InternetDrafts

Internet-Drafts are the working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). They capture proposals for new protocols, changes to existing ones, or explanatory material. They are intended to foster discussion and revision among the IETF community and are not, in themselves, standards.

Publication and format: An Internet-Draft is published with a unique name beginning with draft- and may be later revised into a draft-ietf- or draft-...- format. Each draft includes metadata such as title, author list, abstract, and intended status (for example standards-track, informational, or experimental). Drafts also carry an expiration date, normally six months after the last revision, unless extended. New versions are published as draft-...-02, -03, etc.

Workflow: Internet-Drafts are submitted through IETF submission tools and go through authoring, review, and revision cycles. They may be adopted by a Working Group for further development, undergo IETF Last Call, and, if successful, be published as an RFC or be superseded or abandoned. Only RFCs constitute formal publications; drafts themselves are working items.

Access and governance: All Internet-Drafts are publicly archived and accessible on the IETF website and related repositories. The IETF Secretariat and IETF Trust oversee submission, copyright, and publication processes; authors retain copyright but grant the IETF permission to publish.

Relation to RFCs: A draft may evolve into an RFC, which serves as a standard, informational document, or another formal publication. Not all drafts reach RFC status.