Request for Comments (RFC)

Phase 1: Problem Statement

Define the problem clearly and concisely.

1. • What is the current state?
2. • What is the problem or opportunity?
3. • Who is affected?
4. • What is the cost of inaction?
5. • What are the success criteria for a solution?

Metadata:

Field	Value
RFC Number
Title
Author
Status	Draft / Open for Comment / Final Comment Period / Accepted / Rejected
Created
Comment Deadline
Reviewers

Phase 2: Proposed Solution

Describe the proposed approach in detail.

1. • High-level overview (1-2 paragraphs)
2. • Detailed technical design
3. • Architecture diagrams
4. • API changes or new APIs
5. • Data model changes
6. • User experience changes

Scope:

• What is in scope for this RFC
• What is explicitly out of scope
• What are the dependencies

Phase 3: Alternatives Considered

Alternative	Description	Why Not Chosen

For each alternative:

• Describe the approach
• List advantages over the proposed solution
• List disadvantages compared to the proposed solution

Phase 4: Impact Analysis

Compatibility:

• Backward compatible: Y/N
• Migration required: Y/N
• Breaking changes: list

Performance:

• Expected performance impact
• Benchmarks or estimates

Security:

• Security implications
• New attack surfaces

Cost:

• Infrastructure cost changes
• Engineering effort estimate
• Ongoing maintenance cost

Risk Assessment:

Risk	Likelihood	Impact	Mitigation

Phase 5: Rollout Plan

1. • Phase 1: ___ (description, timeline, success criteria)
2. • Phase 2: ___ (description, timeline, success criteria)
3. • Phase 3: ___ (description, timeline, success criteria)

• Rollback plan
• Feature flag strategy
• Monitoring and validation approach

Phase 6: Open Questions

Question	Raised By	Status	Resolution

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"We can skip some steps for this case"	Adapt the workflow steps, don't skip them	Skipped steps are where incidents and oversights originate
"The user seems to already know what to do"	Complete all workflow phases with the user	The workflow catches blind spots that experience alone misses
"This is a minor case, full process is overkill"	Scale the process down, don't turn it off	Minor cases become major when unstructured; the process scales, not disappears
"I'll fill in the details later"	Complete each section before moving on	Deferred details are forgotten; real-time capture is more accurate
"The template output isn't necessary"	Always produce the structured output format	Structured output enables comparison, audit trails, and handoff to other teams

Output Format

RFC Summary

• RFC: ___
• Title: ___
• Status: ___
• Decision: Accepted / Rejected / Deferred
• Decision Date: ___
• Decision Rationale: ___

Action Items

• Address all open questions
• Incorporate reviewer feedback
• Create implementation plan and tickets
• Schedule kickoff for implementation
• Archive RFC in decision log