Guidance for FIP Authors

[kaitlin-beegle]

Guidance for FIP Authors

Do you have an idea for improving the Filecoin network or community? Great!

If that idea would fundamentally change the protocol's codebase or Filecoin community standards (for example, changing the term 'miner' to 'storage provider'), then you'll need to author a FIP.

A FIP Author is the person primarily responsible for driving forward work on their proposal. Additional support will come from both Core Devs and FIP Editors. However, it is important that FIP Authors remain proactive and engaged collaborators throughout the process of FIP drafting, refinement, and final acceptance.

If you're preparing to author a FIP, the below tips will help you navigate the process in an easy and efficient way!

Understand the workflow

Perhaps your FIP is the first contribution you've ever made to an open-source project. Or, perhaps you're a seasoned contributor, having worked on multiple proposals for various other protocols.

Regardless of your level of experience, it's important to recognize that the FIPs process is unique to the Filecoin community! Filecoin Improvement Proposals may be similar to Ethereum and Bitcoin Improvement Proposals, but they are not identical. It is recommended that every FIP Author first acquaint themselves with the standards and structure of the Filecoin governance processes.

The latest guidance for FIPs can be found HERE.

For more detailed instructions, including the FIPs template, see HERE.

Do your research

Before opening up a new Discussion Post, first look to see if anyone else is already working on this topic!

Search in the Filecoin Discussion Repo, as well as in Filecoin Slack, to see if your idea has been raised before.

For big projects and changes that you'd like to see, check the Filecoin Community Roadmap to see if this work is already underway (or will be in the near future!).

Don't see your topic, idea, or need represented anywhere? Great! Open up a post in the FIP Discussion Forum and let's get started!

Communicate your idea

The purpose of the FIPs process is to provide a mechanism for open and collaborative community decision-making.

This doesn't just mean getting tacit approval for proposals. It means opening up your work and research processes to the entire Filecoin community; developing your proposals openly so as to encourage transparency, engagement, and better documentation.

If you are working on a research project or proposal that will ultimately need a FIP, this work should already be accounted for in the FIPs Discussion Forum. It should also be submitted for inclusion in the quarterly roadmap updates.

Think of your discussion post as a flag, indicating the FIP draft that will one day be merged into the repo. As our community continues to grow, and FIPs continue to service ever larger network changes, it is critical that ongoing work be communicated as soon as possible.

Develop your draft

As you may have read in the FIP Deep Dive, only full FIP drafts can be pushed into the repo. Remember! Pushing a FIP draft indicates that 1) your idea is complete, and 2) you're ready for help with specs and/or more detailed technical review, so it's important that this draft be detailed and thoughtful.

If you push a draft too early, it may be bounced back to you.

Nevertheless, there's no need for you to write a draft all at once, or all alone! You're welcome to update your initial Discussion Post with pieces of a draft, or to ask directly for help with drafting certain sections.

The FIPs process is supposed to support collaboration and open development- if you want these things, all you have to do is ask!

Update your materials

Once your draft is complete and is merged into the FIPs repo, technical review could take weeks or months.

During this period of time, it's important that you stay on top of feedback, answering FIP Editor questions and making requested changes.

It is also important that you occassionally update and monitor your original discussion post. While your draft FIP is refined through a series of PRs against the FIP repo, community members may continue to ask questions or propose ideas on your original discusison post.

The discussion post is also where community members will be directed during FIP 'Last Call', a critical period of time for FIP acceptance! Sharing updates, correcting assumptions, and linking to external documentation is a great way to ensure community reviewers have accurate and up-to-date information when considering your FIP.

Have questions? Just ask.

The FIPs process is designed to be a flexible, collaborative process. As such, it also tends to be slow, with many different people weighing in, requesting changes, and asking questions over time.

If you ever have questions about the status of your draft, need help getting to the 'next step' of the FIPs process, or want to discuss your FIP idea more generally, you're always welcome to do so!

You can tag FIP Editors directly on Github, or ask questions in the #fil-fips channel on Filecoin Slack.

You can also reach out directly to @kaitlin_ff on Slack.