spec

ION Format

Open Data Standard for Amateur Ice Hockey

Version 1.0 · Released 2026-09-23 · ionformat.org

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What is ION Format?

ION Format is an open, human-readable data standard for amateur ice hockey.
Any app, any platform, any device — if it speaks ION, the data moves freely.

Inspired by the belief that hockey data belongs to the players, not the platforms.

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Why ION Format?

Today, every hockey app stores data in its own private format.
Switch apps → lose your records. No portability. No interoperability.

ION Format fixes this:

• ✅ Open — free to use, free to implement
• ✅ Human-readable — plain text, no binary blobs
• ✅ QR-friendly — compact enough to fit in a single QR code
• ✅ Versioned — backward compatible across versions
• ✅ Sport-specific — designed for ice hockey from day one

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Record Types

Type	Description	App
INX	Game record (goals, shots, penalties)	IonNow
ACE	Lineup & roster	IonAce
GYM	Training session	IonGym
KIT	Equipment inventory	IonKit
ICE	Team & player data	IonIce

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Common Header

Every ION record starts with a common header:

ION|1.0
TYPE|INX
SRC|IonNow|1.1
DATE|2026-09-23T06:11:24

Field	Description
ION\|{version}	Format version
TYPE\|{type}	Record type (INX / ACE / GYM / KIT / ICE)
SRC\|{app}\|{version}	Source app and version
DATE\|{ISO8601}	Creation timestamp

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INX — Game Record

Used by: IonNow

ION|1.0
TYPE|INX
SRC|IonNow|1.1
DATE|2026-09-23T06:11:24

INX|1.6
T|슈퍼스타스 팀 도연|슈퍼스타스 팀 유진
V|광운대학교 아이스링크
S|2026-09-23T06:11:24
E|2026-09-23T07:16:31

G|A|2026-09-23T06:14:36
G|A|2026-09-23T06:22:30
G|B|2026-09-23T06:36:39
S|A|2026-09-23T06:44:12
P|B|2|2026-09-23T06:50:00

Tag	Description
T\|A\|B	Team names
V\|venue	Venue
S\|datetime	Game start
E\|datetime	Game end
G\|side\|datetime	Goal (A or B team)
S\|side\|datetime	Shot on goal
P\|side\|min\|datetime	Penalty (minutes)

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ACE — Lineup Record

Used by: IonAce

ION|1.0
TYPE|ACE
SRC|IonAce|1.0
DATE|2026-09-23T10:00:00

ACE|1.0
T|슈퍼스타스
V|3
E|Tommy Sonn
D|2026-09-23T060000

G|1라인
P|LW||손태무
P|C||김민기
P|RW||박형관

G|D1
P|LD||홍길동
P|RD||김철수

G|GK
P|GK||정수호

Tag	Description
T\|name	Team name
V\|version	Lineup version number
E\|editor	Last editor
D\|datetime	Last updated
G\|name	Group (line) name
P\|pos\|no\|name	Player (position, jersey#, name)

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GYM — Training Record

Used by: IonGym

ION|1.0
TYPE|GYM
SRC|IonGym|1.0
DATE|2026-09-23T07:00:00

GYM|1.0
A|Tommy Sonn|LW|InSeason
S|2026-09-23T07:00:00
E|2026-09-23T08:05:00

X|Squat|Lower|4|8|60
X|Deadlift|Lower|3|5|80
X|Plank|Core|3|||60
X|Running|Cardio|1|||0|5.0

Tag	Description
A\|name\|pos\|phase	Athlete info
S\|datetime	Session start
E\|datetime	Session end
X\|exercise\|category\|sets\|reps\|weight\|duration\|distance	Exercise entry

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KIT — Equipment Record

Used by: IonKit

ION|1.0
TYPE|KIT
SRC|IonKit|1.0
DATE|2026-09-23T12:00:00

KIT|1.0
O|Tommy Sonn

I|Skates|Bauer|Supreme M5 Pro|Excellent|2025-03-01|850000
I|Stick|CCM|Jetspeed FT6 Pro|Good|2026-01-15|280000
I|Helmet|Bauer|Re-Akt 200|Good|2024-09-01|320000
I|Jersey|Reebok|Legacy|Excellent|2020-05-01|150000

Tag	Description
O\|name	Owner
I\|category\|brand\|model\|condition\|date\|price	Item

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Versioning

ION Format follows semantic versioning:

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
  1  .  0  .  0

• MAJOR — breaking changes (rare)
• MINOR — new tags added (backward compatible)
• PATCH — bug fixes to spec

Rule: A parser for 1.x must be able to read any 1.y file where y <= x.
Unknown tags are silently ignored.

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QR Encoding

ION records are designed to fit within a single QR code (Version 40, ECC M):

• Max capacity: ~2,700 bytes per QR
• Encoding: UTF-8
• If data exceeds limit, split with header:

  ION-PART|1/3|{data}
  ION-PART|2/3|{data}
  ION-PART|3/3|{data}
  

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Implementing ION Format

Anyone can implement ION Format. No license required.

To add ION support to your app:

1. Parse the common header to identify record type and version
2. Implement the parser for the record type(s) you need
3. Unknown tags must be silently ignored (forward compatibility)
4. Optionally register your app at ionformat.org/apps

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Contributing

ION Format is community-driven.

• 💬 Discussions — propose new features
• 🐛 Issues — report spec problems
• 📝 Pull Requests — submit changes

Process:

1. Open a Discussion with your proposal
2. Community feedback (2 weeks minimum)
3. Core team review
4. Merge into next MINOR version

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Record Type Registry

Want to propose a new record type?
Open a Discussion with prefix [NEW TYPE] and include:

• Type code (3 letters)
• Use case description
• Proposed tag structure
• Reference implementation

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License

ION Format specification is released under CC0 1.0 Universal.
Free to use, implement, and extend — no attribution required.

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About

ION Format was created on 2026-09-24 by IonIce, Inc. as part of the IonIce project.

“Hockey data belongs to the players, not the platforms.”

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ionformat.org · GitHub · IonIce

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