RFC Authoring Standards                                           Section 8
Category: Standards Track                          Rationale Requirements

8. Rationale Section Requirements

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8.1 Purpose

The rationale section documents why alternatives were rejected. This:

Purpose	Benefit
Prevents re-litigation	Decisions don't need to be justified again
Provides context	Future architects understand constraints
Documents trade-offs	Shows what was considered
Links to invariants	Explains which rules drove decisions

8.2 Required Structure for Each Alternative

Each rejected alternative MUST include:

Component	Description
Description	What the alternative is
Why It Was Attractive	Genuine benefits considered
Why It Was Rejected	Specific failures or violations
Invariants Violated	Reference to specific invariants
Conclusion	Summary judgment

Format

### N.N.N <Alternative Name>
 
**Description**: What the alternative is.
 
**Why It Was Attractive**:
- Genuine benefit 1
- Genuine benefit 2
 
**Why It Was Rejected**:
- Specific failure 1
- Specific failure 2
- Violates Invariant N
 
**Conclusion**: Summary judgment.

8.3 Example

### 9.1.2 Direct Azure AD Integration
 
**Description**: Each application integrates directly with Azure AD
without a platform identity layer.
 
**Why It Was Attractive**:
- Simpler initial setup—no Keycloak to maintain
- Native Microsoft tooling support
- One fewer component in the stack
 
**Why It Was Rejected**:
- Each application requires separate Azure AD configuration
- No centralized platform-level authorization
- Cannot add platform-specific claims or roles
- Violates Invariant 2 (Authentication Chain)
 
**Conclusion**: Direct integration prevents unified platform identity
and would require each team to implement authentication separately.

8.4 Intellectual Honesty

Rule	Description
Acknowledge benefits	Acknowledge genuine benefits of rejected alternatives
Context matters	Explain context where alternatives might be appropriate
No dismissiveness	Avoid dismissive language
Document attempts	Document if alternative was actually tried

End of Section 8 — RFC Authoring Standards

8. Rationale Section Requirements

8. Rationale Section Requirements

8.1 Purpose

8.2 Required Structure for Each Alternative

Format

8.3 Example

8.4 Intellectual Honesty

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