Request Tracker

Request Tracker
Original author(s)Jesse Vincent
Developer(s)Best Practical Solutions, LLC
Initial release13 October 1999 (1999-10-13)
Stable release
6.0.0  / 28 May 2025 (28 May 2025)
Repository
Written inPerl
Operating systemAny Unix-like
PlatformCross-platform
Available inMultiple Languages
TypeIssue tracking system
LicenseGPLv2
Websitebestpractical.com/request-tracker

Request Tracker, commonly abbreviated to RT, is an open source tool for organizations of all sizes to track and manage workflows, customer requests, and internal project tasks of all sorts. With seamless email integration, custom ticket lifecycles, configurable automation, and detailed permissions and roles, Request Tracker began as ticket-tracking software written in Perl used to coordinate tasks and manage requests among an online community of users.

RT's first release in 1996 was written by Jesse Vincent, who later formed Best Practical Solutions LLC to distribute, develop, and support the package. RT is open source (FOSS) and distributed under the GNU General Public License.

Request Tracker for Incident Response (RTIR) is a special distribution of RT to fulfill the specific needs of CERT teams. At this point, RTIR is, at once, a tool specific to incident management, a general purpose tool teams can use for other tasks, and also a tool that can—and very often is—a fully customized system built on layers of user integrations and user customizations.

It was initially developed in cooperation with JANET-CERT, and in 2006 was upgraded and expanded with joint funding from nine Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) in Europe.