Appearance
XBRL Specifications
The XBRL standard is made up of multiple specifications, each addressing different aspects of the framework.
Base Specification: XBRL 2.1
- Published December 31, 2003 (with corrected errata through 2013)
- The foundation of everything -- defines taxonomies and instance documents
- Built on XML Schema and XLink
- Still the current base version
Specification Family
Core Reporting
| Specification | Version | Status | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| XBRL 2.1 | 2003 | REC | Base taxonomy and instance document format |
| 10 XBRL Dimensions | 1.0 (2006) | REC | Multi-dimensional data model |
| 13 Inline XBRL | 1.1 (2013) | REC | Embed XBRL in HTML |
| 14 XBRL Formula | 1.0 | REC | Validation rules using XPath 2.0 |
| Calculations 1.1 | 1.1 | REC | Enhanced calculation validation |
| Extensible Enumerations | 2.0 (2020) | REC | Concepts with values from defined lists |
Modern Formats (OIM)
| Specification | Version | Status | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Open Information Model | 1.0 (2025) | REC | Syntax-independent report model |
| xBRL-JSON | 1.0 (2021) | REC | JSON format for XBRL data |
| xBRL-CSV | 1.0 (2021) | REC | CSV format for bulk data |
Infrastructure
| Specification | Version | Status | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Taxonomy Packages | 1.0 (2016) | REC | ZIP-based taxonomy distribution |
| Generic Links | 1.0 | REC | Generalised link mechanism |
| Table Linkbase | 1.0 | REC | Tabular rendering of XBRL data |
| Versioning | 1.0 | REC | Tracking taxonomy changes over time |
| XBRL Global Ledger | 2015 | REC | Transaction-level data (journal entries, chart of accounts) |
Under Development
- Digital Signatures in XBRL
- Streaming Extensions
- OIM-compatible Formula
Key Technical Standards Used
XBRL is built on top of these W3C standards: