RFC-RFCSTD-0004                                                   Section 3
Category: Standards Track                            Structure Definition

3. Structure Definition

3.1 Required Sections for BCP Kind

BCP RFCs MAY be single-file or multi-file depending on complexity:

Section	File	Requirement	Purpose
Index	00-index.md or inline	REQUIRED	Metadata, abstract, applicability
Scope	01-scope.md or inline	REQUIRED	When this BCP applies
Background	02-background.md or inline	RECOMMENDED	Context and motivation
Guidelines	03-guidelines.md or inline	REQUIRED	Recommended practices
Procedures	04-procedures.md or inline	CONDITIONAL	Operational procedures (if applicable)
Considerations	05-considerations.md or inline	RECOMMENDED	Trade-offs and alternatives
Glossary	appendix-a-glossary.md	REQUIRED	Terms
References	appendix-b-references.md	REQUIRED	Related RFCs, external docs

Level	Meaning	Omission Criteria
REQUIRED	Section MUST be present	Cannot be omitted
RECOMMENDED	Section SHOULD be present	May omit with justification in Index
CONDITIONAL	Section MUST be present if criteria met	May omit if criteria don't apply

The Procedures section is REQUIRED when:

Criterion	Example
BCP includes step-by-step operational tasks	Secret rotation procedure
BCP describes how to perform specific actions	Incident response steps

The Procedures section MAY be omitted when:

Criterion	Example
BCP is purely guidelines-based	Code review guidelines
No specific operational tasks are described	Security principles

The index MUST include:

Component	Requirement	Description
Metadata Table	REQUIRED	All fields including Kind: BCP
Abstract	REQUIRED	Brief summary of practices covered
Applicability Statement	REQUIRED	Who should follow this BCP
Table of Contents	REQUIRED	Links to all sections

The scope section MUST define:

Component	Requirement	Description
In Scope	REQUIRED	What practices this BCP covers
Out of Scope	REQUIRED	What is explicitly excluded
Audience	REQUIRED	Who should follow these practices
Prerequisites	RECOMMENDED	Knowledge or access required

The background section SHOULD include:

Component	Requirement	Description
Context	RECOMMENDED	Why these practices exist
History	OPTIONAL	How practices evolved
Motivation	RECOMMENDED	Problems these practices solve

Each guideline MUST follow this structure:

Component	Requirement	Description
Recommendation	REQUIRED	Statement using SHOULD/RECOMMENDED
Rationale	REQUIRED	Why this is recommended
Applicability	REQUIRED	When to apply
Exceptions	REQUIRED	When this may not apply

If included, each procedure MUST follow this structure:

Component	Requirement	Description
When to Use	REQUIRED	Trigger conditions
Prerequisites	REQUIRED	What must be true before starting
Steps	REQUIRED	Sequential actions
Verification	REQUIRED	How to confirm success
Recovery	REQUIRED	What to do if procedure fails

The considerations section SHOULD include:

Component	Requirement	Description
Trade-offs	RECOMMENDED	Costs and benefits of recommendations
Alternatives	RECOMMENDED	Other valid approaches
Context Dependencies	RECOMMENDED	How context affects applicability
Evolution Notes	OPTIONAL	How these practices may change

The glossary MUST include:

Component	Requirement	Description
Term Definitions	REQUIRED	All BCP-specific terms
Consistent Format	REQUIRED	Each term follows same format

The references section MUST include:

Component	Requirement	Description
Related RFCs	REQUIRED	Architecture, Specification RFCs
External References	RECOMMENDED	Industry standards, documentation
Version History	REQUIRED	Change log for this BCP

For multi-file BCPs:

For single-file BCPs:

Pattern	Usage
`RFC-BCP-<DOMAIN>-NNNN.md`	Complete BCP in one file

End of Section 3 — RFC-RFCSTD-0004