The AOL Protocol

When you hear the phrase “The AOL Protocol”, I bet most of you immediately think of FDO, right?
Although FDO is a part of the AOL protocol, it in no way encompasses the big picture. When I use
the term “The AOL protocol”, I refer to how the AOL client and server interact with each other,
how data is prepared, how it is sent, and how it can be manipulated.

There currently exists no formal documentation of the AOL protocol, or at least one that is
publicly available. For this reason, I have taken it upon myself to strip the bits of
information from my feeble mind and write a document with at least basic information about
the AOL protocol. The information included in this document is what I have learned, from
exploration, help from others, and just stumbling upon it. I in no way guarantee the accuracy
of the information contained herein. That said, here is what I know.