Feature flags follow a structured progression lifecycle from development up to production graduation and final reference cleanup.
1. Scaffolding & Development
Create the key identifier inside the dashboard, integrate code checks in your source branch, and configure targeting parameters so evaluations resolve to true only for developers.
2. QA & Staging Validation
Activate flag evaluations in the staging environment, allowing internal quality verification teams to test code behaviors without risking live user stability.
3. Canary Rollout
Promote the flag config to the production environment, starting rollout at a small percentage (e.g. 5% rollout) to verify load handling, gradually increasing to 100%.
4. Graduation & Stale Detection
Once rolled out to 100%, the feature becomes part of the permanent product. The stale detection worker flags evaluations as stale if the health checks match clean-up indicators.
5. Clean up
Remove references from your source code and delete the flag configurations completely from the dashboard to keep technical debt low.
FAQ
How does Flag Lifecycle interact with local caches?
Configurations are synced down using Edge Config or fallback REST triggers. The client automatically reads evaluations in-memory, resulting in sub-millisecond local evaluation times.
Where can I obtain support for Flag Lifecycle?
You can open a support ticket in your dashboard, check the community roadmap, or consult the FlagPilot Platform Status page.