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A Framework for AI-Assisted Network Protocol Testing from Specifications
draft-cui-nmop-auto-test-00

Document Type Active Internet-Draft (individual)
Authors Yong Cui , Yunze Wei , Kaiwen Chi , Xiaohui Xie , Shailesh Prabhu
Last updated 2026-07-05
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draft-cui-nmop-auto-test-00
Network Management Operations                                     Y. Cui
Internet-Draft                                                    Y. Wei
Intended status: Informational                                    K. Chi
Expires: 6 January 2027                                           X. Xie
                                                     Tsinghua University
                                                               S. Prabhu
                                                                   Nokia
                                                             5 July 2026

A Framework for AI-Assisted Network Protocol Testing from Specifications
                      draft-cui-nmop-auto-test-00

Abstract

   Network protocol testing is essential for validating that
   implementations conform to their specifications.  Traditional testing
   approaches rely heavily on manual effort or protocol-specific models
   that are expensive to build and difficult to reuse as specifications
   evolve and new protocols emerge.

   This document describes a framework for AI-assisted network protocol
   testing that decomposes the testing workflow into six stages:
   structured protocol representation, coverage scoping, test case
   generation, executable artifact generation, test execution, and
   feedback-based refinement.  The framework emphasizes explicit stage
   boundaries and reviewable intermediate outputs, keeping the workflow
   auditable and traceable to the specification text.

   The document discusses the design motivations and trade-offs behind
   the framework, presents examples from routing protocol testing, and
   identifies operational considerations and open issues for applying
   the framework in test environments.

About This Document

   This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.

   The latest revision of this draft can be found at
   https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-cui-nmop-auto-test/.  Status
   information for this document may be found at
   https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-cui-nmop-auto-test/.

   Discussion of this document takes place on the NMOP Working Group
   mailing list (mailto:nmop@ietf.org), which is archived at
   https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/nmop/.  Subscribe at
   https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/nmop/.

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   Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at
   https://github.com/WheaterW/draft-cui-nmop-auto-test.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on 6 January 2027.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
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   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
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   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Problem Scope and Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  Definitions and Acronyms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Background  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   5.  Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     5.1.  Structured Protocol Representation  . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     5.2.  Coverage Scoping  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     5.3.  Test Case Generation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     5.4.  Executable Artifact Generation, Execution, and
           Feedback  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   6.  Design Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     6.1.  Structured Workflow Boundaries  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11

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     6.2.  Test-Relevant Protocol Representation . . . . . . . . . .  11
     6.3.  Separation of Test Templates and Test Parameters  . . . .  11
     6.4.  Human-in-the-Loop Review  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     6.5.  Specification-Derived Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   7.  Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     7.1.  Update-Aware Testing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     7.2.  Specification-Derived Bug Exposure  . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     7.3.  Parameterized Boundary Testing  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
   8.  Operational Considerations and Open Issues  . . . . . . . . .  13
   9.  Conclusion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   10. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   11. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   12. Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16

1.  Introduction

   Network protocol testing is used to validate whether an
   implementation behaves according to the semantics defined by protocol
   specifications.  It is needed throughout the lifecycle of network
   systems, from implementation development to deployment and
   operational maintenance.

   Traditional protocol testing remains largely manual.  Engineers read
   long specifications, identify test points, design topologies, write
   test procedures, create DUT configurations and tester scripts,
   execute tests, and inspect results.  Model-based approaches can
   automate parts of this process, but they often depend on protocol-
   specific models that are expensive to build and difficult to reuse
   across new or rapidly evolving protocols.

   Recent advances in artificial intelligence, especially Large Language
   Models (LLMs) and AI agents, create new opportunities for automating
   parts of this workflow.  However, protocol testing is not a generic
   text-to-code task.  Generated tests need to preserve protocol
   semantics from the specification, reflect the intended coverage
   scope, coordinate tester and DUT behavior, execute in a controlled
   environment, and provide reviewable result checks.

