====== Finger Protocol ======

**Year:** 1971\\
**Port:** 79\\
**Created by:** Les Earnest at Stanford AI Laboratory

===== What It Is =====

A simple TCP protocol that serves a small, human-readable text file about a user: their name, email, login status, and the contents of two files — ''~/.plan'' and ''~/.project''.

===== History =====

Les Earnest watched users literally run their fingers down the ''WHO'' printout on early ARPANET terminals, scanning for recognizable names. He named the new program after that gesture.

===== .plan and .project =====

''~/.plan'' was originally meant to hold a user's current and future plans — a professional status update before status updates existed. Informally, ''.plan'' files became personal manifestos, random musings, and links to things people were thinking about. The first social media profile.

''~/.project'' describes current projects.

===== Usage =====

<code bash>
finger brennan@tilde.town
finger brennan@tilde.pink
</code>

Both will return the contents of the respective ''.plan'' file. It's opt-in, low-infrastructure presence — a plain text file and a TCP connection.

===== On tilde.town =====

''~/.plan'' and ''~/.project'' are both maintained as part of the [[tilde:start|tilde.town]] home directory. They are synced via [[terminal:tools:rsync|rsync]] with ''sync-to-tilde.sh''.

===== Running Your Own Finger Server =====

The protocol is simple enough to fit in your head. Any Linux machine can run a finger daemon. See the [[protocols:finger:server|finger server setup]] page.

===== Client Support =====

[[protocols:smallweb:clients|Bombadillo]] supports Finger natively alongside Gopher and Gemini.

===== See Also =====

  * [[protocols:gopher:start|Gopher]]
  * [[protocols:gemini:start|Gemini]]
  * [[tilde:start|tilde.town]]
  * [[protocols:start|Return to protocols]]