Describes user interface sockets, an abstract concept that describes the functionality and state of a device or service (target) in a machine interpretable manner. It defines an extensible markup language (XML) based language for describing a user interface socket. The purpose of the user interface socket is to expose the relevant information about a target so that a user can perceive its state and operate it. This includes data presented to the user, variables that can be manipulated by the user, commands that the user can activate, and exceptions that the user is notified about. The user interface socket specification is applicable to the construction or customization of user interfaces. Annexes entail an XML schema definition and an example user interface socket description.