADR) with components for street, city, region, postal code, and country.
• Organization — Organization name (ORG), title, and role.
• Dates — Birthday (BDAY), anniversary, and death date.
• Extended properties — Geographic coordinates (GEO), URLs, notes, and custom properties using the X- prefix.

vCard 4.0 (RFC 6350) is the current standard, introducing improvements like group-based property organization, enhanced security (KEY property for public keys), and better internationalization support.