Early Review of draft-ietf-netconf-configuration-tracing-05
review-ietf-netconf-configuration-tracing-05-opsdir-early-barguil-2025-04-16-00

I have reviewed this document as part of the Operational Directorate's ongoing
effort to review all IETF documents being processed by the IESG. These comments
were written with the intent of improving the operational aspects of IETF
drafts.

This document presents an update for configuration traceability using NETCONF.
The draft is written in the context of autonomous networks and describes some
use cases of how a YANG model can help to avoid potential conflicts in the
network configuration.

1. Suggestion for a Clearer Abstract:
You could add a sentence like this toward the end of the abstract:

'This mechanism is intended to be used in conjunction with an external
monitoring or assurance system (such as described in RFC 9417), which is
responsible for detecting anomalies, including intent violations or similar
scenarios.'

This clarification would:

Align the abstract with the body of the document (especially where RFC 9417 is
explicitly referenced). Prevent readers from misunderstanding the scope of the
mechanism. Strengthen the positioning of the draft in an autonomous networking
architecture (where components have distinct roles).

2. Align terminology:

Figures show a 3-layer architecture including orchestrator, controller, and
NEs. But, across the document, you refer to the NMS as responsible for the
configuration of the NEs. Are NMS and Controller interchangeable terms?

3. Examples in the Use cases:

The use cases are very descriptive, but can you include some examples of how
can the YANG model be used by the anomaly detection system for conflict
resolution?

Nits:

Across the document, two consecutive spaces were replaced with a single space
(e.g., after full stops, commas, and between words). Line 10:  r/its
originating NMS/their originating NMS Line 16:  r/facilitates the
troubleshooting/facilitates troubleshooting Line 18:  r/closed loop/closed-loop
Line 178: r/DataStore/datastore