requestforcomment

A Request for Comment (RFC) is a type of document used to publish notes, proposals, and standards relating to Internet technologies, protocols, and procedures. The RFC series originated in the 1960s as part of the ARPANET project and later became the official publication channel for the IETF and its predecessor organizations. The name reflects an early intention to solicit feedback from the community, but RFCs have evolved into formal, archival publications that document agreed-upon technical specifications and guidance.

RFCs cover a range of categories, including Standards Track documents that define protocols and architectures, Best Current Practice (BCP) documents, and Informational and Experimental documents. Each RFC is assigned a unique number and is intended to be a stable reference. When newer documents supersede older ones, the older RFCs may be marked historic. The publication process typically begins with an Internet-Draft, a working document circulated for discussion within IETF working groups. If consensus is reached and the draft passes review, it can be published as an RFC after editorial and organizational review.

RFCs have played a central role in defining core Internet protocols such as IP, DNS, and HTTP, and they continue to document evolving standards for security, privacy, and scalability. The authoritative status of an RFC depends on its category: Standards Track RFCs carry formal standardization, while Informational or Experimental RFCs provide guidance or research results without formal standards status. The IETF, together with the Internet Architecture Board and the RFC Editor, coordinates the process to ensure public availability and long-term accessibility of the specification corpus.