Build a QR code payload string for URL, WiFi, vCard, SMS or email

This QR payload builder turns ordinary fields into a ready-to-encode string for a website, WiFi network, vCard contact, SMS message, or email draft. It applies the delimiters, escaping, line endings, and URI encoding required by the selected format, then returns deterministic text you can pass directly to a QR library, image service, print workflow, or automated test.

Choose the payload type before supplying its fields

Start with the content type that matches the action you want a scanner to offer. A URL payload is simply a valid absolute HTTP or HTTPS address, which most camera applications open in a browser. A WiFi payload includes the network name, security mode, password when security requires one, and an optional hidden-network flag. A vCard represents a reusable contact record. SMS provides a destination number and optional prewritten message, while email provides one recipient with optional subject and body fields. Only the selected format decides which fields are required, so an email address is not demanded when you are building a WiFi payload. The builder reports a clear invalid-input error when the selected type lacks a necessary value. This conditional contract makes one endpoint practical for forms and automation without quietly creating incomplete QR content. The result contains the normalized type and a payload string; it does not render pixels, contact a recipient, or test whether the destination exists.

Understand how reserved characters are handled

QR content formats use punctuation as structure, which means user-entered punctuation sometimes needs protection. WiFi payloads separate properties with semicolons and use colons between property names and values. The builder escapes backslashes and reserved punctuation inside the network name or password so those characters remain data rather than being mistaken for a new property. vCard text receives its own escaping for backslashes, commas, semicolons, and embedded line breaks, and the card is assembled with version 3.0 fields and CRLF line endings. Email is represented as a mailto URI. Its subject and body are encoded as query values, preserving spaces, ampersands, line breaks, and non-ASCII characters without allowing them to alter the query structure. SMS uses the compact SMSTO form supported by many QR scanners. These rules are deliberately format-specific: applying generic URL encoding to every payload would corrupt WiFi and vCard syntax, while failing to encode an email query could change what the scanner reads.

Use the returned string in an encoder or test suite

Pass the returned payload unchanged to the text input of your QR encoder. The encoder should treat it as data and choose its own error-correction level, image size, margin, and output format; those visual decisions are separate from payload construction. Keeping the stages separate is useful in production systems because the same canonical payload can feed SVG, PNG, PDF, label-printer, or mobile rendering code without duplicating business rules. It also makes testing straightforward. Store representative inputs and compare the exact payload, including vCard line endings and escaped WiFi delimiters, before any image generation happens. If a scan behaves unexpectedly, inspect the text first, then the encoder settings and scanner support. The builder is deterministic and performs no network requests, randomization, or time-based changes, so identical input produces identical output. Browser use is convenient for one-off payloads, while the API costs $0.002 per request and is suited to batch preparation, templates, deployment pipelines, and server-side applications.