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   This document therefore focuses on a framework question: how can a
   testing workflow carry test-relevant information from protocol
   specifications to executable test artifacts while remaining auditable
   and controllable?  The framework decomposes the workflow into
   structured protocol representation, coverage scoping, test case
   generation, executable artifact generation, test execution, and
   feedback-based refinement.  At each stage boundary, the framework
   preserves not only the generated artifact, but also the protocol
   semantics, assumptions, and review points needed by later stages.

2.  Problem Scope and Assumptions

   This document focuses on specification-derived protocol testing.  The
   primary input is a protocol specification, such as an RFC document.
   The target outputs are test cases, tester scripts, DUT
   configurations, execution results, and reports that can be traced
   back to the specification.

   The framework is mainly intended for conformance, functional,
   robustness, regression, and related protocol-behavior tests.  It does
   not attempt to cover all implementation-specific or vendor-specific
   behavior, which may require additional inputs beyond protocol
   specifications.

   The framework does not assume a fixed level of capability for AI-
   assisted components.  As these capabilities evolve, the degree of
   automation and the placement of human review can be adjusted
   according to the risk and maturity of each workflow stage.  The
   intended role of automation is to reduce repetitive expert effort
   while preserving traceability and expert control.

3.  Definitions and Acronyms

   DUT: Device Under Test

   Tester: A device with sufficient network protocol functionality and
   test-control capabilities to execute test cases.  It can generate and
   receive test-specific packets or traffic, emulate target network
   behaviors, collect observations, and analyze results.

   LLM: Large Language Model

   AI Agent: A system that can assist with or drive parts of multi-step
   workflows by using tools and making decisions based on feedback,
   subject to configured constraints and review points.

   API: Application Programming Interface

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   CLI: Command Line Interface

   Test Case: A specification of conditions and inputs to evaluate a
   protocol behavior.

   Tester Script: An executable program or sequence of instructions that
   controls a tester during test execution.

4.  Background

   Protocol testing is required during device development, where vendors
   verify that their implementations conform to protocol specifications,
   and during procurement evaluation, where third-party organizations
   perform black-box conformance testing against a neutral standard.
   Both scenarios require coordinated test cases, DUT configuration,
   tester behavior, execution observations, and result evaluation.

   A DUT can be a physical network device such as a switch, router, or
   firewall, or a virtual network device such as an FRRouting (FRR)
   instance [FRRouting].  A tester is typically controlled by scripts
   that configure protocol behavior, generate test traffic, collect
   observations, and support result evaluation.

   Before executing a test case, the DUT is initialized with test-
   specific configurations.  During the test, tester actions and DUT
   configuration need to remain consistent with the intended topology,
   protocol parameters, procedure, and expected results.

5.  Framework

   The AI-assisted network protocol testing framework is illustrated in
   the figure below.  Test requirements are an external input, provided
   by the testing team for each test campaign.

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   +------------------------+    +-----------------------+
   | Protocol Specification |    |   Test Requirements   |
   +------------+-----------+    +-----------+-----------+
                |                            |
   +------------v----------------------------v-----------+
   |  +----------------------+      +-----------------+  |
   |  | Structured Protocol  +----->|     Coverage    |  |
   |  |   Representation     |      |     Scoping     |  |
   |  +----------------------+      +--------+--------+  |
   |                                         |           |
   |  +----------------------+      +--------v--------+  |
   |  |   Test Artifacts     |<-----+    Test Case    |  |
   |  |     Generation       |      |    Generation   |  |
   |  +----------------------+      +-----------------+  |
   +--------+----------------------------------^---------+
            |                                  |
   +--------v------+                  +--------+---------+
   |     Test      +--->  Test  ----->|   Feedback and   |
   |   Execution   |     Reports      |    Refinement    |
   +---------------+                  +------------------+

   The framework has six stages:

   1.  Structured protocol representation: transform specification text
       into a test-relevant representation.

   2.  Coverage scoping: reconcile the protocol representation with test
       requirements to produce an explicit, reviewable coverage scope.

