RFCs can be used by anyone but they’re used primarily within EPD for driving technical and process decisions.

Approved RFCs

Refer to the ‣ database; all approved RFCs should be manually indexed there.

Quickstart

Use an RFC when a decision needs input or discussion, especially when the consequences cross team boundaries.

• To create a new RFC:
  • Preferred: Automatically, via sg tool
    • Command: sg rfc [--private] create --type <type> "rfc title"
    • Example: sg rfc --private create --type solution "Cody on Apple Watch"
    • Tool reference.
  • Manually: copy the relevant template to the private RFC folder
    • The default format — View or Duplicate
    • Framing problems, proposing solutions, and making decisions—View or Duplicate
    • Surfacing a tension—View or Duplicate
    • Proposal for adding data to pings — View or Duplicate
    • Proposing process / handbook changes — View or Duplicate
• Add approved RFCs to the Approved RFCs Index
• Keeping track of RFCs
  • View all public RFCs
  • View all private RFCs
  • If you want to be notified as RFCs are created, subscribe to the #rfcs channel you can use to follow along with RFCs as they are created.

Overview

An “RFC” literally means a “Request for Comments.” We use RFCs to collaborate successfully as an all remote team. They give us a way to write down ideas and plans so we can communicate, collect thoughtful feedback from others on the team, and make decisions.

Our goal is for RFCs to be lightweight, low-process, and effortless to create and use. An RFC can be thought of as an asynchronous conversation. Unlike Slack, email, or other channels, using RFCs helps us because:

• There’s no implicit demand for an immediate response.
• Reviewers have time to consider and propose changes.
• More people can collaborate at once without clashing.
• RFCs are easily searchable and referable.
• RFCs are retained indefinitely.

RFCs are for consultation, not consensus

RFCs that require a decision follow a consultation process, not a consensus process. Approval of an RFC lies with the decider identified in the doc. The author should do their best to get approval from all listed approvers, but if it gets to the point where everyone has either approved or given specific reasons that they will not approve, then the decider decides whether or not the reasons for non-approval are blocking.

When to use an RFC

Use an RFC when…