diff --git a/specification/10_client_server_api.rst b/specification/10_client_server_api.rst
index fd8709d7..53ab0f71 100644
--- a/specification/10_client_server_api.rst
+++ b/specification/10_client_server_api.rst
@@ -1098,7 +1098,7 @@ The client API for presence is on the following set of REST calls.
 
 Fetching basic status::
 
-  GET $PREFIX/presence/:user_id/status
+  GET $PREFIX/presence/<user_id>/status
 
   Returned content: JSON object containing the following keys:
     presence: "offline"|"unavailable"|"online"|"free_for_chat"
@@ -1107,7 +1107,7 @@ Fetching basic status::
 
 Setting basic status::
 
-  PUT $PREFIX/presence/:user_id/status
+  PUT $PREFIX/presence/<user_id>/status
 
   Content: JSON object containing the following keys:
     presence and status_msg: as above
@@ -1143,7 +1143,7 @@ The client API for profile management consists of the following REST calls.
 
 Fetching a user account displayname::
 
-  GET $PREFIX/profile/:user_id/displayname
+  GET $PREFIX/profile/<user_id>/displayname
 
   Returned content: JSON object containing the following keys:
     displayname: string of freeform text
@@ -1154,14 +1154,14 @@ servers.
 
 Setting a new displayname::
 
-  PUT $PREFIX/profile/:user_id/displayname
+  PUT $PREFIX/profile/<user_id>/displayname
 
   Content: JSON object containing the following keys:
     displayname: string of freeform text
 
 Fetching a user account avatar URL::
 
-  GET $PREFIX/profile/:user_id/avatar_url
+  GET $PREFIX/profile/<user_id>/avatar_url
 
   Returned content: JSON object containing the following keys:
     avatar_url: string containing an http-scheme URL
@@ -1171,14 +1171,14 @@ other users' avatar URL.
 
 Setting a new avatar URL::
 
-  PUT $PREFIX/profile/:user_id/avatar_url
+  PUT $PREFIX/profile/<user_id>/avatar_url
 
   Content: JSON object containing the following keys:
     avatar_url: string containing an http-scheme URL
 
 Fetching combined account profile information::
 
-  GET $PREFIX/profile/:user_id
+  GET $PREFIX/profile/<user_id>
 
   Returned content: JSON object containing the following keys:
     displayname: string of freeform text
diff --git a/specification/30_server_server_api.rst b/specification/30_server_server_api.rst
index 82952c06..db5bdcdc 100644
--- a/specification/30_server_server_api.rst
+++ b/specification/30_server_server_api.rst
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ All these URLs are name-spaced within a prefix of::
 
 For active pushing of messages representing live activity "as it happens"::
 
-  PUT .../send/:transaction_id/
+  PUT .../send/<transaction_id>/
     Body: JSON encoding of a single Transaction
     Response: TODO-doc
 
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ embedded PDU in the transaction body will be processed.
 
 To fetch a particular PDU::
 
-  GET .../pdu/:origin/:pdu_id/
+  GET .../pdu/<origin>/<pdu_id>/
     Response: JSON encoding of a single Transaction containing one PDU
 
 Retrieves a given PDU from the server. The response will contain a single new
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ Transaction, inside which will be the requested PDU.
 
 To fetch all the state of a given context::
 
-  GET .../state/:context/
+  GET .../state/<context>/
     Response: JSON encoding of a single Transaction containing multiple PDUs
 
 Retrieves a snapshot of the entire current state of the given context. The
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ that encode the state.
 
 To backfill events on a given context::
 
-  GET .../backfill/:context/
+  GET .../backfill/<context>/
     Query args: v, limit
     Response: JSON encoding of a single Transaction containing multiple PDUs
 
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ arguments.
 
 To make a query::
 
-  GET .../query/:query_type
+  GET .../query/<query_type>
     Query args: as specified by the individual query types
     Response: JSON encoding of a response object
 
diff --git a/specification/45_typing_notifications.rst b/specification/45_typing_notifications.rst
index 4c7d9b72..7df9a238 100644
--- a/specification/45_typing_notifications.rst
+++ b/specification/45_typing_notifications.rst
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Client APIs
 -----------
 
 To set "I am typing for the next N msec"::
-  PUT .../rooms/:room_id/typing/:user_id
+  PUT .../rooms/<room_id>/typing/<user_id>
   Content:  { "typing": true, "timeout": N }
   # timeout is in msec; I suggest no more than 20 or 30 seconds
 
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ timeout runs out. Just keep declaring a new timeout, it will replace the old
 one.
 
 To set "I am no longer typing"::
-  PUT ../rooms/:room_id/typing/:user_id
+  PUT ../rooms/<room_id>/typing/<user_id>
   Content: { "typing": false }
 
 Client Events