Read this section when you need the contract, not the how-to. For "how do I…" recipes, see Operating; for vocabulary, Concepts; for command syntax, /cli.

RFCs live under documentation/protocol/ and follow a fixed front-matter:

code

---
rfc: 0001
title: "..."
status: Accepted | Draft
created: YYYY-MM-DD
---

When an RFC is superseded, its status moves to Superseded and the replacement RFC is linked from its summary. When only part of an older RFC is replaced, the new RFC carries supersedes_in_part: [rfc-XXXX] in its front-matter.

Index#

RFC	Title	Status	Summary
0001	Artifacts protocol	Accepted — partially superseded by 0005, 0007 (Phase 6), 0008	Versioned artifacts served over HTTP, cached locally by `shipctl`, with semver + content hashes.
0002	`.ship/config.yml` schema	Accepted — v2 defined by 0007	Standalone per-repository config; same schema regardless of language or stack.
0003	Telemetry and feedback	Accepted	Opt-in anonymous telemetry about artifact usage; client-drafted feedback becomes GitHub issues.
0004	Adapters	Accepted	CI / tracker / agent / rules adapters as versioned artifacts, not bundled into `shipctl`.
0005	Artifact folder spec v2	Accepted — partial (workflow retired by 0007 Phase 6)	Each artifact is a folder with `ARTIFACT.md` (frontmatter as single source of truth); catalog manifests removed from git; backend serves a live FS-derived index.
0006	Cloud platform foundations	Accepted	Multi-tenant `Org → Workspace → Project` model; git-as-source-of-truth for human-authored content; Postgres + pgvector everywhere (Neon for SaaS); `/v1` API alongside backwards-compatible methodology routes.
0007	Lanes-as-config and single `shipctl run`	Accepted — Phase 6 done	Replace the workflow-artifact layer with lane entries in `.ship/config.yml` (v2) and a single `shipctl run --lane` entry-point; reusable workflow in Ship; `artifact_kind=workflow` retired (Phase 6).
0008	Catalog reform — naming, modes, expansion	Accepted — Phase 0/1 shipped	Canonical `<category>-<name>` naming for all patterns; required `modes: [lane\|request]` metadata; retire `DefaultPipelineSpec`; Requests UI becomes a catalog picker; Phase-1 expansion of 10 new patterns.
0009	Catalog Phase-2 — beyond web & backend	Accepted — all 4 waves shipped	50 new patterns across 8 packs (mobile, desktop, hardware, ML, games, infra/SRE, compliance, cross-cutting quality); 7 new presets (`mobile-app-deep`, `desktop-app`, `firmware`, `ml-project`, `platform`, `regulated`, `game`); 4 rollout waves.
0010	Plays, Automations, Runs, Inbox — operator IA	Accepted — Phases 1–6 shipped; partially supersedes 0008	Reframes the console around four operator-facing surfaces (Plays · Automations · Runs · Inbox), collapses fleet/per-repo navigation duplication, and introduces a single attention surface with handle-based routing, operational groups, and typed dispositions. Internal `lane`/`pattern`/`workflow` vocabulary preserved.

RFC-0001 and RFC-0005 are partially superseded by RFC-0007 Phase 6 (artifact_kind=workflow retired) and RFC-0008 (pattern metadata and <category>-<name> naming). RFC-0008 is in turn partially superseded by RFC-0010 for user-facing terminology and IA only — the catalog contract, naming convention, and pattern frontmatter additions from 0008 all stand. See each RFC's top-of-file status block for the current picture.