   3.  Test case generation: derive test templates, parameters, and
       oracles from included scope items.

   4.  Test artifacts generation: translate test cases into coordinated
       tester scripts and DUT configurations.

   5.  Test execution: run the generated artifacts in a controlled test
       environment.

   6.  Feedback and refinement: analyze failures and decide whether to
       refine artifacts, scope, or bug reports.

   Each stage produces intermediate outputs that can include generated
   content, source references, assumptions, constraints, and review
   status.

   The six stages support two complementary cycles.  In the forward
   cycle, coverage scoping and test case generation produce the test
   suite from the specification and the test requirements.  In the

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   backward cycle, execution feedback is analyzed to localize the likely
   source of a failure or coverage gap, starting from concrete execution
   artifacts and moving toward more abstract scope or representation
   issues when needed.  An AI agent can assist in both cycles, with
   human review applied where automation uncertainty or risk is high, or
   where automation maturity is insufficient.

5.1.  Structured Protocol Representation

   Protocol specifications are usually written for human readers.  They
   include message formats, state machines, timers, variables,
   algorithms, exception handling, and normative behavior spread across
   sections and sometimes across multiple update documents.  Directly
   generating executable tests from such text risks losing details that
   determine whether a test is valid.

   The framework therefore introduces a structured protocol
   representation as an intermediate artifact between specification text
   and downstream test generation.  The representation is not required
   to be a complete formal model of the protocol.  Instead, it preserves
   the protocol semantics that are relevant for testing.

   Such a representation can include:

   *  message formats, fields, constraints, and valid or invalid values

   *  local data structures, timers, counters, and protocol variables

   *  state machines and state transitions

   *  event-action rules and packet processing behavior

   *  protocol algorithms, such as route selection or path computation

   *  error handling and exception behavior

   *  relationships among modules, such as which messages trigger which
      transitions or algorithms

   *  links back to source specification sections

   A practical construction workflow can be organized into three steps.

   First, specification analysis identifies sections, cross-references,
   normative statements, summaries, and update relationships in the
   specification.  This step can combine rule-based extraction with AI-
   assisted summarization.

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   Second, module induction groups related text into protocol modules,
   such as message formats, state machines, algorithms, and event-action
   rules.  Each module remains linked to the source text used to
   construct it.

   Third, formalization serializes each module into a structured
   representation that can be queried, traversed, reviewed, and used by
   test generation tools.

   Protocol updates require special handling.  Update documents often
   add, modify, or deprecate specific protocol behavior rather than
   restating a complete protocol.  An update-aware representation
   identifies update points, maps them to existing modules, and
   expresses the update as a differential change to the base
   representation.

   The main design trade-off is between completeness and usefulness.  A
   fully formal protocol model can be expensive to build and difficult
   to apply across many protocols.  A testing-oriented representation
   instead focuses on the semantics needed to generate valid tests,
   derive oracles, and trace failures back to specifications.

5.2.  Coverage Scoping

   A structured protocol representation describes what a protocol
   specification defines.  It does not determine which definitions a
   particular test campaign intends to cover.  Coverage scoping uses the
   representation to select the protocol behaviors that a test suite
   will exercise and to document which items are excluded and why.

   Coverage scoping takes two inputs: the structured protocol
   representation and the test requirements for a test campaign.  These
   requirements are external to the framework and reflect the campaign's
   objectives, constraints, and priorities.

   The output is a coverage scope: a structured decision record in which
   each referenced protocol behavior is marked as included or excluded,
   assigned a priority, and, when excluded, accompanied by a documented
   reason.

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   The coverage scope serves three purposes.  First, it turns coverage
   into an inspectable plan: a human reviewer can assess whether the set
   of included and excluded behaviors is acceptable for the testing
   objective.  Second, it provides the input to test case generation, so
   that generation focuses on how to test rather than what to test.
   Third, during iterative refinement, it provides a controlled basis
   for deciding whether a newly observed behavior or coverage gap should
   be added to the campaign scope, remain excluded, or trigger a
   revision of the documented scoping rationale.

