diff --git a/rfcs/00000-template.md b/rfcs/00000-template.md
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+# RFC Title
+
+<!-- Replace "RFC Title" with a short, descriptive title for your proposal. -->
+
+<!--
+  This template is a recommended starting point. Feel free to add, remove, or
+  reorganize sections to best convey your proposal.
+-->
+
+| | |
+|---|---|
+| **Authors** | Your Name |
+| **Contributors** | <!-- Others who contributed to this RFC --> |
+| **Created** | YYYY-MM-DD |
+| **Updated** | YYYY-MM-DD |
+
+## Summary
+
+<!-- One paragraph describing the proposal at a high level. What are you building and why? -->
+
+## Motivation
+
+### Background
+
+<!-- Context a reader needs to understand the problem. What exists today? -->
+
+### Problem Statement
+
+<!-- What specific problem does this RFC solve? Include quantitative data if available. -->
+
+### Goals
+
+<!-- Numbered list of concrete, measurable goals. -->
+
+1. Goal one
+2. Goal two
+
+## Proposal
+
+<!-- The core technical proposal. Include:
+     - Type definitions (structs, traits, type aliases)
+     - API signatures
+     - Module structure
+     - Algorithms / pseudocode where helpful
+
+     Use Rust code blocks for type/API definitions. -->
+
+## Trade-offs
+
+<!-- Describe the key design trade-offs and alternative approaches considered.
+     For each alternative, explain what it is, its pros/cons, and why it was
+     not chosen (or under what conditions it might be preferred). -->
+
+## Benchmark Results
+
+<!-- If applicable, include performance measurements.
+     State the configuration (hardware, dataset, parameters) and present results in tables. -->
+
+## Future Work
+
+<!-- Items explicitly deferred from this RFC. Use a checkbox list. -->
+
+- [ ] Future item one
+- [ ] Future item two
+
+## References
+
+<!-- Links to papers, prior art, related issues, or PRs. -->
+
+1. [Reference title](URL)
diff --git a/rfcs/README.md b/rfcs/README.md
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+# DiskANN RFCs
+
+This directory contains **Requests for Comments (RFCs)** — design documents for substantial changes to DiskANN.
+
+## When to Write an RFC
+
+An RFC is recommended for changes that are **cross-cutting, architecturally significant, or affect widely-used APIs** — especially when the design has multiple viable approaches that benefit from broader input. Examples include:
+
+- Adding a new crate to the workspace
+- Introducing or modifying cross-crate traits or abstractions
+- New distance functions, storage layouts, or index formats
+- Changes with backward-compatibility implications for downstream consumers
+
+An RFC is **not** required for routine API additions scoped to a single crate (e.g., adding a variant to an internal enum), bug fixes, internal refactors, or documentation improvements.
+
+## RFC Lifecycle
+
+The pull request is the RFC. **Merging an RFC PR is acceptance.**
+
+- **Open PR** — the RFC is under discussion. Authors iterate on feedback.
+- **Merged PR** — the RFC is accepted. Only accepted RFCs appear in this directory.
+- **Closed PR** — the RFC is rejected or withdrawn. The full text and discussion remain available in the closed PR.
+
+Tag every RFC pull request with the **`RFC`** label so they are easy to find.
+
+## How to Submit an RFC
+
+1. Copy [00000-template.md](00000-template.md) to `00000-short-title.md`.
+2. Fill in all sections. Remove instructional comments.
+3. Open a pull request with the RFC file and apply the **`RFC`** label. The PR description should summarize the proposal.
+4. Once the PR is created, rename the file from `00000-short-title.md` to `NNNNN-short-title.md`, where `NNNNN` is the pull request number zero-padded to 5 digits.
+5. Discuss in the PR. Update the RFC based on feedback.
+6. A maintainer merges the PR to accept the RFC, or closes it to reject/withdraw.