A Request for Comments (RFC) is a formal document from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that contains specifications and organizational notes about topics related to the internet and computer networking, such as routing, addressing, and transport technologies. RFCs are authored by individuals or groups of engineers and computer scientists in the form of a memorandum describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems. RFCs are used by the IETF and other standards bodies to describe the specifications for a recommended technology.
RFCs cover many topics related to the technical foundations of the internet, including the protocols used to deliver services, such as TCP, QUIC, and Web Real-Time Communications. Some RFCs are informational only, while others are actual standards. Depending on the topics they cover and their level of maturity, RFCs each receive one of the following designations: Internet Standard, Proposed Standard, Best Current Practice, Experimental, Informational, and Historic.
RFCs usually begin as Internet-Drafts (I-Ds) written by an individual or a small group. In the IETF, these are then usually adopted by a working group and improved and revised. Less often, I-Ds are considered within the IETF as “individual submissions” sponsored by an Area Director. While not every I-D becomes an RFC, a well-defined set of processes (also documented in RFCs) guides the consideration and progression of a document.
The first RFC was written in 1969 as part of the seminal ARPANET project, and today, it is the official publication channel for the IETF, the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), and the global community of computer network researchers in general. The RFC Editor assigns each RFC a serial number, and once assigned a number and published, an RFC is never rescinded or modified; if the document requires amendments, the authors publish a revised document. Therefore, some RFCs supersede others; the superseded RFCs are said to be deprecated, obsolete, or obsoleted by the superseding RFC.
