diff --git a/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/connection/ConnectionRecord.java b/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/connection/ConnectionRecord.java
index f293212..1d864b0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/connection/ConnectionRecord.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/connection/ConnectionRecord.java
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public class ConnectionRecord {
     private String invitationMsgId;
     private String myDid;
     private String requestId;
-    private String rfc23State;
+    private Rfc23State rfc23State;
     private RoutingState routingState;
     private ConnectionState state;
     private String theirDid;
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/connection/Rfc23State.java b/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/connection/Rfc23State.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c65c3db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/connection/Rfc23State.java
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2020-2022 - for information on the respective copyright owner
+ * see the NOTICE file and/or the repository at
+ * https://github.com/hyperledger-labs/acapy-java-client
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+package org.hyperledger.aries.api.connection;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.gson.annotations.SerializedName;
+
+/**
+ * Requester states:
+ * <p>
+ *     <ul>
+ *         <li>start</li>
+ *         <li>invitation-received</li>
+ *         <li>request-sent</li>
+ *         <li>response-received</li>
+ *         <li>abandoned</li>
+ *         <li>completed</li>
+ *     </ul>
+ * <p>
+ * Responder states:
+ * <p>
+ *     <ul>
+ *         <li>start</li>
+ *         <li>invitation-sent</li>
+ *         <li>request-received</li>
+ *         <li>response-sent</li>
+ *         <li>abandoned</li>
+ *         <li>completed</li>
+ *     </ul>
+ */
+public enum Rfc23State {
+
+    @JsonProperty("abandoned")
+    @SerializedName("abandoned")
+    ABANDONED,
+
+    @JsonProperty("completed")
+    @SerializedName("completed")
+    COMPLETED,
+
+    @JsonProperty("invitation-received")
+    @SerializedName("invitation-received")
+    INVITATION_RECEIVED,
+
+    @JsonProperty("invitation-sent")
+    @SerializedName("invitation-sent")
+    INVITATION_SENT,
+
+    @JsonProperty("request-received")
+    @SerializedName("request-received")
+    REQUEST_RECEIVED,
+
+    @JsonProperty("request-sent")
+    @SerializedName("request-sent")
+    REQUEST_SENT,
+
+    @JsonProperty("response-received")
+    @SerializedName("response-received")
+    RESPONSE_RECEIVED,
+
+    @JsonProperty("response-sent")
+    @SerializedName("response-sent")
+    RESPONSE_SENT,
+
+    @JsonProperty("start")
+    @SerializedName("start")
+    START,
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/did_exchange/MockedDidExchangeTest.java b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/did_exchange/MockedDidExchangeTest.java
index 64198a5..140e724 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/did_exchange/MockedDidExchangeTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/aries/api/did_exchange/MockedDidExchangeTest.java
@@ -10,12 +10,11 @@
 import okhttp3.mockwebserver.MockResponse;
 import org.hyperledger.aries.MockedTestBase;
 import org.hyperledger.aries.api.connection.ConnectionRecord;
+import org.hyperledger.aries.api.connection.Rfc23State;
 import org.hyperledger.aries.util.FileLoader;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
-import java.util.Optional;
-
 class MockedDidExchangeTest extends MockedTestBase {
 
     @Test
@@ -23,12 +22,12 @@ void testCreateRequest() throws Exception {
         String json = FileLoader.load("files/didexchange/didexchange-create-request.json");
         server.enqueue(new MockResponse().setBody(json));
 
-        final Optional<ConnectionRecord> c = ac.didExchangeCreateRequest(DidExchangeCreateRequestFilter
+        final ConnectionRecord c = ac.didExchangeCreateRequest(DidExchangeCreateRequestFilter
                 .builder()
                 .theirPublicDid("F6dB7dMVHUQSC64qemnBi7")
-                .build());
-        Assertions.assertTrue(c.isPresent());
-        Assertions.assertEquals("request-sent", c.get().getRfc23State());
-        Assertions.assertEquals(ConnectionRecord.ConnectionProtocol.DID_EXCHANGE_V1, c.get().getConnectionProtocol());
+                .build()).
+                orElseThrow();
+        Assertions.assertEquals(Rfc23State.REQUEST_SENT, c.getRfc23State());
+        Assertions.assertEquals(ConnectionRecord.ConnectionProtocol.DID_EXCHANGE_V1, c.getConnectionProtocol());
     }
 }