   An AI agent can assist in producing an initial coverage scope by
   traversing the representation, applying the test requirements, and
   proposing inclusion or exclusion with documented reasoning.  Human
   review can be applied as needed before the scope is used for test
   generation.

5.3.  Test Case Generation

   Once a coverage scope has been established, test generation derives
   test cases from the included scope items.  These test cases can be
   based on normative statements, message constraints, state
   transitions, algorithms, error handling requirements, and update
   deltas in the representation.

   The framework separates the reusable structure of a test from the
   concrete values used to instantiate it.  A test template captures the
   reusable structure, including:

   *  test objective

   *  specification reference

   *  test topology

   *  preconditions and static configuration

   *  test procedure

   *  expected result or oracle

   *  variable placeholders

   Parameters fill those placeholders with concrete values.  Parameter
   generation can include valid values, invalid values, boundary values,
   timing values, topology variants, and values computed by helper
   logic.  Oracle values can also require computation, especially when
   expected behavior depends on route selection, timers, path
   attributes, or other protocol algorithms.

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   This separation is a key design choice.  Templates provide breadth
   across protocol functions and test scenarios.  Parameters provide
   depth across value spaces and boundary conditions.  Equivalence
   partitioning or similar reduction techniques can then group parameter
   combinations that exercise the same protocol behavior, reducing
   redundant execution without discarding meaningful coverage.

   Generated test cases should remain reviewable.  Review can consider
   whether a test reflects the intended protocol semantics and whether
   the resulting suite exercises the behaviors and parameter spaces
   identified in the coverage scope.

5.4.  Executable Artifact Generation, Execution, and Feedback

   Executable artifact generation translates abstract test cases into
   runnable tester scripts and DUT configurations.  In practice, these
   artifacts are often synthesized from tester API documentation, DUT
   configuration manuals, prior scripts, and testbed context.  Even when
   generated artifacts appear plausible, they can contain API misuse,
   invalid configuration, timing errors, or mismatches between tester
   behavior and DUT configuration.

   The framework therefore treats artifact generation and test execution
   as a refinement loop.  An AI agent can generate candidate artifacts,
   execute or dry-run them in a controlled test environment, collect
   execution feedback, and revise the artifacts before a result is
   treated as evidence about the DUT.  Feedback can include syntax
   errors, API responses, device diagnostics, packet captures, and pass/
   fail observations.

   Feedback analysis and refinement are not limited to executable
   artifacts.  When execution feedback indicates that the artifacts
   correctly implement the intended test case but the test remains
   invalid, ambiguous, or inconclusive, feedback analysis can trace the
   problem back to the test case, the coverage scope, or the structured
   representation.  Refinement actions can therefore update executable
   artifacts, oracle logic, test-case definitions, scoping decisions, or
   representation content.  Human review can be applied as needed when
   the interpretation of feedback or the resulting refinement actions
   carry high risk.

6.  Design Considerations

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6.1.  Structured Workflow Boundaries

   Single-pass prompting can produce useful drafts, but protocol testing
   benefits from a more structured workflow.  Decomposing the workflow
   into stages makes intermediate outputs reviewable and allows each
   stage to focus on a specific part of the testing problem, such as
   preserving protocol semantics, defining coverage, deriving test
   cases, generating executable artifacts, and interpreting feedback.
   This provides a more systematic and inspectable path from
   specification text to executable tests.

6.2.  Test-Relevant Protocol Representation

   Complete formal models can support rigorous analysis, but they are
   expensive to build and difficult to maintain across many protocols
   and update documents.  A test-relevant representation makes a
   narrower claim: it preserves the semantics needed for testing rather
   than modeling every aspect of the protocol.  This scoped
   representation is more feasible for broad use across protocol testing
   workflows.

6.3.  Separation of Test Templates and Test Parameters

   Generating many concrete tests directly can produce large and
   redundant suites.  Separating test templates from test parameters
   allows broad functional coverage and deeper parameter exploration to
   scale independently.  This separation also requires support for
   parameter reduction, oracle computation, and test-suite scheduling.

