create-rfc

Create RFC

Produce one RFC per invocation. An RFC proposes a decision that has not yet been made and drives stakeholder alignment; if the decision is already made, use /create-adr to record it. Follow the five-step process in order: Step 2 validates the mandatory fields, and drafting starts once every one of them is present.

Hard rules

• Never invent facts. If a mandatory field is missing, ask. Never fill Background, Assumptions, or Options with plausible-sounding filler.
• Never present a foregone conclusion. If only one option is real, the document is an ADR, not an RFC — use /create-adr instead.
• Decision criteria come before options. Criteria written after options look like justification for a preferred choice.
• Include "do nothing" as an explicit option for any significant change — Universal rule 2 defines which changes those are.
• Never skip trade-offs. Every option needs honest cons alongside pros.
• Write in the user's language — the one they are using in this session, every section of the document included.

Dispatch

Run the process in order. Read the matching reference file fully before acting — it is the playbook for that step.

Step	Read	Purpose
1 — Gather context	references/process.md	Ask for topic, impact, urgency, options in mind
2 — Validate mandatory fields	references/process.md	Ensure title, background, RACI, criteria, options, recommendation are present
3 — Tailor to RFC type	references/types.md	Technical / Process / Product / Vendor / Policy — extra focus areas
4 — Generate	templates/rfc.md + references/numbering.md	Fill template, assign number, run quality checklist
5 — Place + next steps	references/process.md	Confirm file location, print summary + follow-ups

Run the quality checklist (references/quality.md) before finalizing — honest options, weighted criteria, quantified background, explicit assumptions.

Template

Pure markdown scaffold. Load only when writing:

• templates/rfc.md — mandatory + recommended sections. Delete any recommended section that would be empty; keep every mandatory section even if the value is *to be confirmed*.

Universal rules

1. Honesty. Options are compared honestly against the criteria; pros and cons are real; assumptions are surfaced with confidence levels and invalidation triggers.
2. "Do nothing" is always an option for significant changes — it forces honest evaluation of whether change is worth the cost. Significant means the impact level recorded in Step 1 is HIGH or MEDIUM (multiple teams/systems/users, or one whole team or system). A LOW-impact change — limited scope, easily reversible — may omit the status quo, and says so in one line rather than leaving the reader to wonder. This is the only definition of significant in this skill; every other mention keys to it.
3. Outcome is a placeholder during drafting — fill it after the decision is made, then link to the resulting ADR if the decision is worth preserving.
4. RFCs are for decisions, not implementation. Once decided, hand off to /create-adr (record) and /forge (build).
5. Date everything and record the impact level up front.
6. Confirm before writing. Suggest the file path in Step 5; write only after the user confirms placement.

Sibling skills

Reach for these at any point in the flow:

• /create-adr — the decision has been made. Use ADR to record the what/why/consequences as an immutable historical record. RFC → decision → ADR is the natural flow for significant choices.
• /forge — spec-driven implementation. Once the RFC is decided, use /forge specify | design | plan | execute to break the chosen option into shippable work.

Attribution

Based on create-rfc by Tech Leads Club, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Changes have been made to the original.