AT URI scheme
As you might know, a URI often contains a scheme (for example, https:// ), an authority (like wikipedia.com), a path (like /Main_Page), and maybe a query.
In most protocols, including https:// , the authority part points at whoever’s hosting the data. Whoever created this data is either not present, or is in the path:
https://
bsky.app
the app
/profile/
ruuuuu.de
the user
/post/3lzy2ji4nms2z
The at:// protocol flips that around.
In at:// URIs, whoever created the data is the authority, in the most literal sense:
at://
ruuuuu.de
the user
/app.bsky.feed.post
the format
/3lzy2ji4nms2z
The user is the authority for their own data. Whoever’s hosting the data could change over time, and is not directly included in an at:// URI. To find out the actual physical server hosting that JSON, you’re gonna need to take a few steps.
The AT URI scheme (at://) makes it easy to reference individual records in a specific repository, identified by either DID or handle. AT URIs can also be used to reference a collection within a repository, or an entire repository (aka, an identity).