An IETF RFC (Request for Comments) is a numbered document published by the Internet Engineering Task Force and the RFC Editor that records Internet specifications, protocols, procedures, and informational notes. Standards-track RFCs progress through community review to define the protocols that constitute the Internet, while other categories capture experimental, informational, or historic material. The RFC series is the canonical record through which Internet technology is standardised and disseminated.
Overview
- The RFC series began in 1969 and has grown into the authoritative archive of Internet engineering, covering protocols, best practices, and informational material.
- Documents fall into categories such as Standards Track (Proposed Standard, Internet Standard), Best Current Practice, Experimental, Informational, and Historic.
- Standards-track maturation requires running code, interoperability evidence, and rough consensus among participants — the IETF’s defining ethos.
- Once published, an RFC’s number is immutable; revisions are issued as new RFCs that obsolete or update the originals.
Mechanisms
- Drafting: work begins as an Internet-Draft within a working group, iterating through community review.
- Consensus: the IETF favours rough consensus over formal voting, with last-call review before approval.
- Publication: the RFC Editor performs final editing, assigns the number, and archives the document.
- Errata and updates: corrections are tracked, and superseding RFCs maintain the evolving record.
Applications
- Implementers build interoperable software by conforming to the normative requirements of relevant RFCs.
- Network operators reference RFCs to configure and troubleshoot protocols correctly.
- Other standards bodies cite RFCs to align their specifications with Internet practice.