EIPs/EIPS/eip-233.md

---
eip: 233
title: Formal process of hard forks
author: Alex Beregszaszi (@axic)
type: Meta
status: Draft
created: 2017-03-23
---

## Abstract

To describe the formal process of preparing and activating hard forks.

## Motivation

Today discussions about hard forks happen at various forums and sometimes in ad-hoc ways.

## Specification

A Meta EIP should be created and merged as a *Draft* as soon as a new hard fork is planned. This EIP should contain:
- the desired codename of the hard fork,
- list of all the EIPs included in the hard fork and
- activation block number once decided and
- the **Requires** header should point to the previous hard fork meta EIP.

The draft shall be updated with summaries of the decisions around the hard fork. It should move in to the `Accepted` state once the changes are frozen (i.e. all referenced EIPs are in the `Accepted` state) and in to the `Final` state once the hard fork has been activated.

## Rationale

A meta EIP for coordinating the hard fork should help in visibility and traceability of the scope of changes as well as provide a simple name and/or number for referring to the proposed fork.

## Copyright

Copyright and related rights waived via [CC0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).