Isocyanic acid can be made by protonation of the cyanate anion, such as from salts like potassium cyanate, by either gaseous hydrogen chloride or acids such as oxalic acid.
HNCO also can be made by the high-temperature thermal decomposition of the trimer cyanuric acid:
In the reverse of the famous synthesis of urea by Friedrich Wöhler,
isocyanic acid is produced and rapidly trimerizes to cyanuric acid.