Aries RFC

An Aries RFC (Request for Comments) is a formal, community-driven specification document that defines protocols, data models, and interfaces for decentralized identity (DID) ecosystems. Modeled after the IETF RFC process, these documents provide the technical blueprints for building interoperable agents, wallets, and ledgers that can exchange verifiable credentials securely. The Aries RFC repository is the canonical source for the open standards powering the Hyperledger Aries framework and other SSI implementations.

The RFCs cover the complete stack of decentralized identity interactions. Key protocol families include DIDComm for secure, peer-to-peer messaging, the Present Proof protocol for credential exchange and verification, and Issue Credential for credential issuance. They also specify core components like wallet interfaces, connection protocols for establishing trusted relationships, and data formats for verifiable presentations. This modular design allows developers to implement specific capabilities without being locked into a single vendor's solution.

Adherence to Aries RFCs ensures technical interoperability between different identity systems. For example, a credential issued by a government agency using one vendor's Aries-based infrastructure can be stored in a citizen's wallet from a different vendor and later presented to a verifying service from a third party, all seamlessly. This is possible because each component implements the same core RFCs for protocols like DIDComm v2 and the AnonCreds or W3C Verifiable Credentials data models.

The development and governance of Aries RFCs are managed by the open-source community under the Hyperledger Foundation. Proposed RFCs go through stages—from a draft idea (Proposed) to a stable, implemented specification (Accepted). This process ensures rigorous review, real-world testing, and consensus among contributors from various organizations, fostering a robust and vendor-neutral standard. The living nature of the repository means specifications can evolve to address new use cases and cryptographic advancements.

The term Aries RFC originates from the Hyperledger Aries project, an open-source framework for decentralized identity, and the Request for Comments (RFC) process, a long-standing internet engineering tradition. An RFC is a formal document from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that describes specifications and protocols for the internet. The Aries community adopted this rigorous, consensus-driven model to develop interoperable standards for Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), ensuring that implementations from different vendors can communicate seamlessly. The naming convention directly signals its purpose: to be the definitive, peer-reviewed technical specification set for the decentralized identity ecosystem.

The genesis of the Aries RFC project is intrinsically linked to the development of Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Verifiable Credentials (VCs). As the W3C solidified the core data models for these technologies, a critical gap remained: there were no standardized protocols for how agents—software acting on behalf of users—should discover, connect, and exchange credentials peer-to-peer. The Aries project, incubated within the Hyperledger consortium at the Linux Foundation, was launched to create this missing middleware layer. The RFC process was chosen to ensure the protocols were not tied to a single implementation but were open, vendor-neutral, and built for global interoperability.

The development of Aries RFCs follows a collaborative, open-source workflow hosted on GitHub. Proposals begin as Aries RFC Issues for discussion before being drafted into full RFC documents. Key foundational RFCs, such as RFC 0023: DID Exchange Protocol and RFC 0036: Issue Credential Protocol, define the core message formats and state machines for essential interactions. This process ensures that the protocols are robust, secure, and capable of supporting real-world SSI use cases like portable digital driver's licenses, verifiable employee credentials, and secure enterprise access management, forming the backbone of the trust layer for the next-generation internet.

The process begins when a community member authors an Aries RFC—a detailed technical proposal—and submits it as a pull request to the official Aries RFC repository on GitHub. This document follows a strict template, requiring sections for the problem statement, proposed solution, detailed protocol flows, and security considerations. The initial submission triggers an automatic assignment of a unique RFC number and places the proposal into a Draft state, opening it for public review and commentary from the broader Aries community, including developers, architects, and implementers.

Community feedback is gathered through comments on the GitHub pull request, where discussions about technical merit, interoperability, and potential edge cases occur. A key governance body, the Aries Working Group, oversees this stage. For a proposal to advance, it must achieve Consensus, which is not merely a majority vote but a general agreement that all substantive concerns have been addressed. This often involves multiple revision cycles, where the author iterates on the draft based on the feedback received. The process is designed to be transparent and collaborative, ensuring specifications are robust and widely supported before implementation.

Once consensus is reached, the RFC progresses to the Accepted state. This signifies the specification is approved as an official Aries standard, and implementations are encouraged. The final, merged document becomes a permanent part of the Aries RFC catalog. Some RFCs may later be superseded or retired through a similar process. This rigorous, open-source governance model is critical for maintaining interoperability between different Aries frameworks and agents, ensuring that decentralized identity systems built by various organizations can communicate seamlessly using well-defined, community-vetted protocols.

The Aries framework is governed and evolved through a community-driven process centered on Aries Request for Comments (RFCs). An Aries RFC is a formal, versioned design document that proposes a new feature, protocol, or standard for the interoperable ecosystem of self-sovereign identity (SSI) agents and wallets. These documents follow a rigorous lifecycle—from a concept draft, through community review and implementation, to final adoption—ensuring that changes are transparent, well-specified, and interoperable. The process is managed under the auspices of the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) and the Hyperledger Foundation, which host the Aries project.

The governance model is intentionally decentralized, relying on working groups and special interest groups (SIGs) where contributors from various organizations collaborate. Key decisions, such as advancing an RFC from a proposed state to an accepted standard, are made based on rough consensus and running code, rather than formal voting. This approach mirrors successful open-source projects like the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), prioritizing practical interoperability and multiple independent implementations over theoretical perfection. The community maintains a public GitHub repository where all RFCs are stored, discussed, and versioned.

The evolution captured in the RFCs addresses core SSI capabilities, including DID communication, credential issuance and presentation, and secure peer-to-peer messaging. For example, RFC 0453 specifies the Present Proof v2 protocol, which defines how a verifier requests credentials and a holder presents them. This granular, protocol-first approach allows different Aries agent implementations (like Aries Framework .NET, Aries Framework JavaScript, or Aries Cloud Agent Python) to interoperate seamlessly, as they all adhere to the same ratified RFC specifications. This creates a robust, vendor-neutral foundation for trust ecosystems.