6.4.  Human-in-the-Loop Review

   AI-assisted workflows can help analyze execution feedback, but some
   interpretations and refinement actions can carry high risk.  The
   framework therefore allows human review to be applied where
   automation uncertainty or risk is high, or where automation maturity
   is insufficient.

6.5.  Specification-Derived Testing

   Specification-derived testing targets behavior defined by protocol
   specifications.  It can miss implementation-specific or vendor-
   specific behavior that requires inputs beyond the protocol
   specification.  Such extensions are possible, but they require
   additional input modeling and are outside the primary scope of this
   framework.

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7.  Use Cases

   This section uses routing-protocol testing examples to illustrate how
   the framework can support operational test workflows.

7.1.  Update-Aware Testing

   Protocol behavior changes over time as RFCs are updated.  For
   example, RFC 9774 [RFC9774] deprecated the AS_SET path segment type
   in BGP, updating behavior originally specified in RFC 4271 [RFC4271].
   A framework that treats the update document in isolation may miss the
   base-protocol context needed to derive an executable test.

   An update-aware representation can record the RFC 9774 change as a
   delta to the BGP path-attribute behavior in the base representation.
   Test generation can then focus on the changed behavior, for example
   by constructing a route advertisement that contains AS_SET and
   checking whether the DUT handles it according to the updated
   specification.

   This example illustrates why update documents are best represented as
   changes to existing protocol modules rather than as standalone
   specifications.

7.2.  Specification-Derived Bug Exposure

   Specifications can define behavior that is easy to overlook in
   manually curated test suites.  For example, RFC 2453 [RFC2453]
   defines conditions under which a RIP router originates and advertises
   a default route to neighbors (Section 3.7).  A manually curated test
   suite might verify basic route exchange without exercising this
   specific condition.

   A structured representation can make the condition explicit.  Test
   generation can then configure the DUT to originate a default route,
   observe RIP update messages, and check whether the expected 0.0.0.0/0
   route is advertised.  In an experimental test workflow, this test
   exposed a default-route handling defect in a deployed RIP
   implementation.

   This example illustrates how specification-derived testing can expose
   coverage gaps in manually curated suites and exercise protocol
   behavior that is easy to miss in basic functional tests.

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7.3.  Parameterized Boundary Testing

   Some bugs appear only under specific parameter relationships rather
   than under a single fixed input.  In OSPF, for example, DR election
   depends on relative router priorities.  A test template can capture
   the protocol scenario, while parameter instantiation explores
   priority relationships such as equal priorities and asymmetric
   priorities.

   In an OSPF route-overwrite test case, the bug was triggered only when
   the tester-side peers used asymmetric priorities and a DR re-election
   was forced.  The corresponding parameterized test distinguished this
   boundary condition from a symmetric-priority configuration that did
   not trigger the failure.

   This example illustrates why test depth depends on parameter
   relationships and oracle computation, not only on the number of
   generated test cases.

8.  Operational Considerations and Open Issues

   Several operational considerations and open issues remain for
   applying AI-assisted protocol testing in operational test
   environments:

   1.  Assessing representation fidelity: A structured protocol
       representation is useful only if it preserves the semantics
       needed for testing.  Operators and tool developers lack common
       criteria for assessing whether message formats, state
       transitions, algorithms, exception handling, and update effects
       have been captured with sufficient fidelity.  This makes it
       difficult to determine when a representation is adequate for a
       testing objective.

   2.  Validating coverage scope: Coverage scope is a decision record
       rather than a property directly defined by the protocol
       specification.  Operational use requires assessing whether the
       included and excluded behaviors are appropriate for a testing
       objective, and whether important protocol behaviors have been
       omitted.  This is difficult because both specifications and test
       requirements are often expressed in natural language.

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   3.  Generating and validating oracles: Many protocol tests depend on
       expected results that are derived from algorithms, timers,
       ordering constraints, or parameter relationships.  Some oracles
       can be computed directly, while others require interpretation of
       protocol context and testbed behavior.  Operational test
       environments need practical ways to generate such oracles and
       validate their correctness.

