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EIPs

Ethereum Improvement Proposals document standards and changes for Ethereum. Core EIPs concern protocol behavior. ERCs define application-level conventions. Networking and interface proposals cover their respective layers. Final status means the document completed its standards process, not that every application must use it.

Workflow

EIP-1 asks authors to discuss an idea before submitting a formal proposal. Editors check format and process. A tracked proposal moves through Draft, Review, Last Call, and Final when its specification stabilizes and review completes. Inactive work may become Stagnant; authors can withdraw proposals; Living documents remain open to revision by design.

Editors merge qualifying documents but do not activate Core EIPs. Core changes need client interest, implementations, tests, coordination, and inclusion in a network upgrade. EIP-1 identifies AllCoreDevs as a venue for implementers to discuss technical merit and coordinate compatible releases.

Core EIPs and ERCs

A Core EIP can change transaction validity, gas accounting, opcodes, consensus, or networking. Its deployment affects nodes and may require activation at a named fork. An ERC defines a convention contracts and applications may choose, such as token interfaces. ERC-20 became useful because contracts, wallets, and exchanges adopted it, not because the EIP repository could force compliance.

Some EIPs span layers or depend on others. Read the requires field, discussions, test cases, and client implementation status. An interface can be Final while common contracts implement extensions or deviations that callers must handle.

Status does not measure safety

Final indicates specification maturity. It does not certify an implementation, audit a contract, resolve governance objections, or guarantee adoption. A proposal can be technically complete and economically controversial. Conversely, a widely deployed convention may continue evolving through later EIPs.

Further reading

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