The RFC process is currently only used for front-end related Nimiq repositories.
The "RFC" (request for comments) process is intended to provide a consistent and controlled path for new features to enter the framework.
Many changes, including bug fixes and documentation improvements can be implemented and reviewed via the normal GitHub pull request workflow.
Some changes though are "substantial", and we ask that these be put through a bit of a design process and produce a consensus among the Nimiq team and the community.
An RFC goes through the following stages:
- Pending: when the RFC is submitted as a PR.
- Accepted: when an RFC PR is merged and may undergo implementation.
- Landed: when an RFC's proposed changes are shipped in an actual release.
- Rejected: when an RFC PR is closed without being merged.
You need to follow this process if you intend to make "substantial" changes to one of the projects listed below:
We are limiting the RFC process for these repos to test out the process in a
more manageable fashion, and may expand it to cover more projects under the
nimiq organization in the future. For now, if you wish to suggest changes to
those other projects, please use their respective issue lists.
What constitutes a "substantial" change is evolving based on community norms, but may include the following:
- A new feature that creates new API surface area
- Changing the semantics or behavior of an existing API
- The removal of features that are already shipped as part of a release
- The introduction of new idiomatic usage or conventions, even if they do not include code changes.
Some changes do not require an RFC:
- Additions that strictly improve objective, numerical quality criteria (e.g. speedup, better browser support)
- Fixing objectively incorrect behavior
- Rephrasing, reorganizing or refactoring
If you submit a pull request to implement a new feature without going through the RFC process, it may be closed with a polite request to submit an RFC first.
It is great that you are considering suggesting new features or changes to Nimiq - we appreciate your willingness to contribute! We want to receive better and wider feedback on additions that the Team suggests itself, as well as increasing cooperation with and among the Nimiq community in adding new features to the Nimiq ecosystem. We hope to thereby foster community engagement and make Nimiq development more decentralized.
The RFC process serves as a way to guide you through our thought process when making changes to Nimiq, so that we can be on the same page when discussing why or why not these changes should be made.
It's often helpful to get feedback on your concept before diving into the level of API design detail required for an RFC. You may open an issue on this repo to start a high-level discussion, with the goal of eventually formulating an RFC pull request with the specific implementation design.
In short, to get a major feature added to Nimiq, one must first get the RFC merged into the RFC repo as a markdown file. At that point the RFC is 'accepted' and may be implemented with the goal of eventual inclusion into Nimiq.
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Fork the RFC repo http://github.com/nimiq/rfcs
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Copy
0000-template.mdtoaccepted-rfcs/0000-my-feature.md(where 'my-feature' is descriptive). Don't assign an RFC number yet. -
Fill in the RFC template. Put care into the details: RFCs that do not present convincing motivation, demonstrate understanding of the impact of the design, or are disingenuous about the drawbacks or alternatives tend to be poorly-received.
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Submit a pull request. As a pull request the RFC will receive design feedback from the larger community, and the author should be prepared to revise it in response.
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Build consensus and integrate feedback. RFCs that have broad support are much more likely to make progress than those that don't receive any comments.
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Eventually, the team will decide whether the RFC is a candidate for inclusion in Nimiq.
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An RFC can be modified based upon feedback from the team and community. Significant modifications may trigger a new final comment period.
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An RFC may be rejected after public discussion has settled and comments have been made summarizing the rationale for rejection. A member of the team then closes the RFC's associated pull request.
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An RFC may be accepted at the close of its final comment period. A team member will merge the RFC's pull request, at which point the RFC will become 'accepted'.
Changes to this RFC process can be suggested through issues on this repository or by changing the process description in this README through a pull request.
Once an RFC gets accepted, authors may implement it and submit the feature as a pull request to the respective Nimiq repo. Becoming 'accepted' is not a rubber stamp, and does not mean that the team itself will implement it. The status does also not guarantee that any implementation of it will ultimately be merged. It means that the team has agreed to it in principle and are interested to include a quality implementation of it.
Furthermore, the fact that a given RFC has been accepted implies nothing about what priority is assigned to its implementation, nor whether anybody is currently working on it.
Modifications to accepted RFCs can be done in followup PRs. We strive to write each RFC in a manner that it will reflect the final design of the feature; but the nature of the process means that we cannot expect every merged RFC to actually reflect what the end result will be at the time of release; therefore we try to keep each RFC document somewhat in sync with the feature implementation as planned, tracking such changes via followup pull requests to the document.
The author of an RFC is not obligated to implement it. Of course, the RFC author (like any other developer) is welcome to post an implementation for review after the RFC has been accepted.
An accepted RFC should have the link to the implementation PR listed if there already is one. Feedback to the actual implementation should be conducted in the implementation PR instead of the RFC PR.
If you are interested in working on the implementation for an 'accepted' RFC, but cannot determine if someone else is already working on it, feel free to ask (e.g. by leaving a comment on the associated PR or issue).
Members of the team will attempt to review some set of open RFC pull requests on a regular basis. If a team member believes an RFC PR is ready to be accepted, they can approve the PR using GitHub's review feature to signal their approval of the RFC.
Nimiq's RFC process owes its inspiration to the Vue RFC process.