# Background and Problem Space

The DNS protocol has limited ability for authoritative servers to signal their capabilities to recursive resolvers. In part, this stems from the lack of a mechanism for parents (often registries) to specify additional information about child delegations (often registrants) beyond NS, DS, and glue records. Further complicating matters is the similar lack of a mechanism for a registrant to signal that the operation of a delegation point is being outsourced to a different operator, leaving a challenge when operators need to update parental information that is only in the control of the child. Data is often out of synchronization between parents and children, which causes significant operational problems.

# Objective and Scope

To address these challenges, the DELEG working group will first document  the requirements for adding a new DNS signaling mechanism that allows parents to return additional DNS delegation information about their children. In addition, this document could also list the other types of information not available today that might be provided over a designed signaling mechanism.

The potential first use cases for the working group will be new DNS authoritative signaling mechanisms for alternative DNS transports, and delegation aliasing (where the parent returns a pointer to the service provider that will then return the needed delegation information). The working group should also consider how well different solutions can be deployed, and should study possible consequences of deploying alternative delegation mechanisms.
The working group will then define the semantics of a new DNS signaling mechanism, taking future extensibility into account.

The working group will specify extensions to the DNS, EPP, and other protocols that relate to delegation.

* The initial version of the requirements document should have broad general consensus and must be adopted by the WG before work on the solution documents begins.

* The WG will coordinate closely with other WGs, including DNSOP, ADD, and other working groups and directorates as appropriate. This is especially true for WG adoption and Last Calls. 

Ideally in person WG meetings will be scheduled on the same day but not overlapping with DNS-related WGs.


# Deliverables

* A document listing the requirements for a new signaling mechanism allowing parents to return additional information when communicating about a delegated child. This is expected to be published as an informational RFC.

* A specification defining the new delegation information distribution mechanism. The WG will carry out an operational impact assessment and include corresponding operational and deployment considerations sections in the specification. The specification will include a concept of operations that describes how both current and future systems will interact in an Internet-wide interoperable way. This is expected to be published as a standards-track RFC.

* A specification for how to use the new delegation information to perform aliasing of delegation information. This is expected to be published as a standards-track RFC.

* A specification for facilitating the use of additional transports for DNS. This is expected to be published as a standards-track RFC.