   4.  Making feedback-driven refinement reliable: Execution feedback
       can reveal artifact errors, invalid test cases, incorrect
       oracles, environment problems, or deviations from the protocol
       specification.  When an AI agent participates in artifact
       generation and refinement, its own actions can also contribute to
       the failure.  A challenge is to distinguish these causes reliably
       and record enough context for refinement decisions to be replayed
       and audited.

   5.  Balancing automation, review, and traceability: AI-assisted
       workflows need traceability from test results back to executable
       artifacts, test cases, coverage scope, protocol representation,
       and specification text.  Operational deployments need to
       determine what context should be recorded, how review decisions
       should be represented, and where human review should be placed as
       automation capability and operational risk change.

9.  Conclusion

   This document has described a framework for AI-assisted network
   protocol testing from specifications.  The framework provides a
   structured workflow, from protocol representation through coverage
   scoping, test generation, execution, and feedback, in which stage
   boundaries are explicit, intermediate outputs remain traceable to the
   specification, and human review can be applied where automation
   uncertainty or risk is high.  The framework identifies design
   considerations and open issues for making AI-assisted protocol
   testing more systematic, auditable, and controllable in operational
   test environments.

10.  Security Considerations

   1.  Execution of generated artifacts: Automatically generated tester
       scripts and DUT configurations can misconfigure devices, generate
       unintended traffic, or disrupt a test environment.  Such
       artifacts should be executed only in isolated and recoverable
       test environments, with appropriate access controls, rollback
       mechanisms, and traffic containment.  Syntax checks, dry runs,
       and semantic review can reduce risk, but they do not eliminate
       the need for operational safeguards.

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   2.  AI-assisted generation and refinement: LLMs and AI agents may
       produce incorrect outputs due to model limitations, incomplete
       context, or hallucination.  Such errors may lead to false
       positives, where a valid DUT is reported as failing, or false
       negatives, where a real deviation from the protocol specification
       is missed.  Systems using such components should treat generated
       actions and conclusions as untrusted until they are checked
       against the test objective, the generated artifacts, and the
       execution evidence.

   3.  Exposure of sensitive testbed information: DUT configurations,
       tester scripts, logs, packet captures, and telemetry can contain
       sensitive operational or implementation information.  Such inputs
       and outputs should be protected according to the confidentiality
       requirements of the test environment.

11.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

12.  Informative References

   [FRRouting]
              "FRRouting", n.d., <https://frrouting.org/>.

   [RFC2453]  Malkin, G., "RIP Version 2", STD 56, RFC 2453,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2453, November 1998,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2453>.

   [RFC4271]  Rekhter, Y., Ed., Li, T., Ed., and S. Hares, Ed., "A
              Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 4271,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4271, January 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4271>.

   [RFC9774]  Kumari, W., Sriram, K., Hannachi, L., and J. Haas,
              "Deprecation of AS_SET and AS_CONFED_SET in BGP",
              RFC 9774, DOI 10.17487/RFC9774, May 2025,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9774>.

Acknowledgments

   This work is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China.

Contributors

   Zhen Li
   Beijing Xinertel Technology Co., Ltd.
   Email: lizhen_fz@xinertel.com

Cui, et al.              Expires 6 January 2027                [Page 15]
Internet-Draft                   AI-NPT                        July 2026

   Zhanyou Li
   Beijing Xinertel Technology Co., Ltd.
   Email: lizy@xinertel.com

Authors' Addresses

   Yong Cui
   Tsinghua University
   Email: cuiyong@tsinghua.edu.cn

   Yunze Wei
   Tsinghua University
   Email: wyz23@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn

   Kaiwen Chi
   Tsinghua University
   Email: ckw24@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn

   Xiaohui Xie
   Tsinghua University
   Email: xiexiaohui@tsinghua.edu.cn

   Shailesh Prabhu
   Nokia
   Email: shailesh.prabhu@nokia.com

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