Request Tracker (RT) is an open-source, enterprise-grade ticketing system that helps IT, support, and operations teams manage tickets, tasks, incidents, and workflows with full customization and no vendor lock-in.

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🚀 Overview

Request Tracker (RT) is a mature, open-source ticketing platform used by thousands of organizations to centralize request tracking, automate workflows, and generate reports. It turns chaotic email threads into structured, searchable tickets that teams can collaborate on via web or email.

It solves the challenges of scaling support operations, incident response, and internal task management without the limitations or costs of proprietary SaaS tools. RT provides enterprise features like asset tracking, SLAs, and integrations while remaining fully customizable.

Built for IT, customer support, DevOps, and security teams who need control, extensibility, and reliability. Developed by Best Practical since the early 2000s to empower organizations with open-source ticketing excellence.

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✨ Key Features

• Seamless email-to-ticket integration: Incoming emails create or update tickets; reply via email or web interface
• Visual workflow builder and scrips for automating ticket lifecycles, approvals, escalations, and notifications
• Knowledge base with canned responses, asset management, custom fields/roles, and advanced reporting/dashboards
• REST 2.0 API, Zapier support, LDAP/SAML auth, full-text search, multilingual UI, and 400+ extensions (e.g., time tracking, surveys)
• Optional: RTIR for incident response, change management extensions; RT 6 introduces modern UI, dark theme, inline editing

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🛠 Tech Stack

• Frontend: Bootstrap-based responsive design, HTML/CSS/JS
• Backend: Perl 5.26.3+
• Database: PostgreSQL 13+, MySQL 8.0+, MariaDB 10.6+, Oracle, SQLite
• Auth: Built-in, External (LDAP, Active Directory, SAML, OAuth2)
• Hosting: Self-hosted (Apache mod_perl/FastCGI, Nginx, standalone), or Best Practical's RT Server

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👥 Who Is This For?

This project is useful for:

• IT/support teams who want to streamline helpdesk and ticket management
• Operations/DevOps teams looking for workflow automation and asset tracking
• Security teams handling incidents (with RTIR) and organizations avoiding SaaS lock-in

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📸 Screenshots / Demo

• Live demo: https://demo.bestpractical.com/
• GitHub: https://github.com/bestpractical/rt

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🔥 Project Status

• 🟢 Actively building

Last updated: 2026-03-24

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❓ FAQ

Is this project free?

Yes / Open Source (Free to download and self-host; commercial support and hosted plans available from Best Practical.)

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Is the source code available?

Yes — https://github.com/bestpractical/rt

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Can I contribute?

Yes — Open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub. Join the community forum at https://forum.bestpractical.com/ for discussions, or contribute extensions.

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📬 Contact & Links

• Website: https://www.bestpractical.com/rt
• GitHub: https://github.com/bestpractical/rt
• Twitter/X: https://x.com/bestpractical
• Email: sales@bestpractical.com

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