---
title: "Initial HTML: glossary: Agent Ready HTML"
description: "Initial HTML defined: The HTML document a server returns for a URL before any JavaScript runs. A dated, sourced example follows."
canonical: https://agentreadyhtml.com/glossary/initial-html/
site: "Agent Ready HTML"
last_updated: 2026-11-04
section: "Glossary"
---

# Initial HTML: glossary: Agent Ready HTML

> Initial HTML defined: The HTML document a server returns for a URL before any JavaScript runs. A dated, sourced example follows.

Source: https://agentreadyhtml.com/glossary/initial-html/
Site: Agent Ready HTML
Last reviewed: 2026-11-04

# Initial HTML

In short

The HTML document a server returns for a URL before any JavaScript runs. A plain-fetch agent reads only this, so the answer has to be in it. Example: In Ora's 19-configuration test, hiding the answer in JavaScript left the plain-fetch client with 0 of 5 answers. Related terms: App shell, Hydration, Plain fetch, Rendered HTML, JSON-LD.

## Source of the example

The example in the summary above is from [ora.ai](https://ora.ai/blog/agentready-launch?utm_source=agentreadyhtml.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=glossary), read 4 November 2026.

## Where it shows up on this site

-   [Initial HTML reference](https://agentreadyhtml.com/initial-html/)
-   [Plain Fetch viewer](https://agentreadyhtml.com/viewer/)

## Neighbouring terms

-   [App shell](https://agentreadyhtml.com/glossary/app-shell/): A near-empty HTML document whose content is injected by JavaScript after load, typically a single div with id root or app.
-   [Hydration](https://agentreadyhtml.com/glossary/hydration/): The step where client JavaScript attaches event handlers to server-rendered HTML.
-   [Plain fetch](https://agentreadyhtml.com/glossary/plain-fetch/): An HTTP GET that reads the response body without executing scripts, the way most agent web tools and curl read pages.
-   [Rendered HTML](https://agentreadyhtml.com/glossary/rendered-html/): The DOM after a browser has run the page scripts.
-   [JSON-LD](https://agentreadyhtml.com/glossary/json-ld/): Structured data written as JSON in a script tag of type application/ld+json, using schema.org types.

## Sources

1.  [ora.ai](https://ora.ai/blog/agentready-launch?utm_source=agentreadyhtml.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=glossary) https://ora.ai/blog/agentready-launch, read 4 November 2026

Last reviewed 4 November 2026

Edition

Crawl

2026-11-04

Page updated

2026-11-04

Method

How the viewer reads a page, how a file is graded and how a platform is scored: [the method page](https://agentreadyhtml.com/method/).